It’s strange that people romanticize Bonnie & Clyde, since they murdered 11 people (or more) …
It’s strange that people romanticize Bonnie & Clyde, since they murdered eleven people or more. Wikipedia says that it must have been at least thirteen, consisting of nine police officers and four civilians at the very least. Whatever the exact number, they were among the most notorious outlaws in American history. They were especially known for their bank robberies, although they preferred to rob filling stations and small stores instead. They were active during the Great Depression, and usually operated in the Central United States. Most people wouldn’t know the names of their gang’s other members, but many have heard of Bonnie & Clyde themselves. There’s a certain air of romanticism to them, which has long been hard for me to understand. People seem especially to love the romance between the two main figures.
Early life of Bonnie Parker, and her marriage to Roy Thornton (whom she never divorced)
Their exploits have been depicted in a number of films and miniseries, but I decided to learn about them from PBS instead. Specifically, they did a one-hour film simply entitled “Bonnie & Clyde.” After a brief introduction, it starts by giving some brief background about Bonnie & Clyde themselves. For example, Bonnie Parker had once been married to another outlaw named Roy Thornton. However, Mr. Thornton’s frequent brushes with the law had caused some problems in their relationship. She never actually divorced from Mr. Thornton, but she was still attracted to the “bad boy” type. Thus, she left Thornton for the soon-to-be-infamous Clyde, despite the fact that she had never divorced from Thornton (and never did). Thornton would later be imprisoned for robbery in 1933. After Bonnie’s death, Thornton would eventually be killed while attempting to escape from prison in 1937. This makes for a colorful story in and of itself.
Bonnie Parker
Early life of Clyde Barrow, and his prison escape (and eventual parole)
When Bonnie joined up with Clyde Barrow, their romance was interrupted when Clyde was himself imprisoned for auto theft. But Bonnie smuggled some weapons into the prison, allowing Clyde and two others to escape. When Clyde was subsequently recaptured, his prison sentence was extended from two years to fourteen. However, Clyde seems to have been repeatedly sexually assaulted while he was in prison, and responded by killing his assailant. Perhaps partially because of this, he was soon paroled, which was a mistake. He had actually become even more hardened during this prison time than before. After his parole, Clyde Barrow soon assembled a gang, soon to be known as the “Barrow Gang” (after his last name). With their help, Bonnie and Clyde would then begin one of the most notorious crime sprees in American history, from 1932 to 1934. The gang would eventually include Clyde’s brother Buck, and Buck’s wife Blanche – another criminal couple, albeit a couple that were actually married to each other. Again, Bonnie would still be married to Roy Thornton until her death later on.
Clyde Barrow
Their crime spree, with a response to some of the arguments used to defend them
I won’t go over all of the details of their crime spree here. Thus, suffice it to say that Bonnie & Clyde committed many armed robberies during this spree. The murders were committed in the course of the robberies. Some have defended Bonnie & Clyde on the grounds that most of their victims were police officers, rather than civilians. But implicit in this defense is the idea that the lives of police officers “don’t matter,” even if they’re trying to protect the public from hardened criminals. To me, the lives of these police officers matter far more than the lives of any criminal, because the police were earnestly trying to protect the public. Indeed, that’s why they lost their lives at the hands of the infamous Barrow Gang. The gang, by contrast, had no allegiance whatsoever to the public, and were willing to threaten and kill people to steal money from the innocent. The owners of the robbed filling stations and the robbed stores were all small businessmen – a group that should be celebrated for their accomplishments, rather than demonized. And the robbed banks contained the money of many ordinary depositors, something that seems to be lost on those who consider these banks to be “corrupt institutions” that deserved what they got. Again, the romanticizing of Bonnie & Clyde is very hard for me to understand.
Bonnie Parker poses with a cigar and gun
Things get dangerous for Bonnie & Clyde, when their pictures are released to the media
Things became very dangerous for Bonnie & Clyde, when their pictures were released to the news media. Their faces were now familiar to newspaper readers around the country. Thus, they knew that their luck was very likely to run out soon. Bonnie & Clyde became much more cautious about risking visits to their respective families, because they knew that they were likely to be caught if they continued these visits. It almost did lead to their capture once, and so they stopped sending the proceeds of the robberies to their families. Herein lies another reason that Bonnie & Clyde are sometimes defended – that they sent the money to their families. But implicit in this is the idea that their families deserved the money more than did those who had earned it, and that is a very dangerous proposition. There were plenty of other poor people during the Great Depression, many of whom were victimized by Bonnie & Clyde themselves. Thus, one wonders where the public sympathy for these people might be.
Bonnie and Clyde in a photo from around 1932–33 that was found by police at an abandoned hideout
Bonnie and Clyde die in a police ambush along a highway in Louisiana
The fates of Bonnie & Clyde were eventually sealed, when police officers were able to track their whereabouts. Some of the law enforcement officers had become quite skilled at tracking Bonnie & Clyde’s movements, and thus knew where they were going to be at this time. Thus, they set up an ambush near Bienville Parish, Louisiana, along state highway 154. Police officers waited for more than 24 hours for them to drive through there. The police were about to give up, when they finally saw Bonnie & Clyde driving through. When Bonnie & Clyde saw the police cars, Clyde slowed down his car as they had hoped. While the vehicle was still moving, the police then opened fire. 130 rounds were fired, but there were actually more than 150 bullet holes, since some of the blasts were shotgun rounds that had created multiple bullet holes each. 112 of these bullet holes were found in the vehicle, as shown in this documentary by the police footage from the time. The official report said that there were 17 entrance wounds in Clyde’s body, and 26 entrance wounds in Bonnie’s body – showing the grimness of their demise.
1934 Ford Deluxe V-8 after the ambush with the bodies of Barrow and Parker in the front seats
Response to allegations that the police posse used “excessive force” (a silly accusation)
Some have thus criticized the police posse for using “excessive force” here. But both Bonnie & Clyde had survived multiple bullet wounds in past confrontations with the police. Thus, past experience with these two individuals suggested that a single round would be insufficient for them. Sadly, bad guys will often survive one gunshot, showing that it is seldom enough to “incapacitate” them – let alone kill them. This is why the police emptied their magazines, and this is why they continue to do so in similar situations today. For all of the media stories about the use of “excessive force” by police, it seems actually to be fairly rare, even though it’s given disproportionate coverage by media outlets throughout the country. These narratives seem to be pushed more for political reasons than objectivity. Thus, one loses the truth about the actual frequency of such incidents. Many media stories about “police brutality” later turn out to be omitting the context of what led up to a particular use of force – making the media into a rather untrustworthy source, on this (as well as other) subjects.
Bullet holes in Bonnie and Clyde’s car
Conclusion: Good storytelling, but emphasizes “romance” rather than their true nature
I wouldn’t say that this documentary necessarily “romanticizes” Bonnie & Clyde, although it does examine the reasons that this romanticism exists. Some of the commentators may just be trying to give Bonnie & Clyde a fair hearing, while others of them seem to be actively defending the two. I know where my own verdict is, and it isn’t the one based on “extenuating circumstances.” My verdict is the one based on responsibility for their actions. I thought that this was a good (or at least entertaining) film, but I would have preferred a more direct assessment of their culpability, which gives the viewers a clear message that these things (especially the murders) are unacceptable. To me, this would have been a better note to end on, than the one explaining the “romance” behind all of this. These people were just old-fashioned hoodlums whose greed got the better of them, and who murdered anyone that got in their way. Thus, it’s hard for me to feel very sorry for them, or to believe that their fate was anything but deserved.
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