On Sep 4, 2005, at 1:16 AM,
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com wrote:
> evin Burton Smith wrote:
>
> But assuming one would want to "be" noir, what
would
> a noir philosophy consist of? We're all fucked
and
> we're all gonna die so the hell with everything?
In
> practice, it would seem like
pretentious...
>
> *************
> Pretentious and gratuitous. Two words I've come
to
> love. They're like a sawed-off shotgun in
a
> mini-mart. Don't aim. Just pull the trigger.
You'll
> hit everything.
But miker, dear, I don't need a sawed-off. -- my aim is
already true. Heck, I can probably pick off morally hollow
cynicism at fifty paces with a peashooter.
And Mark, it's true a lot of "punks" profess to a sort of
"noir" philosophy, but in the light of day do they seriously
believe in it, or is it more just a trendy FTW cop-out, leave
me alone and buy me a drink sorta affectation, a Saturday
afternoon impulse buy at the moral kiosk?
Somehow I can't see grown-ups using Sid or Kurt as role
models for one's personal philosophy. Wouldn't it be pretty
hard to maintain a prolonged noir attitude without eventually
admitting that some things must matter. Otherwise, why get
out of bed?
Or maybe it's just me, Little Miss Merry Fucking Sunshine,
who still thinks of noir as more of a condition or situation
than a thought out belief system, and who probably has read
Chandler's SIMPLE ART OF MURDER far too often. After all, if
nothing matters, why go down those mean streets at all?
Kerry, your explanation of a noir philosophy, incorporating
dogged perseverance strikes me as more hard-boiled than noir,
a practical approach to an often impractical world. Or maybe
we're tackling the concept of noir from different angles. I
see noir as total black, but you let a bit of grey (and maybe
even a little hope) creep in to your definition. I see
hard-boiled as a way to view life; noir as what happens when
people's lives -- no matter what they may believe -- get
screwed.
Or is it possible that being hard-boiled is simply the way to
deal with a noirish world? One could conceivably think we're
all doomed, but not be noir themselves, couldn't they? A true
noir believer would just let it happen; a hard-boiled
believer would fight.
And then, the question wouldn't be why Marg would put up with
you
(surely one of life's great mysteries :-) but why, if you
honestly believe nothing matters, you're still there for her
to put up with.
I mean, would a truly noir guy ever admit he has a thing for
Otis Redding's TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS?
Kevin
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