Since the very beginning of his forty-year career,Oliver Stone has remainedone of the most topical and provocative filmmakers of our time. If there’s one thing that his many great films have in common, it’s that they’re unafraid to show us an unvarnished portrait of America, as it’s caught between the many forces that both drive and destroy it. Oscar-winningPlatoonsaw the all-out brutality of the Vietnam War through an infantryman’s point of view, reiterating the fact that, yes, there is such thing as an anti-war film.Wall Streetunfurled a complex portrait of a man whose greed will never be satiated, even when he has everything.JFK- one of Stone’s boldest, most controversial, yet most commercially successful films - examines the Kennedy assassination from the greatest point of urgency, a point of no return. What if conspiracy existed all around us?
Despite the cultural uproar that all of these films, and many others, caused throughout America at their time of release, nothing would unravel mainstream audiences - in more ways than one - as much as Stone’s 1994 featureNatural Born Killers. With its stylized violence and (heavily revised) script from Quentin Tarantino, this savage film was a lot different than anything Stone had ever done before. Asthe film’s iconic trailernotes, Stone’s other films focused on what had already happened in history -Natural Born Killers, on the other hand, dared to reflect on “where we are” and “where we’re headed.” Oddly enough, this is part of what makes it still a deeply relevant film today. Instead of focusing on one particular era or event,Natural Born Killerstakes a wider look at our culture and the various maladies infecting it, perhaps the most fatal one being the media.
The film follows two mass murderers, Mickey and Mallory, on a hallucinatory road journey of sorts, as they kill indiscriminately and without an apparent motive. Played by anenrapturing Woody Harrelsonand Juliette Lewis, both killers come from troubled pasts, and there is one thing always in common with their murders: they leave one witness behind to tell the tale. Eventually, the pair are picked up as perverted tabloid sweethearts, the film concerning itself with not so much whether Mallory and Mickey will be caught, but how long they’ll remain in the spotlight. Those categories are more mutually exclusive than one might tend to think. Especially in 2022,Natural Born Killersstill has some very important lessons to teach us - and proved Stone to be a clairvoyant as much as a historical filmmaker.
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True Crime Exploitation Is at an All-Time High
Even if Mickey and Mallory grab our attention and refuse to let it go throughout the entire film, we’d be at a loss not to mention the third point on their triangle: Wayne Gale. Played by an expertly unhinged Robert Downey Jr. (who was perfecting the Australian accent well beforeTropic Thunder),Gale is an over-the-top caricature of any content-craven TV host. His particular program is calledAmerican Maniacs, and, of course, who better to showcase to the world than America’s not-so-sweet sweethearts?
Downey’s performance was based on real-life reporter Wayne Darwen, who entered the public eye with his 1993 televised interviews with the Son of Sam killer. When asked about the film,Darwen himself said, “I think it was a very poignant movie and a great indictment of the media. I plead guilty as charged.” But it wasn’t just figures like Darwen who were ingratiating true-crime fascination around the world -Natural Born Killerswas inspired by the real-life court cases of people like O.J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers, and Jeffrey Dahmer, whose relative criminal trials millions of people were tuning into over the early nineties. The Simpson trial alone was viewed by 150 million people - more than half of America’s population at the time.
Today, the true crime infatuation has arguably become more exploitative than ever, steering perhaps even further into fantasy than real life. The Depp v. Heard trial only amassed 3.5 million viewers on television last summer. Meanwhile, the recent docuseries,Dahmer: Monster - The Jeffery Dahmer Storywas watched for 3.7 billion minutes in its first week alone, and has since become Netflix’s no. 3 most-watched series of all time. This is following an unprecedented string of true-crime miniseries that seem to be released anew every week, often through the “limited series” format that encourages binge-watching. As Stone warned us, yet was still hopeful we would overcome, the infatuation with violence is stronger than ever, and streaming has made these narratives more pervasive not just on a national, but international scale. In light of this recent development, it’s hard not to watchNatural Born Killersand wonder what, exactly drove these real-life Mickey and Mallory type narratives to such frightening popularity. However, there is also an argument to be made that at least these series are increasinglygrowing more self-aware.
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Fetishizing Killers on the Small Screen
It’s impossible to have a meaningful conversation aboutNatural Born Killerswithout bringing up its groundbreaking,wildly experimental style. The film feels both hyperreal and surreal at the same time - Stone accomplishes this through a unique mix of psychedelic imagery and feverish, headache-inducing cinematography techniques. We are never quite sure if what’s happening is reality or pure sadistic fantasy, and that is precisely the point. For the critically polarizing film, this sort of indulgence is what many took issue with, saying that the gonzo style of the film did the opposite of what it intended to do - that it actually ended up glorifying violence.
Decades later, this debate is still heavily prevalent today, but many now recognize that the style ofNatural Born Killersis part of what makes it such apitch-black satire. By being so ridiculously over-the-top, seeming to blatantly prioritize style over substance, it points to how we see violence as a drug of sorts. Mickey and Mallory might be evil, but it’s also hard to look away. Stone wants us to confront this truth and look it in the eye. It seems that it is high time to confront it again - many social media platforms fetishize killers in the wayNatural Born Killersdoes, but minus the satire element.For example, on TikTok, there are an array of viral edits of serial killers set to upbeat music, almost functioning as “thirst traps.” In the film, this is definitely part of why Mallory and Mickey become sensations - the fact of being young, stylish, and “viral” material.
A Timelessly Surreal Reflection of America
What makesNatural Born Killerssuch a truly superlative film is that it is about much more than just the violence it revolves around. Granted, violence might be the main object of the film, and there is certainly no shortage of bloodshed or gratuity, but Stone’s violence is purposefully oriented within a broader culturalcontext of America, one that he depicts through an uncompromising lens. One of the most controversial scenes from the film is indeed not one where any killing takes place. It’s, instead, a flashback from Mallory’s point of view that plays like a sitcom. One has to really see it to believe it. Featuring Rodney Dangerfield as Mallory’s horribly abusive father, the scene captures the real horrors that go down in domestic America, with a laugh track still playing in the background. There are many scenes like this throughoutNatural Born Killersthat remind us it is a deeply substantive film, with real things to say about “where we are” and “where we’re headed.” Its themes regarding trauma, empathy, and, of course, consumerism will never go away no matter when you watch the film, be it in 2022 or 2050. However, with that in mind, Stone’s vision is also one of hope, reminding us of not just what’s wrong, but ways that we can change it.
