MovieChat Forums > Bonnie & Clyde (2013) Discussion > When it comes down to it...

When it comes down to it...


Clyde loved and cared for Bonnie more than she loved and cared for him.

Honestly, in this adaptation that's the way it came off to me. I don't know much about the real-life Bonnie and Clyde (I do want to read up on them in detail) or their relationship but I would assume from some readings I've done that the pair loved and cared for each other very much. They weren't just "partners in crime". This version made Bonnie come off as self-indulgent, childish, and less than interested in Clyde in that romantic way. Sure, there were some love/romantic scenes between the two, but the way this mini-series was constructed just made it seem like Clyde was the one who was really in love, not Bonnie. She just cared about publicity and used Clyde to get headlines.

Opinions, thoughts, comments?

reply

That's exactly they way their relationship was portrayed in this movie, & probably the biggest problem. It's a flaw that is impossible to just overlook as creative license in my opinion. While I don't doubt that Bonnie enjoyed the media attention, it's a bit of a jump to assert that fame was the driving force behind her being with Clyde. In reality, she was kind of obsessed with him before they even went on the run. At first I was puzzled that the movie didn't use Bonnie's real letters to Clyde when he was in prison for the voiceovers. But then I realized they couldn't because in them she's clearly head over heels for him, & she actually begs him to NOT go back to crime after he's released from prison. Obviously that doesn't fit the characterization they went with for this movie, so rather than using words from the real Bonnie to get inside her head, they made something up. Even more disappointing is the fact that in some of her interviews, Holliday mentions that she did read the letters as well as Bonnie's diary.

And once it became clear that there was no way out for them, she was also obsessed with the idea of dying with him. But from all realiable accounts it was because she loved him & didn't want to live without him, not that she thought going out in a hail of bullets would make her more famous. Based on all that I've read about Clyde, I don't think there's any way he would have willingly assisted in their demise the way the movie showed. I think if it really came down to it, he would have killed himself on his own terms rather than give law enforcement the satisfaction of getting them the way they did. In fact there are rumors that B&C had a suicide pact, but that's one of those things that we'll never know for sure. I'd say it's a much more likely scenario than Clyde giving them up to "give my Bonnie Parker her big ending".

reply