This seems a very bizarre argument to have on a "hard boiled"
list. I can see both sides meself: yes indeed the hardboiled
hero is traditionally male, he is not worthy of any praise. I
don't understand why Marlowe is continually referred to as a
hero? He is a hideous character: amoral, motivated entirely
by financial return and self serving; fair enough. I spose
that the nature of the genre makes this to a certain extent
innevitable, however, the idea that he is in any way laudable
is quite frankly bollocks.
I don't think that it's more than a reflection of society
that women are cheated like shite on a bike in such
literature. But I do find it a little worrying that this is
accepted by so many! Is Chandler a moral philosopher????
Nope. He is a writer of entertaining detective stories.
Noire/hardboiled is attractive to me because I accept that to
a certain extent "this is how it is," that people should add
more to this is, like, well frickin weird; I have never met a
PI, criminal or copper (not beyond small scale drug dealing
anyway).
I consider James Ellroys personal politics; hateful,
intelectually dishonest
(if we gonna chuck intellects around) and hippocritical, and
also to a certain extent at odds to the material he
writes.
But, hey ho. I read detective and PI and cop fiction, I enjoy
the hardboiled end of that market the best - I think it is
the most realistic (I don't know.) I find James Ellroy,
Edward Bunker and Derek Raymond amongst the most fiercely
moral writers I have come across, by the way I hate Mickey
Spillane
- surely even the most objectionable biggot on the block must
not be beyond parody himself? Shame he is self parodying
really.
Personally I think this particular strand has become
pointlessly misogynist and am constantly reminded of the
phrase:
"Some one who takes the idea of anti-racism to ludicrous
extreme of actually being anti-racist,"
Well there you go, I actually hope that this will provke some
debate. Hard Boiled is generally hugely and nastily
anti-female, this is a FACT. It's not a problem and I believe
that it's a reflection of society.
Merry Christmas Colin
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