Mickey and Mallory know the difference between right and wrong; they just don't give a damn.

As anyone could tell from my facial expression on Wednesday, this movie left me speechless. Now, I'm not saying I have never seen films like this before, I have, but there was just something about Natural Born Killers that rubbed me the wrong way...but in that good way.
A few people touched on the fact that Serial Killers are so intriguing that we all seem to be drawn to the explanation of how people can murder for no apparent reason. I remember when the film Strangers came out, I heard from someone that it was based off of the Charles Manson case, and I decided that I was going to do as much research as I possibly could before seeing the movie in theatres. For some reason I was so intrigued by Manson's life story, I quickly began reading biographies written on his life. As we watched through Natural Born Killers curiosity on serial killers became more of an obsession to people. With the help of the media, it portrayed how even though society claims to be individualised, we all are shaped and molded by what the media tells us to be.
With all the quick shots to commericals and other T.V. shows throughout the film, I got that the film was sending subliminal messages that we are all just warped by what the media tells us, and that Micky and Mallory may not just be acting out out their "natural instincts", but more on how the media wants them to act.
The reading describes the scene where Micky is being interviewed in the jail and makes a comment about being a "natural born killer" and then the camera cuts to a commerical break. The commerical is a coca cola commerical where the polar bears are drinking cokes while watching the Aurora Borelias. Apparently, in the Native American tradition, both Bears and the Aurora Borelias are dangerous and if people aren't careful they can "mesmerize you and steal your soul". I feel as though this is the message throughout the entire film. Except, it isn't polar bears who are stealing our souls, it is the media.

Could the 80's have been any stranger?

From the moment there was a exchange of sex partners within the first 5 minutes of Repo Man, I knew I was going to be left really confused and put off by the rest of this movie.  Not only did the 80's 80's shine through out this entire film, but it even began to poke fun at the culture of this time period.  With the labels on the drinks and beer cans being the literal name "Beer" and "Drinks" , I found myself laughing at how absurd this frmovie was.  

Not only was the plot of this movie all over the place, but the connections of events were completely scattered.  I guess one could hint that it reflected how during this time, everyone was really just all over the place and no one really knew how to fit in with the rest of society.   I just took it as something that left me thinking too much about what just happened, when something else really extreme comes along.  It made me get the same feeling I get from watching the T.V. Show Tim and Eric (if anyone has ever seen this they will know what I mean).  

Although I would love to incorporate the reading into my blog, I honestly felt the same way while doing the reading as I did while watching this film: confused.  This idea of postfuturism is something that I could connect with though. Certain aspects of this film made me think of the film Brazil. In that film, it made the world that we live in , to be one big mess. Everyone and everything was always moving and there wasn't any time to stop. If you fell out of line, you were outcasting yourself from society.  Repo Man seemed to do the same thing, only it toyed with the whole 80's punk idea.  

Honestly, I don't think I would ever watch this film again. It left me very confused and asking myself the question : why did we watch this again?

Waiting for Shaft to make his entrance...

Now I remember why I don't watch that many 70's movies. I have to say even though this movie was not filmed all too well, and the story line wasn't all that great, I want to watch the rest of it and see the end. Petey Wheatstraw is a interesting character to say the least. I found it intriguing how the film begins almost as if it is going to be this serious portrayal of Petey's life, yet five minutes into it I realized how hystrical it really was.

I know this film was probably considered shocking, but honestly I have seen a lot worse. The watermelon, and regular size boy popping out of his mother was no big suprise here. The only real shocking thing to me was how karate fit into the film. I think for as much as I have seen of this, I liked the opening credits the most. It reminded me of a old Kung Fu movie, except with an African American boy who wants to beat the shit out of kids who picked on him.

Even though I am going to watch the rest of the film on my own, I can see why we didn't take up two class periods to finish this movie.

Clint Eastwood the devil? I think not!

Now I have seen all of the Spaghetti westerns, but I have to say this is by far my favorite Eastwood film.  The moment Eastwood rode in on his horse into the picture almost fading in like a mirage and left at the end of the film fading away into a mirage was beautifully done.  The artistic setup of this film was captivating and was part of the reason why I was drawn into the film.  I think I have a love for Westerns because of the beautiful scenery and sets.

To go back to our discussion in class on the rape scene was that it really wasn't as shocking to me as I thought it was going to be.  I was expecting this horrible shocking scene where the woman was raped.  I don't even know if I would consider what Eastwood's character did was "rape".  The woman walked up to Eastwood and completely instigated the situation.  Even though no one ever deserves to get raped, Honestly, myself being a feminist, i wanted her to at least get something for being such a bitch.  While she was actually getting raped, she started to actually enjoy it.  By that time I started to think that it was a cat and mouse chase, she wanted that to happen.  I just thought this whole scene was very confusing and frustrating.

While reading the article I found it interesting how Eastwood wanted to be a part of High Plains Drifter because he compared it to the main character in High Noon.  I thought it was cool how only 9 pages into the screenplay and he was hooked.  From the other films he got to be in, he finally got to have revenge for those characters.  Even though I have never seen the film Shane, from what we discussed in class, I can see how it is considered a "re carnation" of it.  Although High Plains Drifter was in essence one of the first of its kind, it has taken parts in other Westerns and mimicked it within this one.  Such as a scene in Fistful of Dollars, the drifter begins to take advantage of the town, milking it for everything its worth.

The compilations of Westerns helped to make High Plains Drifter into what it turned out to be.  

"Why don't you pass the time by playing a little solitaire? "

I remember the first time I ever watched this film. Our local library holds movie nights over the summer every Tuesday and I would try to attend every single one. After the showing of this, I remember walking out that night thinking how much better older films are than anything now adays. This is a film that everyone who claims they are a movie lover should see. ( It also lets everyone see Frankie in a different kind of film : ) )

This film plays with so many different themes and ideas that it is hard to focus on all the different things that are happening at once. One of my favorite scenes from this film, is when the American soliders are haullecinating that the Communists who are brain washing them are middle old aged women. This scene at first confused me. I wasn't sure exactly what was happening, and which scene was real. I think this was the point of the scene at the beginning. I think that the audience wasn't supposed to understand which scene to believe, whether it was the old women or the Communists speaking to the American soliders, just as they aren't sure either. It shortly becomes clear what it was intended to be a little later in the film, but I thought it was creative how that scene was shot.

What I found to be really creepy was the mother. Angela Lansbury did a brillant job being a sick and incestious mother. An Odepius conflict can be identified between the mother and her son. It becomes evident that her mother cares so much for her son that she doesn't want him to be with anyone else. When her son falls in love for the first time, his mother tries to destroy their relationship by telling him that his son's lovers father is a Communist. Even later on in the film when he marries his long lost love, his mother "programs" him to kill her. In the article it states that " Her incestious love for him,which repels Harvey but which he cannot ecsape." This helps to show how she has subconciously gained control over her own son. Creepy.

I think the ending of this film shocks me every time I watch it. It makes me feel good inside though to know that the main character finally realized he was brainwashed and the only way to save himself was to end the source of the problem. Even though he had to kill himself to release the hold that others had upon him, he ended up killing his mother in the process.

This film could be a great one to teach in classes while learning about Communism and how it impacted the United States, and I think I may use this when I teach my own class in the future.