Two Thumbs Down for ‘Natural Born Killers’ : Young Viewers May Not Perceive the Satire

The apparent critical and commercial success of the film “Natural Born Killers” is more disgusting than the film itself. Oliver Stone has sold the critics a bill of goods, and they have willingly forked over the currency of their trade. Siskel and Ebert gave the film two thumbs up, and The Times’ Kenneth Turan lauded the film as a masterwork (“Stone Removes the Gloves in ‘Killers,’ ” Calendar, Aug. 26). They and others praise the film’s “satirical” indictment of our “societal fascination” with violence and killers, yet they ignore the obvious: The movie exploits and celebrates the very elements of society it claims to criticize.

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When Jonathan Swift wrote his “Modest Proposal” in 1729, satirically suggesting the export of babies as delicacies to control overpopulation, the public expressed horror; when Stone overreaches, audiences and critics cheer. What’s wrong with this picture? Are we that much more sophisticated than we used to be? Viewing the film with a large group of the general public demonstrated to me that most of the audience doesn’t “get it.”

I attended a sold-out opening-night screening. The crowd included a fair mix of adults and teen-agers, many who looked several years below the MPAA age minimum of 17. Most of these teens were unaccompanied by parents or other adults.

As a high school English teacher, I must sadly admit that if the crowd reflects my students, not many of them would recognize the film’s intended satire unless they were told to look for it. The film’s opening murder scenes were met with quite a few cheers. The “sitcom” sequence of Mallory’s nightmarish childhood and rescue at the hands of soon-to-be-killer Mickey got some actual guffaws over the canned laughter. The idea that the killers’ childhood abuse and other experiences excuse their crimes seems close to the surface at all times in this film, yet no critic has mentioned this irresponsible message.

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Another aspect of the film left unmentioned by critics is the almost pornographic connection between sex and violence in several scenes. Mickey holds a knife while making love to Mallory, Mallory seduces men and attacks them as a reward for their lust, Jack Scagnetti murders a prostitute as he has sex with her and desires to do the same to Mallory. The violence in the film is “sexy,” shot in such a way as to make it viscerally appealing. The MTV-style quick cuts desensitize the viewer to violence.

Turan mentions in his review that Stone wants us to “surrender to the onslaught.” If we follow his wishes and surrender, how then can we take the necessary steps back to view this picture of our society critically? Many of the audience couldn’t step back on the night I saw the film, as evinced by cheers and applause.

Stone’s “visionary” psychedelic imagery has been lifted right out of his earlier film “The Doors” and old 1970s “acid trip” movies. Set to a new, heart-pounding score, it capitalizes on, rather than criticizes, America’s fascination with drugs, sex and violence. The audience snapping up tickets for this new “trip” doesn’t seem to care what critics and P.R. people say it’s about. They go for the “rush.” That, to me, is far more frightening than anything in this film.