Blog #7: Option one

After reading both “The Method” and “Morocco Junction 90210”, Hollywoodlandia is not a very fun place to live in. Noir not only surrounds the lower to middle class society, it also spreads into the underside of upper-middle class and the rich. By exploring perspectives of both female protagonists, Holly and Minerva, respectively, each illustrate the livelihood of the fame and fortune as sad and unforgiving. Specifically, the ex-actresses or actors, who have been long forgotten and entrapped in their own golden, three-story cage, terrified of the outside world.  Which is really weird thing to picture, since they have all that money and supposedly live in a safer environment; one might assume they have nothing to worry about because the way they are living, they should always be happy and safe, classifying them as another social stereotype, but that’s not the case, instead it’s almost the complete opposite.

“We all lived here for the same reason: the address. Los Feliz Boulevard called to mind the mansions in the hills north and south of the street, but this was Granny Los Feliz, who counted her pennies and voted Republican, who drank cream sherry out of cut glass.”(J. Fitch 100). From Holly’s point of view, she knows many people like herself believe they can make it big when coming to Hollywood marking another strong example of a stereotypic view, but realizes it’s not as easy as it sounds, quickly changing her perspective about living in Los Feliz. As for Beverly Hills, Minerva states a relevant fact that may or may not be true, “Old BH hated the fact that the place’s original name was Morocco Junction; they thought it sounded like some cheesy hotel on the Vegas Strip, as indeed it did.”(P. Morrison 129). This goes to show that even Beverly Hills hides its real name to keep up its reputation just like the many rich people who hide their shame to keep up appearances in their circle.

 It’s amazing how noir sheds its darkness upon the many outcasts around and in the rich community to match the turmoil and despair with the lower-class community. 

Blog #6: Contrast between Classic Noir and Neo-Noir

To start off, classic film noir has been set as a foundation for many upcoming authors and movie makers to explore new innovative ideas. That’s where neo-noir comes in by exploring in depth the basic roots of classic film noir ideologies and its known qualities. Another way to look at it, is neo-noir expanding on aspects of society by connecting postmodern aesthetics and references to pop culture.

Although classic film noir followed a pattern of plot with the male protagonist and the femme fatale killing each other with guilt, or by other reasons, it’s more common for neo-noir films to let the criminal like in “The Last Seduction”, femme fatale character, get away and live on from the chaos planned by her and a puppet. Also, unlike classic noir, neo-noir tends to create more broad and abstract situations of reality where the main characters have specific characteristics and qualities, such as Jack in Fight Club exposing his split personality or alter-ego Tyler Durden, as the character questions his own masculine identity and self-consciousness. Neo-noir also touches up on nostalgia from previous works of classic noir tales expressing somewhat of a recreated version, but with more modernized elements. And the most obvious difference I think neo-noir doesn’t show as much, is that it doesn’t really give the feeling of black and white which are always with classic noir, but remain to have its own dark effects.

Blog Entry #4: Zero Draft Responses

Out of the qualities Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton used to describe film noir, I chose ambivalence because in Double Indemnity, Walter Neff the protagonist makes a troubled choice to engage in a deadly relationship with secret serial killer, Phyllis Dietrichson. Already having self-internal conflict with his decision, Walter accepts his demise at the beginning of the film and does a voice-over narrative on how it all started. As his story begins to progress, Walter was sort of aware of the possible outcome that would have happen as soon as he planned the murder with Phyllis, as well as the inability of getting away with it without Keyes ever finding out, in which in short time after, he had it all figured out, but did it anyways just to give himself a challenge, so he pretty much pushed himself right over the edge of crazy just because he “fell in love” with a beautiful woman who thinks of herself as Death. What’s even worse is that after the murder he realizes his relationship is growing apart instead of bringing them closer and has mixed feelings and ideas, thanks to her step-daughter Lola, that now Phyllis plans to kill Walter, but not before he did it first. Although, Phyllis did shoot him first and gave him a bloody wound, which eventually he bled so much he died. What a tragic scene, but yet a satisfying end to a film noir classic with a protagonist who was unable to chose between his course of life or death.  In my opinion, the protagonist went beyond his threshold of living a life of every day is exactly the same, letting lust and desire consume him to love a woman who simply killed to get ahead which led him to his doom and demise.     

With the provided descriptions of the cinematic qualities involved in film noir from the article “Ten Shades of Noir” of the online journal In Focus, many matching scenery took place in the film, Double Indemnity. For example, during the title sequence, the man on crutches hobbling towards the camera, Walter’s monologue in his dark office at the beginning of the movie, the murder scene at night in the car and at the railroad tracks where Walter and Phyllis were placing the dead corpse of Mr. Dietrichson or Nirdlinger, or the part where Keyes is leaving Walter’s small apartment, at the same time hiding Phyllis behind the door casting a dark shadow over her symbolizing her true color while creating a barrier in their not too distant future relationship, which eventually leads into the final confrontation between them in Mr. Dietrichson’s dark living room with very little light shedding through the Venetian blinds of the windows of the house allowing the viewer to expect a very dramatic moment as soon as Phyllis plants a gun under the pillow of the couch she is sitting in. All of these are evident descriptions in Double Indemnity that show true visual form and content of film noir at its best.