Anti Hero In Noir Films

As a society we value and admire the heroes who represent the idealized versions of ourselves whom we strive every day to become. This is why they are often scrutinized, unless they play the role of an anti-hero. The anti-hero is also admired even though he utilizes shameful methods to achieve his goa. This is because he represents the good in a corrupt world However, this is not the case in Noir stories. According to Foster Hirsch in his book The dark side of the screen: film noir, the anti-hero in Noir films is best described as “a constant smoker and a heavy drinker, (…) usually though not always engaged in criminal detection, a cop or a gumshoe. Moving through the criminal underworld with a shield of ironic and wary detachment, this self-conscious
he-man figure used violence to contain violence; he twisted or circumvented the law in order to uphold the law. His morality [is] flexible and utilitarian” (Hirsch 24).

This is illustrated by both Marlowe in Raymond Chandlers short story “Red Wind” and Brendan in the movie Brick when both characters perform heinous acts exemplifying the absence of heroic traits and values. The anti-hero should transgress society's corrupt rules in order to reaffirm for its male audience the need to act justly do rightly. However, through this false nobility and sexism, the anti-hero reinforces the social problems that plague contemporary society.
In the story “Red Wind”, Raymond Chandler depicts the anti-hero Marlowe as the noble knight who risks his own life for the wellbeing of others and gives the reader a sense of “hope” in the otherwise dark world where the story takes place. After solving the major crime without even getting recognition for his work, Marlowe then goes out of his way to make sure the damsel in distress, Laura, keeps her belief of true love and happiness. Marlowe, after telling Laura “If anybody ever bothers you, let me know" goes on to relate, “I went out of the bar without looking back at her, got into my car and drove west on Sunset and down all the way to the Coast Highway. Everywhere along the way gardens were full of withered and blackened leaves and flowers which the hot wind had burned” (Chandler 36). What encourages Marlowe do all of this covering up is that he does not believe Lola is capable of handling the cruel reality of this world. This is why he also offers Laura his unconditional support before leaving her. Even though this may appear to be a noble action from Marlowe to since he is not getting anything in return, he is reinforcing the social norm that women remain weak, and men need to make decisions for them. The anti-hero genre convention in Noir, highlights the social norms that go unobserved otherwise, and highlights their effect by masking them as noble and honorable.
The psychological state and moral ground of the anti-hero is always questioned in Noir films. Near the climax of the story, Marlowe decides to buy a counterfeit pearl necklace to give to Laura in place of the original counterfeit from the man she loved. Many argue Marlowe did so in an attempt to protect Laura and keep her belief in true love alive. However, he did so to disparage the man who was able to conquer Laura, but died in an unexpected turn of events. Right before throwing the peals in the ocean, Marlowe narrates, “’to the memory of Mr. Stan Phillips,’ I said aloud. Just another four-flusher. I flipped her pearls out into the water one by one at the floating seagulls. They made little splashes and the seagulls rose off the water and swooped at the splashes” (Chandler 36). Marlowe did this was because he was envious of the man who owned Laura’s heart. This is why he replaced the pearls with another set of fakes so he could satisfy his psychologically dislocated self by throwing the original counterfeits into the ocean. Correspondingly, he threw them one by one to maximize the pleasure he felt while watching the seagulls fall for the bogus and overrated pearls; similar to how Laura did. The anti-hero is known to be mentally unstable and have an eerie sexual desire. As Richard Martin relates in his book The Legacy of Film Noir in Contemporary American Cinema, “classic films noirs of the forties were founded on male-female relations, with the woman serving as the locus of male psychological dislocation and sexual dysfunction” (Martin 67). Similarly, in Brick Brendan is embellished by the movie script focusing on his noble and heroic acts that resulted from him trying to save his girlfriend and afterwards, figuring out what happened to her. However, a significant event is hidden in one of the films’ flashback moments. According to the movie shooting script written by Rian Johnson, “when Brendan and Emily were still an item she started hanging out with Jerr, a small time dealer. Brendan didn’t approve, so he partnered up with Jerr then ratted him out to Trueman. Emily found out, and that led to their breakup on the field, which we see in a flashback” (Johnson 8). Brendan is the sole reason all the disorder in the story happened and it reflects some of the anti-hero’s heinous traits of jealousy, control and sexism. One of the key identifiers of an anti-hero consists of him acting against a crime for noble reasons. However, Brendan did not act he was simply because he believed it was the right thing to do, he felt guilty and made an attempt to ease his conscious, for he was somewhat culpable of Emily’s death. This is illustrated by other parts in the story where Brendan relates how he has not been able to sleep. Even though his disapproval of Jerr can be justified given his personal endeavors, Brendan did not have a right to get involved. His involvement derives from his innate sexist self, and highlights a key element in society given that it is present in a high school student. Throughout the story, Brendan gives the audience a particular odd vibe that can be of distress to keen viewers.
After figuring out the crime to an impressive level of accuracy and detail, Brendan decides to confront Laura, who he believes was behind Emily’s murder. He relates his findings in a way that highlights his superior intelligence and cleverness, as if to put down Laura and make her feel shame for not executing her plan better. This can be seen when Brendan states, “But I think you knew that meeting was going to blow up. I think that was your final play. But I hope I'm wrong. I hope everything I wrote in the note I dropped at Gary Trueman's office this morning is wrong. About your and Brad's involvement in the Pin's runnings. I hope you didn't steal the brick last night. In your purse” (Johnson 108). The “I think” statements mockingly insinuate he was one step ahead of Laura at all times. Likewise, the “I hope” statements bluntly highlight Laura’s mistakes and establish Brendan’s superiority. Similar to Marlowe in Red Wind, this highlights Brendan’s’ narcissistic tendencies which prompt him to seek a sense of victory and dominance over his adversaries. Even though some may argue certain traits such as an inflated ego which derive from the hero’s’ natural confidence in his own abilities are imminent and even necessary, they are not. According to Frank Krutnik in his book titled In a lonely street: Film noir, genre, masculinity, “one may initially consider this kind
of hero to be the inverse of the ideal ego, and hence as an unsuitable vehicle for narcissistic identification. However, on viewing these films in bulk it becomes apparent that such figures do mobilize a powerful-albeit manifestly inverted-narcissistic attraction” (Krutnik 90).
Through the traditional Noir genre conventions, authors can mislead us to believe the anti-hero is a good role model worthy of appraisal. This is because of the way Noir stories are portrayed. When experiencing a Noir story, everything is dark and sorrowful, the anti-hero gives us a glimpse of hope which can result in the thoughtless viewer being misled to a false belief. However, after taking all matters into consideration, it is clear that the anti-hero is not the noble knight who acts based on heroic values and ideals. The anti-hero is a highly competent but bewildered “problem solver”. Who after he decides to embark on a journey for his innate wild instinct to prove his competence, does whatever is necessary to accomplish such goal. This includes adopting traits that go against what he is sometimes fighting for. By doing so reinforces them as a part of society.