PUBLIC ENEMIES : The Legend of John Dillinger

By Rory Dubhdara, Radio Rebel Gael


Michael Mann’s brilliant film “Public Enemies”, starring Johnny Depp, is a great example of America’s fascination, nay, obsession with the outlaw. What is it, really, that causes Americans to cheer on the gangster, despite his or her grisly legacy and blood-soaked trademark? Could it be that Americans have lost faith with the fabled “American Dream”, as more working class people lose hope and end up out of work, impoverished or homeless? Perhaps the American gangster captures the spirit of the Robin Hood or Ned Kelly of yore, fighting back against “the Man”, and using guerilla tactics to survive as he and his kind are continually disenfranchised and plundered by the robber barons of Corporate America. Whatever the reason may be, American gangsters like John Dillinger remain household names and telling signs of a bankrupt society that continually sees crime as the only alternative to a grim life of hopelessness and perdition. For many , robbing a bank or some other “get rick quick” scheme may seem to be the only viable solution to the despair of poverty. Hence, the tale of Chicago gangster and bankrobber, John Dillinger , packed theaters throughout the country and proved that the American romanticism of the gangster and outlaw is stronger today than ever. Michael Mann’s phenomenal film captures the legend of John Dillinger and his gang, including Babyface Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd, in all their bloodsoaked glory, before Dillinger met his bullet-riddled demise in front of a Chicago theater , one evening on July 22nd in the year of 1934.

Only Michael Mann, who seems to be the master of banker robbery suspense, could take you to the scene of the gun-battle or bank robbery, wherein his cinematic close-ups cause you to feel like you are being shot at, or where you can actually smell the gun smoke. He did the same genius in his brilliant Heat, probably the most realistic bank robbery film I had ever seen when a lady friend bought it for me on my 25th birthday.

As extraordinary Dillinger’s exploits were, from his repeated breakouts from the Indiana State Penitentiary, to his intense gun battle with the FBI in Wisconsin in 1933, these gangsters, who have become American heroes and entered into the realm of myth and legend with their storybook exploits, they are, not, to a Fenian, true working class heroes, or really anyone to look up to, but they do show the strength of the human spirit and that a few men united in pursuit of a goal, can really make the System shake in terror, and for this reason alone, they should be remembered with pride, even if , wistfully. But it’s obvious that their battles were very personal and not surprisingly, did not really benefit the oppressed or the embattled working class in America, but only themselves, as was the aim. They can never be looked up to as selfless martyrs or revolutionary icons, the way James Connolly, friend of the worker, or Seamus Costello, Boy General and Republican Socialist freedom fighter, always will be. They did not die for their love for Freedom and their passion for Justice and their hatred of Tyranny and Injustice like a Che Guevara or a Miriam Daly. Their goals were limited to personal self-fulfillment and often, greed. They conspired, not to right the wrongs perpetrated by a Capitalist Status Quo upon the long-suffering Proletariat, but instead, for a short term self aggrandizement and personal fame and fortune. The Revolutionary Socialist Martyr, Che Guevara, on the other hand, gave up wealth, cast aside a comfortable life, fortune and personal gain, in order to liberate the oppressed working people of Cuba, and after establishing a Socialist Republic in Cuba with compadre Fidel Castro, he next sought to aid the peoples of the Congo and Bolivia, and to fight against the poisonous tentacles of capitalism and imperialism wherever they manifested themselves. Dying a true revolutionary martyr’s death in Bolivia in October of the year of 1967, while Dillinger died a gangster’s death in front of a Chicago theater after seeing “Manhattan Melodrama”, with a local prostitute, here its easy to see the contrast between these two figures ----- one, a selfless revolutionary hero, the other an anti-social and egocentric (albeit astute) gangster, dedicated to making himself a quick fortune and lasting fame.

It is a sad sign of the times that Americans too often, especially the youth, only remember the latter, and very rarely, the former, as people to look up to as heroes. It is the biggest flaw of American culture that the outlaw and glorified “hero”, is too often the criminal, the gangster, the anti-social misfit, the egocentric celebrity or rockstar, or the swindler (alas, that is the crux of capitalism, to glorify the huckster and the shyster) while the selfless working class hero is often forgotten by the common man. In modern suburban America, because the community has been forgotten, those who defend their community and neighborhoods are also.

In closing, the best and most important element of the film is how it highlighted the true nature of J. Edgar Hoover’s monstrosity, the Federal Bureau of Investigation. While the FBI is known for its claim to be a staunch “defender of the U.S. constitution and the Bill of Rights”, Michael Mann’s film points out the glaring untruths of such fallacious statements. One scene in the movie shows the FBI beating and torturing Dillinger’s girlfriend, who had never committed a crime, in order to get her to divulge her lover’s location and hideouts. Also, the illegal and unconstitutional means that the Bureau gathers information and tracks its suspects is no different from Stalin’s KGB or Hitler’s Gestapo. Even the final scene of the movie, where Dillinger was murdered in cold blood is a true indictment of both the Federal government of the United States and the FBI, and proves that the Bill of Rights and the U.S. constitution, has never been an interest by either the Bureau or the Federal government, and in fact. The FBI and the U.S. government has never respected the basic human rights of American citizens. A solid case in point is the attempted killing of Judi Bari of Earth First on May 24th, 1990 and the FBI’s COINTELPRO campaigns against Martin Luther King Jr., The Black Panther Party, and the FBI’s harassment of American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier and the siege of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1975, to illustrate how draconic these Federal goons truly are. For this reason alone, PUBLIC ENEMIES, is a great must see film, where you can celebrate those few who shot back against the Federal Beast.