Scholarly Article
Yasir Masood
Scholarly Article Assignment
In “Crime, Guilt, and Subjectivity in Film Noir”, Winfried Fluck argues that Film Noir “opens our eyes to the ‘true’ state of American society”1 by not masking true human emotion in a situation where survival is not certain. He implies that it shows the protagonist struggle with desire and selfishness in a light that had not been shown before in American cinema and is the root of why Film Noir transcends time and remains a popular genre. He adds that the popularity of genre is rooted partly due to the fact that it is the antithesis of the films mainstream Hollywood was putting out at the time; the sunny and cheery tones were in stark contrast with Film Noir’s “dark” and “atmospheric”2 overtones. I agree with
Fluck but would add that the success and everlasting nature of Film Noir is also due to the fact that it allows the viewer to personify with a protagonist that has faults and shortcomings just like themselves and that the selfishness the protagonist exhumes in times of scrutiny is relatable to the audience in opposed to the typical morally perfect hero of the time. I would add that Film Noir paved the way for TV and Hollywood’s current obsession of providing a anti-hero who is morally flawed selfish in shows such as Breaking Bad, House of Cards, and movies such as Wolf of Wall Street. Overall, Film Noir remains popular and has a lasting appeal largely due to the depths and nuances of the main protagonist, as well as the difference between the atmospheric tones against the cheery light-heartedness of conventional
Hollywood. It is also necessary to observe how Film Noir paved the way for the medium and story telling as a whole for later generations.
1
Winfried Fluck, “Crime, Guild, and Subjectivity in Film Noir”, American Studies, Vol. 46, No. 3, Popular Culture
(2001), pp. 379-408, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41157665, (Accessed 02/28/2014)
2
Winfried Fluck, “Crime, Guild, and Subjectivity in Film Noir”, American
Scholarly Article Assignment
In “Crime, Guilt, and Subjectivity in Film Noir”, Winfried Fluck argues that Film Noir “opens our eyes to the ‘true’ state of American society”1 by not masking true human emotion in a situation where survival is not certain. He implies that it shows the protagonist struggle with desire and selfishness in a light that had not been shown before in American cinema and is the root of why Film Noir transcends time and remains a popular genre. He adds that the popularity of genre is rooted partly due to the fact that it is the antithesis of the films mainstream Hollywood was putting out at the time; the sunny and cheery tones were in stark contrast with Film Noir’s “dark” and “atmospheric”2 overtones. I agree with
Fluck but would add that the success and everlasting nature of Film Noir is also due to the fact that it allows the viewer to personify with a protagonist that has faults and shortcomings just like themselves and that the selfishness the protagonist exhumes in times of scrutiny is relatable to the audience in opposed to the typical morally perfect hero of the time. I would add that Film Noir paved the way for TV and Hollywood’s current obsession of providing a anti-hero who is morally flawed selfish in shows such as Breaking Bad, House of Cards, and movies such as Wolf of Wall Street. Overall, Film Noir remains popular and has a lasting appeal largely due to the depths and nuances of the main protagonist, as well as the difference between the atmospheric tones against the cheery light-heartedness of conventional
Hollywood. It is also necessary to observe how Film Noir paved the way for the medium and story telling as a whole for later generations.
1
Winfried Fluck, “Crime, Guild, and Subjectivity in Film Noir”, American Studies, Vol. 46, No. 3, Popular Culture
(2001), pp. 379-408, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41157665, (Accessed 02/28/2014)
2
Winfried Fluck, “Crime, Guild, and Subjectivity in Film Noir”, American