UPCOMING FILMS

I had to post it.

The First Omen Only in theaters April 5.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The Tragic Lives of Bonnie & Clyde, A Two-Night Miniseries, Lifetime's Lizzie Borden Took an Axe and Flowers in the Attic



The story of Bonnie & Clyde aired this past and Monday  on A&E, History, and Lifetime, and some questions about the direction of the plotline a part from the historical aspect of their lives arise. 

Should feminist viewers rally at the bold inference that Bonnie Parker (Holliday Grainger) was cause of Clyde Barrow (Emile Hirsch) continual life in crime even as he protected continuing on? Probably not the two outlaws were destined for a hard life the moment their eyes meet. In the two-night miniseries that producers remained as faithful to the facts of Bonnie and Clyde life as possible. Described as being as iconic heroes in modern day folk culture, the story of Bonnie and Clyde is anything but a tale of heroism. The miniseries is more of a none-to-subdue cautionary tale that show what can happen to wayward youths, or it should be one.

As for Bonnie meeting with the female reporter P.J. Lane (Elizabeth Reaser), Lane is fictional character, and all photos published by the press at that time were found by the police in the room that Bonnie and Clyde shared and before abandoning it to evade capture. The photos were found along with Bonnie’s diary of poetry and though many were playful in nature the one photo of Bonnie cigar smoking gun moll was used to stir up bias feeling against her. The only reason to create a character like P.J. Lane is probably to show that women were working in more jobs that were previous dominated by men. Being that newspaper reporting was one of those job, the struggle for women writers to have their articles treated in the same accord their male counterparts was another of the then ongoing and mostly unwelcome women rights issue.

It is also hard to believe that a man like Clyde who ready had a criminal record before his meeting with Bonnie would be easily persuaded by a woman to continue a criminal life, or that suffered from bouts of premonitions. It was the times. It was the heart of prohibition and jobs were hard to come by, especially for school dropouts and people with criminal reorders. Clyde did as he wanted to do and he brought faithful but not blind Bonnie along. 

In all, I found the 1967 loosely based historical version of Bonnie and Clyde in which Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty played the title characters, just as informative as this fact-based representation of two of America’s most infamous outlaws posing passing for entertainment. However, the real life death of Bonnie and Clyde is not surprising. To the law enforcement of the 30s, they were a phenomenon, like an unknown infectious disease. They influenced others. The people of that era loved their daring exploits while hating them for their brutally, and the same holds true today. Therefore, like any disease, the Bonnie and Clyde phenomenon had to be cured from society.

Lizzie Borden in life
The next historical based miniseries to be aired by Lifetime on January 25, 2014 is a biopic in which Christina Ricci stars role as Lizzie Borden in Lizzie Borden Took an Axe. This is story of a young woman who for reasons never entirely explained (and remains one of the oldest cold cases in American history of unsolved crimes) is said to have brutally murdered her father and stepmother with an axe. In the 1892 in the town of Fall River, Massachusetts, Lizzie was tried for the crime of double murder, but lacking motive and evident she was never convicted. Nevertheless, she faced ostracized from Fall River society during the remainder of her life.

Fans of Christina Ricci remember her as Wednesday Addams from the Addams Family and the Addams Family Values films of the early 90s.

After the trial and even today, there several popular theories as to who could have killed Lizzie’s parents. Lizzie was the first suspect. However, to the theorists there were at four other suspects with motive who could have done the deeds. However, from the Lifetime poster, Lizzie Borden is portrayed as a sadistic killer. 

In addition on Lifetime,  Flowers in the Attic, the miniseries based on V.C. Andrews’ controversial novel Premiere January 18 at 8.7c. Cast includes Heather Graham, Ellen Burstyn, Kiernan Shipka, Mason Dye, and Dylan Bruce

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