Natural Born Killers follow the infamous serial killing lovers, Mickey and Mallory, as they go down Route 666, claiming new victims every week. The film is really another Bonnie and Clyde story but with way more gore critique the media’s romanticization and glorification of serial killers.
During the sitcom scene, the audience is introduced to the horrors of Mallory’s life prior to being with Mickey. It’s heavily implied that her father rapes her and mistreats her, and her mother, who is aware of this, is silent towards these actions. Not to mention, the sound is this scene is the classic I Love Lucy laugh track and ditzy music, creating a contrapuntal sound. The sound, nor mise en scene, matches the scenes narrative. This could be a critique of how domestic abuse and sexual assault is often overlooked in our society in a passive manner. It could also be a critique of shows like The Honeymooners where the Kramden’s did not have a healthy, often ending in Ralph threatening Alice, but this was displayed as normal or funny.
“If You Were the Woman and I Was the Man” acts a non-diegetic sound during Mickey and Mallory’s makeshift wedding. The characters don’t know that the song is playing, but during their vows, the song mimics the effects of a song used during a first dance. The scene is very romantic because the only visuals present are Mickey and Mallory as it is them against the world, but that romance quickly shatters as a group of hooligans drives by, yelling at them. The moment makes a comedic comeback as the music begins to play again and the romance resumes.
To circle back to the sitcom scene, the use of parallel sound in this scene gives this level of “metaness” as Mickey and Mallory romanticize their meeting for the first time. Parallel sounds exist to compliment the atmosphere of the scene, and the lovey-dovey sounds that fawn over the lovebirds add to the immediate lust and love at first sight moment that Mickey and Mallory have. This can also be seen as a critique of overarching theme of allowing the wrong type of people to gain exposure and influence societal wants. The audience that fawns over the couple is representation or a mockery of the audience that is also experiencing those emotions in real time, despite already being exposed to the damage and harm that couple can do. They have become sensationalized, and despite being the epitome of the effects of something like the social learning, they are put on a pedstal as if they were beloved sitcom characters.
In this scene where Mickey returns with Mallory to kill her father and mother, there is a perfect use of asynchronous sound. During the beginning of the scene, the audience is shown Mallory’s dad watching a wrestling match, but when Mickey barges into the house, the T.V. is no longer shown. The sound is still audible in the background, but the source is no longer visible. As the wrestling matches ensues, the bell rings, indicating the start of a brawl. It’s at this moment that Mickey strikes Mallory’s father with the first blow of his crowbar, and the on-screen fight mimics the off-screen fight.
During the riot/escape scene, the sound perspective and dialogue is fantastic. Mickey, Mallory, Wayne, and the rest of the gang shelter in a room that is shielded from the riots that recently broke out in the prison, but the sounds of prisoners fighting and shouting keeps the audience in the moment and proposes the sword of Damocles threat, looming over theirs and audience’s heads. While the dialogue of the main cast is audible, the riot’s sound off-screen drowns them out from time to time, getting at the bigger and more dangerous picture at large. It’s threatening yet realistic.
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