RARA-AVIS: Noir v. HB

Shane Liebling (shane@rescomp.berkeley.edu)
Wed, 29 Jul 1998 02:03:11 -0700 (PDT) I just signed onto this list and it is 1:49am. I am tired, my eyelids are
fallin faster than Vlade Divac, but I saw something that peaked my
interest... I am a harcore Noir fan and somewhat of an HB fan (tryin to
become moreso, but got more important books to read -> aka school). On
the comment of fatalism and the detective, I think you are right to an
extent.

The detective is usually the only light in a dark glass of a world, but
this does not mean that light will not go out. The earlier comment about
just surviving was sentimental, but not very applicable in the gritty
world of the noirs.

Although in some of the films, like The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep,
the Detective does win out in the end, leaving many cursed men to walk the
streets again, but one on their way to Sing Sing. But this trend does not
continue onward when we look at the darker themed detectives, specificlly
Out Of The Past.

Here we have Jeff Markum, who is a Detective, but one with a past, who
ends up dead because of it. He was the shining light in our viewing
experience, but he does fall prey to his own devices and vices in the end.

Maybe what we should see in this is a possible pattern of demise versus
exposure of information. It seems that the more we know about the
protaganist, the less likely they are to survive.

We really don't know all that much about Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe or
Hammer. All we know is that they are Detectives and that they have a job
to do.

What do we know about Jeff Markum? Everything. We know how he works and
what he has done with his life. It seems in the Noirs and some of the
HB's that if you are a complete human entity you are destined to fail and
ultimately die. If you are more than human, you have no real identity,
except for your code and attitude, then you are immortal.

Where do you think superheros come from?

-Shane

**************************************************************
Shane Liebling Unit 2 Helpdesk RCC '98-'99
shane@rescomp http://www.rescomp.berkeley.edu/staff/shane/
**************************************************************
Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean,
who is neither tarnished nor afraid... He must be the best man
in his world and a good enough man for any world.
**********************Raymond Chandler************************

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