In our previous lecture we viewed the film “Bonnie and Clyde.” This film is one of the first to mark the turning point in Hollywood after the Code was done away with. Immediately at the beginning of the film, the viewer sees major differences from movies made before. Bonnie, played by Faye Dunaway, is what appears to be completely nude. Although you never actually see her breasts or anything, the fact that she is roaming around topless had to be shocking for audiences in that time period. Besides the nude scene, there are a number of sex scenes that did not occur during the Code era. The viewer doesn’t actually see Bonnie and Clyde have sex. The film even goes as far as showing Bonnie attempting to give Clyde oral sex, which even surprised me watching it over 40 years later. I thought it was ballsy to address all these different taboos and throw impotency in the mix as well.
Besides all the sexual things occurring in the film, the fact that Bonnie and Clyde were kind of glamorized was definitely another difference. Even though what they were doing was wrong, they still had a heart for the common folk and they reciprocated their feelings. The film makes it seem like the banks are the evil ones, not the robbers. Also, the up in your face violence was a major difference. I didn’t expect someone to get shot right in the face at all.
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