How far do the American films you have studied for this topic express similar messages and values to one another?

 

As these films were over two decades apart from each other and mainly focused on the cultural life of their time, different messages were implied, however the general themes of both films are the same. Both Terrence Malick’s ‘Badlands,’ published in 1973, and Oliver Stone’s ‘Natural Born Killers,’ which was published 21 years later in 1994. The contrast between the two nevertheless, is the way their messages are exposed and given. Malick uses the subtlety of misé-en-scene to explore the themes of The American Dream and dysfunctional societies/families, whilst Stone’s use of gore, violence and massacre is given to provoke his message of the media glorifying murder in his audience.

                Both films focus on the input of the media at their times, the similarity of this was that both pairs of protagonists wanted to be remembered and famous. (As did everyone in society at the time of production.) The character of Kit was constructed from Charles Starkweather, the true serial killer on which the movie is based on, whose persona reflected that of James Dean. This theme of fame and the need for recognition is also shown in the opening sequence of NBK where after Mickey and Mallory are seen murdering the diners and waitress, Mallory tells the last survivor to remember who caused the deaths, ‘You tell them Mickey and Mallory did it,’ you hear her repeating to him. These dark, satirical messages that Stone presents so blatantly are a contrast to the ways that Malick’s light use of themes express his melancholic messages which are woven into his film.

The narrative voice of Holly throughout the film gives the audience a window into Kit’s personality towards people. His unsociable behaviour is seen not just through him, but through animals that he associates with throughout the film. This relationship of animal to human is also apparent in NBK. Oliver Stone uses snakes all the way through Natural Born Killers. It is obviously, at the very root of its implication, intended to portray Mickey and Mallory’s characters. This constant use of non-diegetic snake’s hisses, cartoon paintings, and the couples’ wedding rings is condescending and downright patronising to the viewer. There is however in all this directness a more meaningful message Stone is portraying. He wanted to ridicule the media in their persistent attempts of subliminal messages, he mocks the American government and their biased ways, but also through the consistent animal imagery there is in Natural Born Killers, he teases and torments the simple minds of society, the people who actually believe the media are his victims that he so wants to mock and this is why the film is so satirical.

Set apart from one another by over two decades, ‘Natural Born Killers’ and ‘Badlands’ may have different values in American culture and may focus on different narratives, but both films do indeed explore the impact that the media has on society and the way in which they control us.