Bonnie and Clyde (But Different)

Today was my first viewing of Badlands, a romance film. Right away, I noticed how similar it was to Bonnie and Clyde. It starts off with Kit working as a garbage man. He is a young, rebellious man, who takes a liking to Holly, a 15 year-old schoolgirl. It seemed really awkward, especially at first, since they were so far apart in age, but the two acclimated in no time. In Bonnie and Cylde, the plot was very similar. At first, Bonnie was very innocent, much like Holly. They were both dainty dolls, but soon they became gunslinging, cigarette-smoking criminals.

On the other hand, there are some key differences here. Bonnie had no trouble hopping in Clyde's car to "go for a ride". She was older, and more independent. Holly was under the oppression of her father, whom she didn't get along with very well. Her father, a sign painter, did not want her to be around Kit at all. He said he was from "the wrong side of the tracks", and that he was too old to be with his daughter. He was an adult, she was a minor (pedophile anyone??). Creepy...

Despite how concerned Holly's father was, Kit wasn't going down without a fight. He wanted her, and he would do anything to get what he wanted. I could tell that he's been like that all of his life. Just when the timing was right, he killed her father. Obviously she was upset at first, but to my surprise, she didn't turn her lover away. She even said how, when she was at the school gathering her belongings, she could have ran out the back door, never to see him again. But something pulled her towards the front door. That, my friends, is love. Love can make you do just about anything, no matter how crazy it seems.

Because of love, Kit and Holly had left their previous life behind. Kit recorded a record that would play over and over again, containing his suicide note. He drenched her house (and her father's body) with fuel, to clear up all of the evidence. Basically, he was trying to make it seem like he and Holly didn't exist anymore. But there was one problem: they still did. Unfortunately for the two of them, the authorities were on their tail, following them all the way into the woods, where they now lived.

This is another key contrast between Bonnie and Clyde and Badlands. Bonnie and Clyde were constantly on the run, never staying put. But Kit and Holly were set in stone, or at least they wanted to be. But in both movies, the couples were being seeked out by law enforcement, and if the ending of this movie is anything like that of Bonnie and Clyde, Kit and Holly's lives won't turn out so well. Let's see what happens.