This movie is very relevant today

I saw Bonnie and Clyde for the first time today. The Depression Era setting made me think about the current frustrations in the United States about the recession and the increasing visibility of those frustrations (eg. Occupy Wall Street, etc.). The robbers in Bonnie and Clyde turn to crime partly from boredom, but partly because of their money problems. Bonnie and Clyde seem like heroes to many of the movie's characters; the public views the gang as Depression Era Robin Hood figures who let poor farmers keep their money but steal from the banks that foreclose on families' homes. One of the most depressing aspects of the movie is that if the Barrow gang had never robbed anyone, none of them would have any real prospects in life (though Clyde's response to Bonnie when she asks about what he would want to do if the couple was not wanted by the police indicates that Clyde would not want a normal life).

The anti-authority, anti-bank attitude of the movie and its valorization of the little guy (the gang) echo many of the sentiments expressed by the Occupy Wall Streeters. If B & C had been released today, it would be popular and well-received by many people, wouldn't it? The fact that a 60s countercultural movie fits in so well with the contemporary ethos is surely a sign that major changes are on the horizon for the U.S.

The movie is a disturbing in its depiction of violent gangsters as well-loved celebrities, but when times are tough, strange people become "heroes" to the public.

*Disclaimer: I am not making a connection between Occupy Wall Street and the approval or encouragement of violence. The OWS folks have proven to be nonviolent, and I have not seen them glorify violence. The common people's approval of violence in Bonnie and Clyde is, however, a manifestation of the extreme disillusionment of the movie's Depression Era characters and the extreme disillusionment of young people in the late 1960s. People in the U.S. today are angry, too, so the disillusionment and approval of violence of B & C is something that *could* happen in the U.S. now if a contemporary Bonnie and Clyde appeared.