Bonnie & Clyde were the first American icons created by modern media. These media-savvy gangsters nurtured a self-image of murderous glamour for Depression-era Americans who hungered for entertainment and larger-than-life characters who defied authority. But the fact is, they were among the most inept criminals in history. Just kids in their early twenties when they started robbing banks and mom-and-pop stores, and killing lawmen, Bonnie and Clyde botched almost every bank robbery they attempted, and sometimes they had to break into gum machines to get meal money. Yet, thanks to the media, Bonnie and Clyde were a great, epic love story and became national icons on a par with cinema gangsters Jimmy Cagney and Edward G. Robinson.
