Natural Born KIllers Analysis

The clip I analyzed was from the film "Natural Born Killers". I analyzed the scene using the rhetorical/audience approach, and the postmodernist approach. The scene is a satirical sitcom meant to comment on a number of different things including the repetitive narrative of sitcoms, as well as modern society's desensitization to abuse and violence. The scene opens with a knock off of the beginning of "I Love Lucy" and introduces the scene as "I Love Mallory". Rodney Dangerfield is then introduced as her father and from his first line he is very rude to his daughter, and the studio audience laughs each time he insults Mallory. Later Mallory and her father get into an argument, Rodney Dangerfield then begins threaten Mallory telling her that he'll beat her, as he's threatening her some "Leave it to Beaver" sounding music begins to chime in and creates a contrast, or even a disconnect between the music and what is actually happening in the scene. Rodney then precedes to sexually abuse her verbally and physically in a truly disturbing scene. When Mallory final breaks away from her father and runs up stairs, the audience begins applauding Rodney Dangerfield as if they had truly enjoyed the scene. It is very reminiscent of scenes from Married With Children when the audience applauds Al. Later in the scene Woody Harrelson shows up and receives a roaring applause from the audience, much like any beloved regular from a sitcom. This satirical scene calls our attention to how sitcoms use in-studio audiences to help position their viewers, and almost creating a mob type mentality to reinforce their position . Rodney Dangerfield is doing these horrible, uncomfortable things, and in direct opposition to what the real audience is feeling the in-studio audience loves the unbearable scene, laughing and applauding the whole time. The scene almost forces the viewer think about the scene critically by including the studio audience and their bizarre reactions to the scene. It encourages the viewer to think for themselves, rather than simply going along with the studio audience's reactions.

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed0Y3D2F-ow