Review of Natural Born Killers (1994) by Andrew D — 06 May 2014

One of the most controversial films of the past twenty years, "Natural Born Killers" incited a frothy debate on the role of violence in mass media, and how it affects young children. The actual controversy surrounding the film included a lawsuit that stated that the film had incited violence by showing satirized depictions of violence, going against the actual point of the film.

The original screenplay was by Quentin Tarantino, though later bought and heavily changed by Oliver Stone and his collaborators, though the inspiration is still very clear. The film stars Woody Harrelson and Juliet Lewis as mass murderers who are also a couple, the story taking heavily from the exploits of Starkweather, the beating of Rodney King, and sensationalized news coverage.

Their story, while seeming out of this world strange, is memorable for its proximity to true American crime stories, and the media coverage that did surround them. Robert Downey Jr. plays an Australian reporter with a crime TV show (a la Geraldo Rivera) who gets way too into the story he is reporting on, and finds it all very exciting rather than horrifying.

It's a scathing indictment of the media, and their inability to show murder and violence without a bit of excitement, maybe even envy. There's this gross, almost pseudo-erotic tendency that crime shows have towards their subject matter.

Everything has to be pulse thumping and exploitative, even though these are real people dying. Besides its core message, this film is also amazing for its shocking use of parody, sex, and violence. Though the events in the film can be the basis for an action film, it's framed so that you feel queasy, that you see the grotesque of society while also seeing inside the minds of these killers.

This film is riveting, gross, and bloody, while also being insightful.