Bonnie & Clyde - running blog (22/10/20 - )
Genre: crime drama - based on a true story
Begins: still photography, documentarian approach/realism
Stars and stardom: Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway
Beatty also influenced the script
NEW HOLLYWOOD - MPAA instead of Hays Code since 1964
Taboos of sexuality and violence
Younger generation of directors and producers
Social context: San Francisco and the LGBT movement, Pacifism, Vietnam, Civil Rights, Liberal Politics, Youth Culture, Feminism
LBJ - democrat president post-Kennedy
The concession to civil rights in the film's narrative reflects the mood and politics of the 1960s, rather than the lack of civil rights in the 1930s
1930s Great Depression:
Bonnie is ideal when we first meet her - in the South
Barren - hitting agricultural communities
Steinbeck's world
Repossession of homes
Exploration of gender issues and sexuality
Clyde Barrow's impotence, his feminine sensitivity in contrast to Bonnie's masculine attributes, her daring approach to crime and her attitude to Clyde, her confidence
3/11/20
Historical contexts in Bonnie & Clyde:
Great depression - evidence of farmers who have been evicted
Racism - black man always looking to white man for permission to do things
Masculinity - Bonnie is more masculine than Clyde, subverting gender expectations
Post Hays-Code - sexually revealing, violence
Younger generation of filmmakers - modern themes and attitudes (feminism, sexual expression)
1960s left-leaning social change - Bonnie & Clyde represent this discontent with the government and with societal restraints
9/11/20
Timeline:
1. Bonnie & Clyde meet at Bonnie's house in Texas
2. Clyde robs a shop to impress Bonnie after she goads me, it's revealed he has just come out of prison
3. Clyde tries to rob a butcher but nearly gets killed by an angry meat man, so they steal a car
4. Go to a garage and convince C.W. Moss to come with them after he demonstrates his expertise by stealing from the cash register
5. Robs a bank but Moss parks the car meaning that the police nearly get them, Clyde shoots one of them
6. They go to Clyde's brother's house, Buck and Blanche, and Clyde ends up recruiting them after the police shoot out their house
7. They find a sheriff in the forest and mocked him - he is trying to collect a bounty on them
8. They go and camp overnight and are ambushed by the sheriff and all the police, Blanche and Bonnie are shot in the eye, Buck dies, Blanche is taken into custody
NEW HOLLYWOOD - MPAA instead of Hays Code since 1964
Taboos of sexuality and violence
Younger generation of directors and producers
Social context: San Francisco and the LGBT movement, Pacifism, Vietnam, Civil Rights, Liberal Politics, Youth Culture, Feminism
LBJ - democrat president post-Kennedy
The concession to civil rights in the film's narrative reflects the mood and politics of the 1960s, rather than the lack of civil rights in the 1930s
1930s Great Depression:
Bonnie is ideal when we first meet her - in the South
Barren - hitting agricultural communities
Steinbeck's world
Repossession of homes
Exploration of gender issues and sexuality
Clyde Barrow's impotence, his feminine sensitivity in contrast to Bonnie's masculine attributes, her daring approach to crime and her attitude to Clyde, her confidence
3/11/20
Historical contexts in Bonnie & Clyde:
Great depression - evidence of farmers who have been evicted
Racism - black man always looking to white man for permission to do things
Masculinity - Bonnie is more masculine than Clyde, subverting gender expectations
Post Hays-Code - sexually revealing, violence
Younger generation of filmmakers - modern themes and attitudes (feminism, sexual expression)
1960s left-leaning social change - Bonnie & Clyde represent this discontent with the government and with societal restraints
9/11/20
Timeline:
1. Bonnie & Clyde meet at Bonnie's house in Texas
2. Clyde robs a shop to impress Bonnie after she goads me, it's revealed he has just come out of prison
3. Clyde tries to rob a butcher but nearly gets killed by an angry meat man, so they steal a car
4. Go to a garage and convince C.W. Moss to come with them after he demonstrates his expertise by stealing from the cash register
5. Robs a bank but Moss parks the car meaning that the police nearly get them, Clyde shoots one of them
6. They go to Clyde's brother's house, Buck and Blanche, and Clyde ends up recruiting them after the police shoot out their house
7. They find a sheriff in the forest and mocked him - he is trying to collect a bounty on them
8. They go and camp overnight and are ambushed by the sheriff and all the police, Blanche and Bonnie are shot in the eye, Buck dies, Blanche is taken into custody
9. They go to C.W. Moss's father's house after Bonnie writes a poem for the newspaper
10. Father Moss sets them up after telling his son to leave them, Bonnie & Clyde are shot continuously by the sheriff
Representation:
Women. Race. Gender.
Bonnie is the opposite of Blanche
Rebellious
Equal to Clyde
Female empowerment
Anti-establishment
Anti-police
Crime as a form of protest
Bonnie Parker:
Represented as both sexual and feminine but at the same time
She has gumption and is fearless - she possesses traditionally masculine attributes; forthcoming, makes decisions, fascinated by the gun (a symbol for male power)
Clyde Barrow:
Offended by Bonnie's sexual advancement
Opposite of a 'stud' - reference to male prowess over women
Requires a male actor who can play a male character - without being threatened by any commentary about their sexual identity and confidence - Beatty pulls off and represents a gentle, sensitive masculinity which makes us empathise with him
When Bonnie accuses him of advertising something he doesn't have - he is really offended; arguing that he wants the best for her, without sexually exploiting her
Representation: First Considerations
Bonnie & Clyde takes advantage of the counter-culture, left-wing movements of the late 60s to explore representational issues in a society ready to hear them. Penn uses the setting of the 1930's post-depression Southern states to both tell the story accurately and explore representational themes in a period where these issues weren't addressed. So, whilst the 1960s had second-wave feminism, civil rights, LGBT rights and democratic governments encouraging progressive social policies such as Medicare, the setting of the early 1930s had little progression in any of those areas. Penn uses the character of Bonnie to express many of these feminist ideas, having a female lead who is empowering and exhibits traditional masculine traits, such as gumption and a particular interest in guns. Penn also explores gender representation through Clyde who, instead of playing a stereotypical masculine character, plays a sensitive and sexually disinterested man who cares deeply for Bonnie on a human level. This contrasts with the characters of Buck and Blanche who each fulfill their own gender-roles and illustrate how Bonnie and Clyde are happier and more free to explore their own lives, even though the way they choose to do so isn't advisable. Penn would not have been able to properly display this during the Hays Code-era and so uses the liberal, progressive late-60s as a vessel for these characters and their ideas.
10. Father Moss sets them up after telling his son to leave them, Bonnie & Clyde are shot continuously by the sheriff
Representation:
Women. Race. Gender.
Bonnie is the opposite of Blanche
Rebellious
Equal to Clyde
Female empowerment
Anti-establishment
Anti-police
Crime as a form of protest
Bonnie Parker:
Represented as both sexual and feminine but at the same time
She has gumption and is fearless - she possesses traditionally masculine attributes; forthcoming, makes decisions, fascinated by the gun (a symbol for male power)
Clyde Barrow:
Offended by Bonnie's sexual advancement
Opposite of a 'stud' - reference to male prowess over women
Requires a male actor who can play a male character - without being threatened by any commentary about their sexual identity and confidence - Beatty pulls off and represents a gentle, sensitive masculinity which makes us empathise with him
When Bonnie accuses him of advertising something he doesn't have - he is really offended; arguing that he wants the best for her, without sexually exploiting her
Representation: First Considerations
Bonnie & Clyde takes advantage of the counter-culture, left-wing movements of the late 60s to explore representational issues in a society ready to hear them. Penn uses the setting of the 1930's post-depression Southern states to both tell the story accurately and explore representational themes in a period where these issues weren't addressed. So, whilst the 1960s had second-wave feminism, civil rights, LGBT rights and democratic governments encouraging progressive social policies such as Medicare, the setting of the early 1930s had little progression in any of those areas. Penn uses the character of Bonnie to express many of these feminist ideas, having a female lead who is empowering and exhibits traditional masculine traits, such as gumption and a particular interest in guns. Penn also explores gender representation through Clyde who, instead of playing a stereotypical masculine character, plays a sensitive and sexually disinterested man who cares deeply for Bonnie on a human level. This contrasts with the characters of Buck and Blanche who each fulfill their own gender-roles and illustrate how Bonnie and Clyde are happier and more free to explore their own lives, even though the way they choose to do so isn't advisable. Penn would not have been able to properly display this during the Hays Code-era and so uses the liberal, progressive late-60s as a vessel for these characters and their ideas.
Excellent detailed and nuanced understanding is evident in your notes. These offer confident and sophisticated points on representation, context and themes and issues. Excellent.
ReplyDelete