Kerry, let's look at what's considered great noir. Walter Huff in Double Indemnity crosses the line with murder, no turning back. Same with Frank and Cora in Postman Always Rings Twice. And every great noir from Jim Thompson from "Hell of a Woman" to "Savage Night". Seymour Shubin's great "Anyone's My Name" has the noir protagonist crossing the line, first betraying his future wife. I can't think of a single book that is thought of as great noir (at least by consensus of the group, and not by Jim!) that doesn't have the noir protagonist creating his own doom by crossing this moral line. OTOH, fiction that has a morally sound protagonist doomed by fate or chance falls strictly as tragedy (unless its satire, parody, etc.).
--Dave
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "gsp.schoo@..." <gsp.schoo@...> wrote:
>
> I take exactly the opposite track, Dave. If a moral line is crossed it's tragedy. There's an implied lesson. But in noir there's no alternative, no opportunity for redemption. Lets take Romeo & Julliette. At the end, the Prince sums up the errors of everyone's ways that led to the fatalities, encouraging better behaviour in the future. Macbeth could have avoided his end had he been less ambitious, Hamlet if he'd been more decisive. Those are tragedies. But if you believe R&J's young love is doomed regardless because love will never transcend tribalism, that's noir.
>
> Best,
> Kerry
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: davezeltserman
> To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 9:51 AM
> Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Noir -- Penzler, Kerry and MRT
>
>
>
> It has to has to be more than just a character being screwed, the character's actions have to contribute to them being screwed. A moral line has to be crossed that there's no turning back from. Otherwise, instead of noir it's tragedy.
>
> --Dave
>
> --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Jack Bludis <buildsnburns@> wrote:
> >
> > Not sure about the conflict between what Kerry Schooley says and what Jacques Debierue (MRT) says.
> >
> > I agree with Kerry that the screwed character of noir may have a moral core but it gets skewed, most often by money or the femme fatale. And yes, the PI novel is romantic fantasy.
> >
> > MrT says of the moral code, "... such codes are rarely personal but instead are largely societal." I've never heard that before, but it seems right on target. Chandler's entire description of the private-eye in his famous essay points directly to the judeo-christian ethic.
> >
> > Yes, just "Screwed" is shorthand for noir, but it does describe the protagonist of such fiction. The absolute evil protagonist is not noir at all, but something entirely different.
> >
> > Jack
> >
> > http://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JackBludis
> >
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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