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No Movies for Old Men
The minute — the very constituent element of the minute, the fleeting second I learned that Netflix made a movie about the lawmen who tracked and killed Bonnie and Clyde, and that Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson would be playing them as — gasp — heroes, I knew there would be a great wailing. Bonnie and Clyde — they’re legendary! They were, like Robin Hoods. And so good looking! Also, they were media stars, which confers a certain moral authority. Why, Bonnie’s photographs were like proto-selfies or something. That movie was important! Why would you make a movie about the icky old men who committed gun violence on a social critic and a poetess?
Eh. I’m fascinated by the gangster era, but I don’t find any of it romantic or tragic. They were all horrible people who got what they deserved, and didn’t get it soon enough. The Netflix movie, The Highwaymen, commits the terrible sin of telling the story of the Texas Rangers who tracked down Bonnie and Clyde without questioning their own archaic modalities of masculinity, and the gnashing from critics is a joy to read.
Pardon the self-promoting link, but the collected snark and snivels can be found here, if you wish.
Published in Entertainment
Ah yes, Rolling Stone, home of vile bombers, fake rape stories…
Re: 61
It really is way beyond despicable that they glamorized him, and absolute proof that idiots still can be, and are, manipulated into idolizing Bonnie & Clyde.
What a true movie !
Re:#62
The reason the music in The Highwaymen is so effective is that it perfectly reflects what must have been the Cassandra-like loneliness of old men who weren’t deceived into forgetting Bonnie & Clyde were cold blooded killers who would keep killing, and who were hunting for them knowing they would probably always be maligned for risking their lives to track and put them down.
Whoever picked out that music is a genius.
I suppose that is just a matter of personal taste, but I accept your other points.
Want!
I can’t complain though. I found a copy of No Second Place Winner at a thrift store.
Charles Askins’ Unrepentant Sinner ? What’s it about?
Askins had a pretty wild life. He fought in WW2 in North Africa. Reached the rank of Colonel in the Army. He was also heavily involved in the border patrol. There are some pretty ugly stories he tells about how they dealt with illegal border crossers.
The book is his autobiography. It covers a pretty wide range of subjects beyond those mentioned above. He was also a writer on gun issues for several major magazines in the days before bloggers.
We just watched it, it’s a good movie. Did Frank Hamer really not have a holster, though? That just struck me as odd every time I would see him tuck a pistol into his waistband.
He did at the end for the actual take down of Bonnie and Clyde but I also thought it odd for him to not have a holster on through out the rest of the movie. He seems like the kind of guy that would not trust his one weapon to a waist ban in potentially dangerous situations.