Social and Political Critique and Commentary in Bonnie and Clyde

1. Sobchack’s argument pertaining to on -screen violence that she wrote thirty years ago was that any violent acts portrayed in movies back then was to emphasize the importance of an element in a story, an emphatic way of engaging the viewers and forcing them to feel what the movie was about. It gave them a sense of the substance of the plot which would allow them to feel for the characters and yearn for good to overcome evil. In other words, the effort made to engage audiences through depictions of violence created violence that was artistic and well done, or as Sobchack writes, violence was “aestheticized.” Violence was incorporated into film in a stylistic

Society has been subjected to many violent acts over the course of its history. Although violence is immoral and wrong, somehow people everyday condone and commit violence for countless reasons. Many Hollywood films glorify mindless violence to their advantage and captivate audiences through its entertaining shock value and rake large box office profits. Car chases, crashes and glorified gladiator sword fights are all familiar scenes in which violence is portrayed in an unrealistic glamorised manner.

When looking into the 1950’s and 1960’s, it is important to look at the many struggles going on back then in order to truly differentiate between the two decades. These two decades experienced many different challenges both socially and politically. In fact, many people have portrayed the 1950s as the decade of prosperity, conformity, and consensus. While others have portrayed the 1960s as a decade of turbulence, protest, and disillusionment. In order to truly differentiate between both the 1950s and 1960s, we must consider the war, civil rights, and social changes.

The movie itself covers so many pivotal and defining moments in history and provides an intimate observation with a twist of humor and charm that is not often depicted in movies such as these. The movie itself gives an honest insight into situations of the time that are not often addressed. One moment early on in the movie depicts the strong relationship between a single mother and her child in the 1950s, as a rule of thumb television

This film highlights the flaws of humanity in a western world. The films ability to touch on topics of classism, prostitution, and alcoholism makes the content mature and unlike typical western films. This revolutionary and innovative western created a foundation for many future films. The sophistication of the content, and lack of adherence to the production code makes this film an “adult”

In his book, More Than a Movie: Ethics in Entertainment, F. Miguel Valenti examines nine “hot buttons” of violence – “creative elements that filmmakers use to manipulate viewers’ reactions to onscreen violence.” (99) These elements, posited by researchers conducting The National Television Violence Study (Valenti, 99) are “choice of perpetrator, choice of victim, presence of consequences, rewards and punishments, the reason for the violence, weapons, realism, use of humor, and prolonged exposure” (Valenti, 100) .

The 1960s was crammed full of many impacting events and important figures. From Hitchcock releasing one of the greatest thrillers of all time, Psycho, to Marilyn Monroe’s untimely death, to the infamous Woodstock festival. This era changed history completely and made the United States think twice about its youth. Events of the 1960s are still impacting our country as we know it today. The sudden pull from the conservative ‘50s changed America’s views on all aspects of life, including fashion, entertainment, and lifestyles.

With the overwhelming amount of Levittown houses, the obsession to obtain the perfect American “ideal family” as seen on TV and the unspoken agreement to fear any and all foreign ideas and values, the 1950s were revealed to be a decade of prosperity, conformity and consensus. Just ten years later the atmosphere in America was shockingly different; the 1960s were a decade of turbulence, protest and disillusionment due to the ongoing struggle for civil rights, arising feminism, and the Vietnam War.

The 1960’s was a decade that forever changed the culture and society of America. The

The camera movement was cleverly done. The film was fast paced with the change of first person to third person view during the police chases and shoot outs. This makes the film very exciting and enjoyable. Bonnie and Clyde were living glamorous criminal life that is unattainable to make many.

While violence is shown to a far lesser extent in this film compared to others, it is still prevalent. When the Queen orders the huntsman to kill Snow White, she does not ask for a simple death. She orders the man to hack out the young girl 's heart and bring it to her (in the original story, she does this so she can eat it. Thankfully, they do not mention that in the movie).

Bonnie and Clyde is reckoned as one of the 60s' most talked-about, volatile, controversial crime/gangster films combining comedy, terror, love, and ferocious violence, and regarded as one of the first films of the New Hollywood era, in which it broke many taboos and was so popular amongst the

In conclusion, Shakespeare illustrates the theme of violence by writing about three murders committed by Macbeth. Macbeth starts off hesitant about murdering someone, but by the end of the play, he has no hesitation whatsoever. He uses violence to achieve power, gain power, and keep power and overtime it corrupts him. His violent actions lead to his overconfidence, which eventually lead to his downfall and death. This is what violence can do to a person. Just ask

The 1960s are frequently referred to as a period of social protest and dissent. Antiwar demonstrators, civil-rights activists, feminists, and members of various other social groups demanded what they considered to be justice and sought reparation for the wrongs they believed they had suffered. The decade marked a shift from a collective view on politics, to a much more individualistic viewpoint. The 1960s could easily be characterized as a period during which political, ideological, and social tensions among radicals, liberals, and conservatives in American society are seen to have rapidly unfolded. Due to this, the decade has had an overwhelming effect on the decades that have followed. The sixties have had the greatest impact on American society out of any decade in recent history. Whether for better or for worse, the decade has had a profound influence on politics, society, foreign policy, and culture.

Most violence in Tarantino’s movies is of shootings, but not in all cases. In Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction the violence consists of graphic, detailed, hard-to-watch gun scenes. These are exceptionally gory, and are usually on-screen. In his Kill Bill series, it is mostly death-by-sword, the weapon of choice for the main character. Inglourious Basterds is a whole different ball field. No pun intended, since a man is beaten to death with a baseball bat in this particular movie. The deaths vary from graphic shootings, with lots of blood splatter, to carving swastikas into men’s heads, to shooting an already-dead man’s face apart in explicit, extremely life-like detail. The twisted mind of Quentin Tarantino allows him to write, direct, and watch these scenes with no sort of cringe, but