ABSTRACT
The problem that Mickey Knox and Mallory face is that although they are unafraid to face their shadows—their alter egos—they act out this exploration by committing violent crimes against others and thus remain stuck at the shadow level. Mickey and Mallory are different from Gekko because even in the face of their shadow, they are learning to love. Most important, however, Gordon Gekko, from the perspective of perennial philosophy, represents society's central stumbling block on the journey toward transcendence. Wall Street, in many ways, is a Hollywood morality play—a Paradise Lost, a Pilgrim's Progress, a rite of passage film. Natural Born Killers, released in September 1994, is, in many ways, Oliver Stone's Wall Street for the 1990s. Natural Born Killers invites the audience to both embrace and distance itself from Mickey and Mallory. In some ways admirable because of their willingness to explore their shadow, they remain detestable in most others.
