Bonnie And Clyde: The Cultural And Moral Values Of Its Time Of Production

Good stories reveal universal truths about the nature of human existence. Categorizing stories into genres provides the audience with an opportunity to exercise choice and preferability. To a large extent, genre is tied to the cultural and moral values of its time of production. Regarding film genre, The Wild One (Benedek, 1953) and Bonnie and Clyde (Penn, 1967) can be considered as part of the overarching crime genre, yet catalyzed their respective subgenres of the outlaw biker film and the post-Hays Code gangster film. Moreover, both subgenres, and hence both films, reflect the cultural and moral values of their individual eras through the audience’s identification with the protagonists. In The Wild One, Marlon Brando’s character of Johnny Strabler appeals to people who fail to entertain their own proclivity for socially taboo behaviour. Correspondingly, in Bonnie and Clyde, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway’s characters of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker symbolize the rebellious spirit of late 1960s counterculture. Furthermore, both subgenres, and consequently both films, highlight the cultural and moral values of their own eras through the public fascination with crime and violence. Strabler’s position as head of a motorcycle gang resonates with a high-strung society’s subdued appetite for danger. Likewise, Bonnie and Clyde’s violent interactions with others mirror the antagonism of filmmakers towards the puritanical measures of the Hays Code. Additionally, both subgenres, and thus both films, represent the cultural and moral values of their relevant eras through the viewer’s rejection of binary morality. The audience’s enchantment with Strabler inadvertently confronts the Manichaean approach common to Hollywood melodrama. Similarly, acts committed in Bonnie and Clyde from both protagonists and antagonists challenge the notion of good-and-evil as being an unwavering polarity. However, to a smaller extent, it is difficult to tie a genre’s initial formulation to the cultural and moral values from which it emerged when the very definition of genre itself is questionable.

In the words of the late philosopher Alan Watts, ‘the element of irreducible rascality’ (Kiehl, 2011) seems attractive to viewers who are constantly pressured into adhering to conventional social customs. After World War II, many Western societies felt that restoration of cultural and moral order was needed to reintegrate the social fabric, after its apparent disintegration during the war period. Thus, films were restricted in their expression due to the enforcement of the Hays Code. In fact, the Code had been in place since the early 1930s, in large part due to pressure from the Catholic Church (Black, 1989, p. 167). Acts of violence, sexuality and illegal activity were censored by the Code to a large degree, but even films that lacked all these characteristics yet seemed to be making a ‘social or political comment’ were considered ‘dangerous’ and were usually de-platformed (Black, 1989, p. 169). As a result, many crime films adopted the film-noir mode along with its familiar narrative conventions, careful not to stray from the strict parameters of the Code. However, a new outlaw biker subgenre revamped the crime genre landscape and captured the audience’s fascination with unprecedented social behaviour. In Murray Smith’s book entitled ‘Engaging characters: fiction, emotion and the cinema’, the author outlines how viewers form an allegiance with a character as part of a broader ‘structure of sympathy’ (Smith, 1995, p. 81-84). In the case of The Wild One, the viewers form an allegiance to the way in which Strabler physically presents himself. They are enthralled by his aloof yet fiery demeanor, atypical clothing, and disinhibition when it comes to flirting with women. Moreover, they can relate to certain lines of dialogue that reveal his innermost feelings, such as ‘I don’t like cops!’ and ‘Whaddya got?’ (Benedek, 1953) when asked by the character, Kathie, what he is rebelling against. In a sense, Strabler is doing the talking of a society that, deep down, wishes to convey similar sentiments. Thus, the outlaw biker subgenre plays into a society’s hidden desire to express their own shadow. Correspondingly, during the twilight of the Code in the late 1960s, Bonnie and Clyde appealed to a countercultural movement that aimed at questioning social formalities. Referencing the ‘structure of sympathy’, the audience forms an allegiance with Bonnie and Clyde due to their promiscuous and adulterated behaviour. They curse, have sex, and are completely in touch with their animalistic side. Furthermore, their attire goes against popular fashion norms, with Bonnie sporting short hair, a neckerchief and a beret for most of the film; setting a trend for years to come. These elements in the film relate to countercultural sentiments such as free love and unorthodox dressing, common to groups like the Hippies and Beatniks. Therefore, the post-Hays Code gangster subgenre acts as a projection of countercultural aspirations for social reform.

Crime and violence titillate the psyche of a society that is constantly sheltered from that side of human conduct. In line with the social restrictions that permeated many Western societies throughout the 1950s, crime was in no way permitted or encouraged by the predominant social fabric. Once again, many crime films that displayed violence or any unlawful activity were restricted in their expression by the Code. In David Slocum’s ‘Film Violence and the Institutionalization of Cinema’, the author mentions how the Code ‘emphasized the responsibility of filmmakers’ to conform to ‘common standards of morality and decency…’ (Slocum, 2006, p. 654). However, the Code faced three challenges after World War II, with one of the challenges being a ‘changed marketplace for movie-going’, and that the result was an increase in ‘graphic images in many productions’ (Slocum, 2006, p. 657). This indicates that moviegoers became increasingly interested in watching films that challenged generic film boundaries and were tired of being subjected to the same conventional tropes. Hence in The Wild One, Strabler represents a dark power that viewers find alluring. They enjoy seeing him fight for what he believes in, even though he is the leader of a motorcycle gang. His criminality doesn’t repulse the audience but instead intrigues them even more. It’s his position of dominance, and the way he personifies that dominance, that sparks the audience’s fascination. This illustrates how the outlaw biker subgenre was an outgrowth of a society’s contained desire to flirt with danger. Correspondingly, in the late 1960s, the post-Code gangster subgenre emerged as retaliation for Hollywood interference with the artistic process of filmmakers. Referencing David Slocum’s work, the author states how the period known as ‘New Hollywood’, beginning with films such as Bonnie and Clyde in the late 1960s and early 1970s, challenged ‘Classic Hollywood’ generic narrative tropes, and that filmmakers increasingly desired to ‘expand the bounds of conventional film practice’ with their new artistic choices (Slocum, 2006, p. 659). Hence, in Bonnie and Clyde, the two protagonists are brutally shot down by police in the ending scene. It is exceptionally violent and bloody, nothing like anything before it. After the shooting, the camera remains still on the dead bodies, allowing the viewers to take in what’s just happened on-screen. Considering the moment’s ruthlessness and savagery, the scene acts as a message to Classic Hollywood from filmmakers who desperately wished to express their artistry without inhibition. It was their way of shoving their art right in the face of the major powers in the industry. Ergo, without the drive of filmmakers to fight back against Hollywood regulation, the post-Hays Code gangster subgenre may have never been born.

In an age when wars were primarily viewed as right-versus-wrong, a perceived need for social transformation revealed that morality isn’t so black-and-white. In the search for a reintegrated American social fabric post World War II, there was an attempt to bring stability back into the moral sphere. Definitions of right-and-wrong not only applied to interpersonal relations but acted as a justification for engaging in ideologically-motivated political quarrels. As a result, Hollywood melodrama prospered as a mode by which this battle between good and evil could play out. Many film-noir crime films also included melodramatic plots, such as ‘Double Indemnity’ (Wilder, 1944) and ‘Sunset Boulevard’ (Wilder, 1950). Music in films with melodramatic plots tends to accompany scenes of emotional significance; indirectly suggesting to the viewer what they should feel (Elsaesser, 1987, p. 441). However, the outlaw biker subgenre challenged this approach to human emotion and morality. In Thomas Elsaesser’s ‘Tales of Sound and Fury: observations on the family melodrama’, the author infers that the dichotomy between good and evil is inherent in Manichaean storytelling (Elsaesser, 1987, p. 440). Evil is usually represented as a destructive society that looks to kill what is considered good, which is represented as the repressed innocence of life. However, we see in films like The Wild One that while the established authority is seen as rigid and corrupt, the force being repressed by such authority is by no means innocent nor pure. Therefore, the complex character of Strabler is not someone you can characterize as good or evil, nor is what he represents. Given the Manichaean tropes that were commonplace in Hollywood films at the time, the audience does not shun away from the idea that Strabler is rebelling against a hostile entity whilst he himself is also a hostile entity, but they actually support it. This illustrates how the outlaw biker film subgenre ties into a society’s rejection of binary morality. Furthermore, in relation to the public’s disillusionment with Manichaean moral dilemmas, criminality in Bonnie and Clyde is also not brandished as evil in a profound sense. In fact, the idea of two people holding up a wealthy bank during The Great Depression may have appealed to viewers who saw such institutions as corrupt. Notwithstanding, the institutions themselves weren’t seen as corrupt on one hand whilst Bonnie and Clyde were seen as innocent on the other. On the contrary, both hostile forces were in conflict, with the audience perhaps reluctantly rooting for the two protagonists. This illustrates how the societal rejection of Manichaean morality ties into the genesis of the post-Hays Code gangster subgenre.

While genre is intrinsically connected to the cultural and moral landscape from which it arises to a large extent, the very definition of what constitutes genre can be up for dispute. Being self-conscious creatures, the capacity to recognize and then document patterns of social behaviour gave birth to the notion of ‘story’, which consequently allowed for the imparting of cultural and moral wisdom. Over time, humans began categorizing stories into genres based on the characteristics they shared. These genres evolve as a result of interaction with the constantly changing cultural and social climate. However, the very fact that genre can evolve, and hence overlap with many other forms of story categorization, illustrates the precariousness of such a system of classification. In Rick Altman’s ‘Film/Genre’, the author lays out various ways the term ‘genre’ can be defined and applied. Some of these ways include using genre as a blueprint from which film narrative can be created, using genre as a structure to which films can adhere, and also defining ‘genre’ as a contract between the audience and the film (Altman, 1999, p. 14). While these definitions and applications serve their purpose, their multifaceted nature doesn’t solidify an exact understanding of what genre is. In The Wild One, Strabler has a hint of romance and sensitivity that manifests itself in his attraction towards Kathie, and in turn, her attraction towards him. Ergo, the film is also conjoined with the romance genre on some level. Moreover, the film can be considered as part of the crime genre, which continues to evolve over time; spurring different subgenres such as the outlaw biker film. Thus, films that can be classified as part of a multitude of genres, or are a member of a particular subgenre, pose an issue in finding their cultural and moral roots. Correspondingly, in Bonnie and Clyde, their romantic endeavor as on-the-run gangsters also binds the film to the romance genre. Additionally, the film can be considered as part of the post-Hays Code gangster subgenre, which is in turn part of the greater gangster genre-spanning over the 20th century. Therefore, the uncertainty of these labels creates an issue in determining which film belongs to which genre, and consequently where its cultural and moral origins lie. Moreover, if there must be a classification such as ‘genre’, then defining what ‘genre’ means incurs the issue of infinite regress, as pinpointing the exact moment in time the first romance story occurred, for example, can stretch all the way back to the dawn of storytelling itself. All in all, trying to extract the cultural and moral values from which a genre is generated, when the very nature of the genre is uncertain, may be considered by some as the intellectual equivalent of stabbing in the dark.

A genre with steadfast borders doesn’t exist, and to a small extent, it is difficult to tie a genre’s initial formulation to the cultural and moral values from which it appeared when the very definition of ‘genre’ is debatable. Nevertheless, characteristics common across certain stories provide enough reasoning to group these stories into categories called ‘genres’. Therefore, to a large extent, genres are tied to the cultural and moral values of their time of production. The audience’s refusal to side against Johnny Strabler in The Wild One challenges the Manichaean approach common to Hollywood storytelling in the 1930s and 40s. Correspondingly, the violence inherent in Bonnie and Clyde from both the protagonists and antagonists suggests that the dichotomy between good and evil doesn’t truly exist. Furthermore, Strabler’s image as a gang leader appeals to a brittle society’s desperate craving for danger. Correspondingly, Bonnie and Clyde’s violent interactions with others appeal to a film niche’s urge to break free from authoritarian artistic regulations. In addition, Strabler symbolizes rough masculinity that intrigues viewers for its novelty. Correspondingly, Bonnie and Clyde symbolize the defiance of late 1960s counterculture.

Bibliography:

1. Altman, R. (1999). Film/Genre (p. 14). London: Film Institute.
2. Benedek, L. (1953). The Wild One [Film]. United States: Stanley Kramer Pictures Corp.
3. Black, G. (1989). Hollywood Censored: The Production Code Administration and the Hollywood Film Industry, 1930-1940. Film History, 3(3), 167 – 169.
4. Elsaesser, T. (1987). Film Genre Reader IV (pp. 440 – 441). University of Texas Press.
5. Kiehl, J. (2011). Irreducible Rascality. Retrieved 28 October 2019, from https://jeffreykiehl.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/irreducible-rascality/
6. Penn, A. (1967). Bonnie and Clyde [Film]. United States: Warren Beatty; Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.
7. Slocum, D. (2000). Film Violence and the Institutionalization of the Cinema. Social Research, 67(3), 654 – 659.
8. Smith, M. (1995). Engaging Characters: Fiction, Emotion and the Cinema (pp. ch. 3 (part of), pp. 81 – 84). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
9. Wilder, B. (1944). Double Indemnity [Film]. United States: Paramount Pictures.
10. Wilder, B. (1950). Sunset Boulevard [Film]. United States: Paramount Pictures.