Editing Natural Born Killers (section)

== Analysis and themes ==
One of the central themes of ''Natural Born Killers'' is the relationship between real-life violence and the mass media's coverage of it.{{sfn|Muir|2011|p=336}} This thematic preoccupation was declared in the film's promotional materials, with its theatrical poster advertising it as a "bold new film that takes a look at a country seduced by fame, obsessed by crime, and consumed by the media."{{sfn|Muir|2011|p=336}}

The character of Wayne Gale, the television host of ''American Maniacs'', functions in the film as a figurehead of lurid [[true crime]] television documentaries, which recycle real-life incidents of violence and criminal activity into entertainment for the general public.{{sfn|Muir|2011|p=337}} On several occasions, expressionistic edits featuring Gale as a blood-soaked [[Satan]] are interspersed into the film, which Muir suggests emphasizes the film's assertion that mass media and crime mutually reinforce one another.{{sfn|Muir|2011|p=337}}

Media representation of the [[nuclear family]] has been identified as another theme in the film, particularly with the depiction of Mallory's dysfunctional family life, which includes a neglectful mother and a sexually abusive father.{{sfn|Muir|2011|p=336}} Muir notes that the sequence depicting Mallory's home life—presented as a television sitcom with the title ''I Love Mallory'' (a parody of ''[[I Love Lucy]]'')—charts "the colossal gulf between the imagery sold to America regarding family life and the truth, for many Americans, of such family life in the 1990s."{{sfn|Muir|2011|p=336}} The "sitcom" representation of Mallory's household results in a visual dichotomy between her "life as she imagined it should be (replete with an oppressive [[laugh track]] eradicating any scary sense of ambiguity)" and the "grim truth of it."{{sfn|Muir|2011|p=337}}

Ian Cooper wrote that Mickey Knox's prison interview "parodies [[Geraldo Rivera]]'s jailhouse interview with [[Charles Manson|[Charles] Manson]]."<ref>{{cite book|last=Cooper|first=Ian|title=The Manson Family on Film and Television|date=October 20, 2018|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina]]|page=33|isbn=9781476633800}}</ref>