One of the central themes of Natural Born Killers is the relationship between real-life violence and the mass media's coverage of it.[5] 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."[5]
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.[6] On several occasions, expressionistic jump cuts 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.[6]
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.[5] 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."[5] 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."[6]
Ian Cooper wrote that Mickey Knox's prison interview "parodies Geraldo Rivera's jailhouse interview with [Charles] Manson."[7]
