Natural Born Killers
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PSYCHIATRY AND THE MEDIA Natural Born Killers Declan McLoughlin If one is to believe the histrionic and sen media. The plot concentrates on Mickey and sationalist media coverage that preceded the Mallory, the titular killers, whose in release of Oliver Stone's satirical film Natural discriminate homicidal rampage through Bom Killers, and which ironically paralleled middle America has earned them celebrity events in the film, a busy time may be expected status thanks mainly to exploitative and for our colleagues working in forensic thoughtless media coverage typified by the psychiatry. It would not be surprising if self-righteous and hypocritical posturings of viewing of the film was to be adduced by a Wayne Gale, host of the popular TV show desperate defence lawyer as an incitement to 'American Maniacs'. To tell this grisly tale commit acts of violence. Hopefully, no such Natural Bom Killers eschews the classical argument would be deemed admissible as the Hollywood narrative approach of equilibrium, film's formal qualities deliberately militate disruption and restoration of equilibrium. against audience identification with on-screen Instead narrative is inherent in the characters and incidents. film's imagery and coded in a wide range of The important and complex question of the cinematic forms and genres employed to representation of violence in the visual media depict the chaotic lives of the two main and its effect upon the behaviour of both child protagonists, their worldviews and the and adult viewers is a contentious one. perpetually hostile environment in which Historically such concerns have been they reside. This method deliberately common when it comes to popular culture as distances the audience by allowing it to can be testified to by the succession of threats observe the screen world of the film without considered to be posed to Western civilisation manipulating its participation in it. Narrative by the 'penny dreadfuls' of the late 19th information is relayed in a frenzied montage of century, the EC horror comics of the 1950s, various materials, made possible only by videos in the 1980s, the Internet, etc. The recent advances in film editing technology. video issue recently came to prominence The film throughout frenetically cross-cuts again, unfortunately most inappropriately, between black and white, colour, video and following the tragic and seemingly incompre 8mm stock and also avails of back and front- hensible murder of two-year-old James Bulger projection. Most scenes are shot at awkward by two ten-year-old boys. The ensuing moral uncomfortable angles and with unnatural panic, fuelled mainly by the media - and not lighting rendering viewing physically difficult just the tabloid press - was reminiscent of the and requiring some time to adjust. It is like 'video nasty' phenomenon of the early 1980s using a remote control hopping from channel that culminated in the stringent 1984 Video to channel except that you always end up Recordings Act. The characteristic feature of watching the same programme. The content these moral panics has been the scapegoating does not change but the style does and therein of the availability of video feature films lies the narrative. containing scenes of violence to account for Two brief examples of this film-making some of society's more problematic concerns, approach and how it works are Mickey and notably violent crime rates in the adolescent Mallory's background stories. Brief manga- population. At the same time this has allowed style animation sequences, interspersed more aetiologically relevant issues (e.g. rising throughout the film, economically provide levels of poverty, unemployment, family break some insights into how Mickey sees himself - a down, etc.) to go relatively unacknowledged. purified übermensch-cum-samurai warrior, Natural Bom Killers is a provocative attempt with a line in cod-Nietzchean philosophy; to stimulate debate about violence and the black and white interludes, suggesting a Psychiatric Bulletin (1995). 19, 499-500 499 PSYCHIATRY AND THE MEDIA different level of realism, depict his early life As hyperbolic satire on media handling of intimating parental abuse and show Mickey as crime and violence and the media's culpability a child witnessing his father's violent suicide. in contributing to these problems Natural Mallory's experiences of sexual abuse by her Bom Killers certainly indulges in the father and neglect by her mother are presented requisite Swiftian overkill; but, due to a as a sitcom-from-hell à la 'I Love Lucy', even heavy-handed script, it lacks the dark and including canned laughter to counterpoint the unsettling humour necessary for effective depredations she suffers. The deliberate satire. Oliver Stone is a serious director and trivialisation of Mallory's experience to some is to be commended for attempting to deal extent emphasises its awfulness but also with difficult topics but unfortunately provides a commentary on how TV he continues to pursue his bludgeoning representation of dysfunctional family life approach to film-making. It is not sufficient and sexual abuse passes for entertainment. just to indicate that the news, TV and other This anti-natural approach extends to the media are culpable of glamorising violence numerous depictions of violence. There is and mass murder. The director does not either ridiculous visceral excess or literally a deserve any credit for highlighting the Chuck Jones cartoon approach. For instance, obvious. He would be better employed a bullet's and a knife's points of view are exploring the complicity of the millions of employed in the first scene of the film; as they viewers who invest daily in such material, are propelled towards their victims they stop and their responses to and understanding of and hover in mid-air for a few moments before media representation of violence. Two recent penetrating their targets. At other times these films that have intelligently and insidiously strategies seem to be deliberately employed to accomplished this without any of NBK's hype create a dislocating hallucinatory cinematic are Man Bites Dog and Henry: Portrait of a landscape from which at times it is impossible Serial Killer. However, be prepared to feel to derive any particular meaning. Perhaps this uncomfortable about yourself. is Stone's intention and if so it works. Declan McLoughlin, Alzheimer's Disease Alternatively, like Mickey, perhaps Stone is trying to make some sort of a statement but is Society Research Fellow, Section of Old Age not 100% sure what it means. Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF 500 Declan McLoughlin.