Not
to want to sound gloomy, but there are some brilliant films about
murderers and psychos. From Fritz Lang's M,
Hitchcock's Psycho,
through to David Fincher's Se7en
and Zodiac cinema has
a tradition of exploring the depths of human behaviour for
entertainment. While some are just about lunatics, today's selection
are films about people pushed too far, passing breaking point and
doing terrible things, and how it's not always a case of simply good
vs. bad.
In
chronological order, Falling Down
(Joel Schumacher, 1993), Natural Born Killers
(Oliver Stone, 1994), God Bless America (Bobcat
Goldthwait, 2011) share common DNA and would make a fine afternoon's
viewing (probably edging into the evening, too). These are films
about people who are driven to their bloody actions by elements of
society, culture and modern life, rebelling against them in
destructive ways. We as an audience are asked to make moral choices
about what they do and how much or little we approve.
The
protagonists have different motivations but each is ultimately
pushed: Falling Down's
D-FENS (Michael Douglas) and God Bless America's
Frank (Joel Murray) experience job losses, rejection and the
maddening effect of popular culture. There is no joy or particular
rage behind their decisions to go goof the map (or get out of the
car...), they've just had enough and decide that something has to
change. Natural Born Killers'
Mallory Knox is driven to her spree by an abusive family life (little
is revealed about Mickey Knox's motivations: I like to think his line
“I'm a natural born killer”, delivered to Robert Downey Jr.'s
vacuous media whore Wayne Gale, is more part of the media satire
aspect of the film than a confession). Oliver Stone brilliantly films
Mallory's family as a dark sitcom complete with canned laughter; a
nod to the numbing effect of television, also seen in God
Bless America. The connective
(scar) tissue here is the failing American dream; these films all
function as dark comedies; satires on what happens when America fails
at its own game and the Dream becomes a nightmare.
There
is a perverse morality to each film, despite the blood on the hands
of each character. Looking at some of the victims, the films present
these characters almost as avenging angels, exerting vigilante
justice on the various ills of society. Granted, Mickey Knox is
genuinely psychopathic and at one point rapes a kidnap victim but,
disturbingly, we are still encouraged to sympathise with him and see
him as the hero throughout the film, mainly because the majority of
the other characters are so repellent. Out of the three films, only
Robert Duvall's Prendergast (whose name is a nod to the detective
Arbogast from Psycho, as close to a 'good guy' as the film
has) represents a traditional moral compass but Michael Douglas is
unquestionably the protagonist.
This
of course leaves 'good' and 'bad' as an entirely subjective notion,
with the director acting as judge. Take some of the on-screen
victims in Killers: a misogynist redneck, Mallory's abusive
father and enabler mother, violent and psychotic policeman Jack
Scagnetti (Tom Sizemore) and media exploiter extraordinaire, Wayne
Gale. Granted, there are many others whose characters are not even
sketched out, but those are the main victims. Falling Down
deliberately targets subjects of disdain in popular culture: gangs
(something which was likely to be in popular consciousness in early
1990s Los Angeles), the standards in fast food restaurants, white
supremacists (Frederic Forrest's brilliantly loathsome surplus store
owner) and unnecessary roadworks among others. Most poignant, though
is the fact that D-Fens himself is worth more to his family dead than
alive.
There
are too many of these to list when it comes to God Bless America.
If a major criticism can be levelled the film (other than the often
shoddy acting from Tara Lynne Barr) it's that it sometimes comes off
as List Of Things Bobcat Goldthwait Doesn't Like rather than a
narrative. Granted these things include vacuous and spoilt My Super
Sweet 16 realist TV stars, fear-mongering Fox News bullies, American
Idol and the Westboro Baptist Church. As I happen to dislike those
things as well, I took a perverse pleasure in watching their
fictionalised punishment.
And
that is exactly the intention of these films: we are forced into
sharing the perspective of the killer, encouraged to think that their
victims are not innocent at all, and more harmful to society than the
killers themselves. So much so that after Mickey Knox kills a wholly
good character in Red Cloud, the Navajo Indian trying to exorcise his
'demon' in Killers, Mallory is furious with him for having
“killed life,” and in doing so crossing a line.
Tonally,
there is an ocean of variety between the three films and depending on
your attitudes to violence and satire (some folks just can't see it
even when it's pointing a gun at them) you will find these films
either hilarious or sadistic. For me they are important and darkly
funny shots in the direction of the things that are both wrong with
culture but also pervasive and accepted. It's worth noting there is
a preoccupation with celebrity and the exploitation that comes with
it in both Natural Born Killers and God Bless America.
Mickey and Mallory are made famous and lauded for what are terrible
crimes, while Frank and sidekick Roxy aim their guns squarely at what
they see as the worst examples of celebrity exploitation. That
Falling Down's D-Fens slips largely under the radar is kind of
the point to his sorry story; he's “not economically viable”
enough to be famous.
But
the point to all three is this (and this is not exclusive to
America): popular culture makes us stupid and lazy, complacent and
homogenised; it makes heroes out of killers and makes popular the
mediocre. These films present you with visions of popular culture
gone wrong and ask you to side with the villains who are holding a
gun to its head.
Three films very
much worth a watch (and an argument could be made for the inclusion
of Terence Malick's Badlands
which if you didn't know already is one of the best films ever made),
that will hopefully prompt you to think about whose side you are on.
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