Bonnie and Clyde

The Hays Code was implemented to “Maintain Social and Community values in the production of silent, synchronized and talking motion pictures”. Throughout the sixties the code was ignored in most movies which eventually put an end to the Hays Code. There were many movies that rebelled against the code, and eventually helped abolish it. One of the most recognized movies was Bonnie and Clyde by Arthur Penn. Although compared to any of the films released recently it seems tame, Bonnie and Clyde pushed the envelope in 1967 for many reasons.

One of the very first rules in the Hays Code was that there should be no movies depicting murder, and anyone that is familiar with the story knows that there are several scenes depicting murder and violence. We watch as Bonnie and Clyde try to rob banks without hurting anyone because they hate banks but when a man tries to stop them we see a close up of him getting shot directly in his face. Although the code says there should be no murder at all in film, it makes it that much worse that it was not a murder from far away. We were able to see the gore up close, and we saw the man detach his lifeless body from the car that they were driving and the townspeople also watched. 

Directly under the murder section of the Hays code, is a rule that states there should be no films that “throw sympathy” to those committing any methods of crime. The specific methods of crime included were theft, robbery, dynamiting buildings,or using firearms.The entire plot of the film revolved around car theft, robbery, and using firearms and there was even a scene where they used grenades against officers and their vehicles. Bonnie and Clyde were always on the run from police, as they were wanted for murder and bank robbery. They also went and found Clydes brother, who was also involved in the same type of crimes that Clyde committed, and throughout the story they all became accessories to murder for killing police, and business owners.

Another large part of the Hays code was that it wouldn’t allow for films to depict scenes of passion. After Bonnie and Clyde ran away from their very first crime, and interaction with each other there was a scene where Bonnie was all over Clyde and trying to seduce him. Although nothing went further than her trying to seduce Clyde, it was still a shocking scene, as she was clearly not modest how the Hays code would have wanted her to be. There were several scenes in the movie where she would try to seduce Clyde and nothing would happen, which was showing how passionate she was about him, physically as well as emotionally. Seduction was also mentioned in this particular section of the Hays code, and Bonnie was trying to seduce Clyde from the beginning of the film up until the very end.

Lastly, the code mentioned that there would be no vulgarity or obscenity in film. Since the entire “Barrow Gang” were criminals, they didn’t care to be entirely proper. Everyone in the gang, as well as officers used explicit language. One of the most shocking parts of the vulgarity was that Bonnie was one of the ones who heavily cursed throughout the film. Although she was clearly not the picture of a modest lady, it would still surprise the audience that she used so many obscenities throughout the film, as well as her using guns to rob and kill people since women were typically well-behaved in film because of the Hays code.

The film “ripped off the Band-Aid” of the Hays code. Although the film would not exist had it followed the Hays code, it was still shocking that the close up murder scenes were allowed to be filmed. The most shocking scene in the entire film was the very last one, with Bonnie and Clyde both being shot hundreds of times in a field, and each bullet hole wound being filmed and the audience watching them die together. Thankfully, we are able to allow directors to use their own discretion and have creative control over films today because of movies that helped end the Hays code, like Bonnie and Clyde.