crime
Murderous icons – Bonnie and Clyde died 90 years ago
The police riddled the vehicle in which Bonnie and Clyde died with well over a hundred bullets. photo
© UPI/dpa
They stole and killed, yet Bonnie and Clyde became romanticized gangster icons. Why do we idealize criminals?
90 years ago, perhaps the most famous game of cat and mouse in American history ended in a hail of bullets: In the middle of nowhere in the US state of Louisiana, Bonnie Parker and Clyde “Champion” Barrow were surprised by a group of police officers who emerged from an ambush near the town of Sailes. Before the duo’s Ford DeLuxe could stop, the police riddled the car with well over a hundred bullets – killing the famous gangster couple on May 23, 1934.
Nine decades have passed since the grisly end of the two criminals from Texas, but they are still legendary today. Numerous books, films and songs tell of their nefarious deeds. Especially Arthur Penn’s film “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967) with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway gave the criminal couple cult status. And in 1996, the Toten Hosen sang: “Put your head on my shoulder/It’s nice to feel it there/And we’ll play Bonnie and Clyde/ Come on, let’s steal a car/ I’ll drive you around in it/And we’ll play Bonnie and Clyde”.
Dream of a better life
But who was this often idealized couple who were not just hunted for a few minor crimes, but were responsible for a series of murders? The two met in 1930. They were both in their early 20s, came from poor backgrounds in the slums of Dallas and dreamed of a better life. Bonnie Parker, an artistically gifted and ambitious woman, had endured a broken marriage; her husband was in prison for murder. Clyde “Champion” Barrow worked as a crook and opportunist thief.
It was love at first sight. But soon afterwards Clyde is put behind bars for two years. When he is released, he is a bitter, vengeful man. He would rather die than go to prison again. And he’s doing everything he can to get back at the Texas justice system for what was done to him in the “dirty hellhole.”
Their joint criminal career begins: as a couple or with accomplices, the couple makes their way through the country in stolen cars. Every time they run out of money, the two stage a robbery, and Clyde increasingly resorts to the pistol. By the time the police show up at the crime scene, the two of them have disappeared from the face of the earth. Newspapers across the country reported with fascination about the persecution.
Coordinated hunt
The tide only turns after the gang frees five prisoners from Clyde’s hated prison in early 1934. The police join forces across state lines and begin a coordinated hunt. And when the two return from a party on the morning of May 23, the officers lure them into an ambush on the side of a country road and open fire.
In the end, there are more than a dozen murders, several bank robberies and countless car thefts and burglaries. Bonnie and Clyde were often amateurish in their approach, but even during their lifetime they had a kind of cult status: crowds of people gathered at remote crime scenes. One of the onlookers cut off a lock of Bonnie’s hair and took a scrap of her blood-soaked dress as a souvenir. Another tried to cut off Clyde’s ear. The coroner had to put an end to the “circus-like atmosphere,” as he complained, with a word of power.
Poverty and rebellion
According to researchers, what made the two idols far beyond their generation is partly due to the time of their actions during the Great Depression. Many could identify with Bonnie and Clyde as rebels against the system and rampant poverty. To some, they seemed a bit like Robin Hood – avenging the state’s failures.
The fact that love was also involved certainly made things even more appealing, and the media further fueled the longing-inducing narrative of freedom and self-determination. Ultimately, the narrative sold well, including in films and music – especially since the young and uncompromising lovers sold well in front of the camera when they posed with cars and weapons, for example.
In the end, Bonnie and Clyde gave millions of Americans a story to dream about – even though they ended people’s lives and destroyed families. Their last wish was to be buried together: “One day they will go down together, and they will be buried side by side,” says a poem that Bonnie gave her mother on her last visit. But the family did not do her that favor – Bonnie and Clyde were buried in two different cemeteries in Dallas. His tombstone reads: “Gone, but not forgotten.”