This is most definitely one of the great obscure documentary films, one of the most chilling and engrossing I've ever seen. It's tremendous that YouTube and other corners of the internet have brought it to so many more people than were able to see it in the 1980's. It not only spotlights the well-known killers/maniacs of the 60's through the early 80's, like Charlie Manson, Ted Bundy, Jim Jones and John Gacy, but also gives time to things like James Hoskins' 1980 hostage-taking at the Cleveland TV station, Anthony Kiritsis' bizarre hostage-taking of Richard Hall in 1977, and other things which aren't widely remembered today.
The whole concept of the film, which holds that violence in America had increased largely since the assassination of John F. Kennedy, is compelling, if maybe a bit inaccurate. It refers to the 1950's as having been a more innocent time, of "big cars, big everything", but also accurately acknowledges that "not everyone could get a share of the dream" (i.e. African-Americans). The only drawback to this view is that the 50's weren't anywhere near as "wholesome" or "innocent" as many people have been led to believe. It was a time of ugly, repressive social structures and ugly Cold-War politics, with a complacent, prosperous appearance that was not entirely fictitious, but which masked a lot of nasty things going on beneath the surface. "The Killing of America" would have been and even better and more explosive film if they'd have spent a little bit more time on the inaccurate ideas that had already developed by then about the 1950's, an era which is still naively idealized by many Republicans who are hell-bent on holding back social progress for non-white people, LGBTQ folks, and women.
All in all, I would love to see a modern-day follow-up, which would be made along the same lines as the original, and cover the many killers and violent phenomena of the past third of a century in America since the original "Killing of America" was made. "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez; Jeff Dahmer; the seemingly sudden emergence in the late 90's of school-shooters like Klebold and Harris (being as the original mentions, among other young murderers, San Diego high-school-aged sniper Brenda Ann Spencer); the September 11 attacks, the resultant partially irrational hysteria over the "new terrorist threat" in America, and the Iraq War; and finally winding up with the mass shooting epidemic that has generated so much well-founded debate about gun control in the 2010's, not to mention the police killings of unarmed people of color that have garnered so much attention recently.
It'd be awesome to hear the original English narrator return for this hypothetical sequel, although I have a strong suspicion that he's now dead. In my view, aided by the constant hectoring of ultraconservative hawks and the new, radical right-wing National Rifle Association, the problem of out-of-control gun violence in particular hasn't gotten THAT much better since the early 80's. The whole tone of the original "Killing of America" was that society was declining then due to all this violence, which was driven home by the English-language narrator's somber, sinister voice. I can only imagine how much darker all of the comparatively recent violent events I mentioned above would seem if they were recounted by that same deep, ominous voice-over.
The whole concept of the film, which holds that violence in America had increased largely since the assassination of John F. Kennedy, is compelling, if maybe a bit inaccurate. It refers to the 1950's as having been a more innocent time, of "big cars, big everything", but also accurately acknowledges that "not everyone could get a share of the dream" (i.e. African-Americans). The only drawback to this view is that the 50's weren't anywhere near as "wholesome" or "innocent" as many people have been led to believe. It was a time of ugly, repressive social structures and ugly Cold-War politics, with a complacent, prosperous appearance that was not entirely fictitious, but which masked a lot of nasty things going on beneath the surface. "The Killing of America" would have been and even better and more explosive film if they'd have spent a little bit more time on the inaccurate ideas that had already developed by then about the 1950's, an era which is still naively idealized by many Republicans who are hell-bent on holding back social progress for non-white people, LGBTQ folks, and women.
All in all, I would love to see a modern-day follow-up, which would be made along the same lines as the original, and cover the many killers and violent phenomena of the past third of a century in America since the original "Killing of America" was made. "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez; Jeff Dahmer; the seemingly sudden emergence in the late 90's of school-shooters like Klebold and Harris (being as the original mentions, among other young murderers, San Diego high-school-aged sniper Brenda Ann Spencer); the September 11 attacks, the resultant partially irrational hysteria over the "new terrorist threat" in America, and the Iraq War; and finally winding up with the mass shooting epidemic that has generated so much well-founded debate about gun control in the 2010's, not to mention the police killings of unarmed people of color that have garnered so much attention recently.
It'd be awesome to hear the original English narrator return for this hypothetical sequel, although I have a strong suspicion that he's now dead. In my view, aided by the constant hectoring of ultraconservative hawks and the new, radical right-wing National Rifle Association, the problem of out-of-control gun violence in particular hasn't gotten THAT much better since the early 80's. The whole tone of the original "Killing of America" was that society was declining then due to all this violence, which was driven home by the English-language narrator's somber, sinister voice. I can only imagine how much darker all of the comparatively recent violent events I mentioned above would seem if they were recounted by that same deep, ominous voice-over.