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I'm the shadow you chase, I'm the sting when you breathe
Yesterday was unexpectedly rough. It began with a sash falling out of one of our living room windows so unprovoked and badly that we were eventually obliged to fasten a small board across it in order to keep it from repeating the trick and shattering this time, after which I reinjured my back dealing with an overspill of rat-chewed garbage in our driveway, a sentence no part of which I had any interest in ever typing. For assorted reasons I am lead-weight exhausted and had a nosebleed in the night, which just seems like overkill.
By way of consolation, the mail brought the copy I had finally ordered of Imogen Sara Smith's In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City (2011), which I had been curious about since the last administration. I opened it to an early chapter and got sharp, close, back-to-back readings of Act of Violence (1948) and The Reckless Moment (1949), which delighted me. Smith reads noir as a genre more pessimistically by definition than I do, but she keys her definition to philosophy more than tropes and ties it unambiguously to shadow sides, of modernity, of morality, of the American dream. I am working on the recurring motif of not feeling as though all of my interests are useless just because somebody else picked up on the same details first. That said, I was so glad to see this statement at the head of the chapter on domestic noir:
Film noir did not always take the man's point of view, though the assumption that it did—along with a common prejudice against melodrama and women's movies—often leads films with female protagonists to be treated as less than fully noir. Movies with women at the center complicate the standard noir duality of good girl vs. bad girl, avaricious temptress vs. apron-wearing wife happily keeping her husband's supper warm. Films about men with dangerous jobs typically show them returning to loving, supportive and contented wives, but films that focus on domestic settings show women as vulnerable, locked in lifeless or life-endangering relationships and warped by the narrowness of their experiences.
—enhanced by this footnote to her discussion of Gun Crazy (1950):
The Production Code supported the motif of the femme fatale, since it allowed sinful impulses to be contained within the singular figure of a "bad woman" whose death would restore order and virtue. In other words, put the blame on Mame. Noir films, however, frequently undermine this misogynistic scapegoating by making it clear that the men who are led astray by temptresses were just waiting for a chance to go astray anyway; the women awaken a suppressed tendency toward antisocial rebellion and crime, the desire to "get away with something."
Come on, if actual critics with sufficient clout to record features for Criterion are saying this sort of thing and have been for a dozen years or more, why am I still running into this Manichean nonsense about femmes fatales at all? I hit it just the other night in a recent review from a high-profile outlet and didn't make it through the lede without vocally blowing a fuse. Just think how much more annoyed Smith must be every time she has to spell the facts out in small words. In any case, I am enjoying a sort of cherry-picking approach to the book where I am reading her thoughts on films I have seen, occasionally regretful at the absence of non-urban noirs that did not make the cut. (That's not shade-throwing: Strange Bargain (1949), for example, is so on the nose with its domestic-economic desperation, I would love to know what she makes of it.) The hang-ups I have about reading critically in fields I really care about are too old to have the inconsistent force that they do and so far this book is a pleasant way to chip at them.
By way of consolation, the mail brought the copy I had finally ordered of Imogen Sara Smith's In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City (2011), which I had been curious about since the last administration. I opened it to an early chapter and got sharp, close, back-to-back readings of Act of Violence (1948) and The Reckless Moment (1949), which delighted me. Smith reads noir as a genre more pessimistically by definition than I do, but she keys her definition to philosophy more than tropes and ties it unambiguously to shadow sides, of modernity, of morality, of the American dream. I am working on the recurring motif of not feeling as though all of my interests are useless just because somebody else picked up on the same details first. That said, I was so glad to see this statement at the head of the chapter on domestic noir:
Film noir did not always take the man's point of view, though the assumption that it did—along with a common prejudice against melodrama and women's movies—often leads films with female protagonists to be treated as less than fully noir. Movies with women at the center complicate the standard noir duality of good girl vs. bad girl, avaricious temptress vs. apron-wearing wife happily keeping her husband's supper warm. Films about men with dangerous jobs typically show them returning to loving, supportive and contented wives, but films that focus on domestic settings show women as vulnerable, locked in lifeless or life-endangering relationships and warped by the narrowness of their experiences.
—enhanced by this footnote to her discussion of Gun Crazy (1950):
The Production Code supported the motif of the femme fatale, since it allowed sinful impulses to be contained within the singular figure of a "bad woman" whose death would restore order and virtue. In other words, put the blame on Mame. Noir films, however, frequently undermine this misogynistic scapegoating by making it clear that the men who are led astray by temptresses were just waiting for a chance to go astray anyway; the women awaken a suppressed tendency toward antisocial rebellion and crime, the desire to "get away with something."
Come on, if actual critics with sufficient clout to record features for Criterion are saying this sort of thing and have been for a dozen years or more, why am I still running into this Manichean nonsense about femmes fatales at all? I hit it just the other night in a recent review from a high-profile outlet and didn't make it through the lede without vocally blowing a fuse. Just think how much more annoyed Smith must be every time she has to spell the facts out in small words. In any case, I am enjoying a sort of cherry-picking approach to the book where I am reading her thoughts on films I have seen, occasionally regretful at the absence of non-urban noirs that did not make the cut. (That's not shade-throwing: Strange Bargain (1949), for example, is so on the nose with its domestic-economic desperation, I would love to know what she makes of it.) The hang-ups I have about reading critically in fields I really care about are too old to have the inconsistent force that they do and so far this book is a pleasant way to chip at them.
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You've read Megan Abbott? Not film, but she writes noir or noir-ish mysteries/suspense with female leads.
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I've read Bury Me Deep (2009), which I loved, and when I spent time in used book stores, I used to look for Queenpin (2008) because she said once in an interview or a review that she cast the novel's homme fatal with the actor Steve Cochran, of whom I am fond. What others of hers do you recommend? I read noir as cheerfully as I watch it.
*hugs*
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Ironically, I fell in love with noir through Angel (TV) and have always thought it would be fun to write something noir-flavored. Simon R. Green's Nightside series is fantasy/supernatural noir that I also enjoyed (male lead, but some very interesting and sympathetic female characters), although I think the earlier books are stronger than some of the later ones.
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I will keep looking for Queenpin and grab Die a Little if I ever see it!
I would love to see you write something noir-flavored.
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Thank you! It really felt unnecessary!
That book sounds great.
I think you would really enjoy it. It's the kind of criticism where even if I differ on individual points of interpretation, I still like what the critic has to say about a movie, and I think the overall project of detaching noir from an urban, hard-boiled definition is still desperately necessary.
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Now I feel that my window blinds are glowering at me and plotting revenge.
As for the rest, I fear that many human brains really like Manichean nonsense. There should be an inoculation for it.
P.
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Thank you! It happened while
Now I feel that my window blinds are glowering at me and plotting revenge.
Blinds are tricky. They influence what you see.
As for the rest, I fear that many human brains really like Manichean nonsense. There should be an inoculation for it.
I don't know why they do. It really doesn't make things simpler, just worse.
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Fantastic! (I look forward to the crime novels.)
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Thank you!
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UGH NO.
Noir films, however, frequently undermine this misogynistic scapegoating by making it clear that the men who are led astray by temptresses were just waiting for a chance to go astray anyway; the women awaken a suppressed tendency toward antisocial rebellion and crime, the desire to "get away with something
....man, I remember watching Double Indemnity as a kid and thinking something like this? The noir antihero is hardly a trembling innocent corrupted against his will!
I LOVE Megan Abbott. Unfortunately her recent books have varied wildly in quality. I'd highly recommend her first four novels -- Die a Little (2005), The Song Is You (2007), Queenpin (2007) and Bury Me Deep (2009) and then, in a wild change of pace, she wrote Dare Me (2012), a noir novel about suburban modern-day cheerleaders, which I know sounds really off-putting, but it's beautifully written and completely noir. It was made into a show (soon cancelled) and it makes me a bit sad everyone is enthusing over the Yellowjackets show now which is a giant hit, because Dare Me just kind of disappeared. Anyway. I don't know if I'd recommend any of her books after that -- she kept on writing from the POV of teenagers, which didn't really work for me without the noir cheerleading, and then wrote a book sort of about PMDD and noir women and murder, Give Me Your Hand (2018) which was at least pretty readable, but genuinely off-putting. Unfortunately her very latest, The Turnout (2021), which is sort of about ballet and house renovation and dark secrets and so on, went back to unpalatable for me, but I know other people who liked it better. But Dare Me is incendiary.
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THANK YOU.
....man, I remember watching Double Indemnity as a kid and thinking something like this? The noir antihero is hardly a trembling innocent corrupted against his will!
This was also my take! (I apologize for all the footnotes.)
I LOVE Megan Abbott. Unfortunately her recent books have varied wildly in quality. I'd highly recommend her first four novels -- Die a Little (2005), The Song Is You (2007), Queenpin (2007) and Bury Me Deep (2009) and then, in a wild change of pace, she wrote Dare Me (2012), a noir novel about suburban modern-day cheerleaders, which I know sounds really off-putting, but it's beautifully written and completely noir.
So noted! I would definitely not have picked up a novel about suburban cheerleaders without a recommendation, and suspect in fact that I saw it and did not. How was the TV adaptation?
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NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR FOOTNOTES
I totally would never have read Dare Me cold either, and I actually forget now if a friend had read it first or not -- I remember being highly dubious, reading a good review I think, and then picking it up and being absolutely sucked in. Sadly I didn't get to see the TV version because it was either on one of those new streaming services that have only one thing that I want, or one of the old cable channels that we no longer have because we went for streaming. Megan Abbott wrote a bunch of the scripts and was heavily involved in it, I think, but it was -- sing along, we all know the words! -- cancelled after one (1) season. sigh.
The line of Walter's I always remember is "I was thinking about that anklet." And he's obsessive about it! You're the one doing the looking, pal!
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I shall try!
I totally would never have read Dare Me cold either, and I actually forget now if a friend had read it first or not -- I remember being highly dubious, reading a good review I think, and then picking it up and being absolutely sucked in.
If I see it, I'll grab it. Still really want to read Queenpin and miss used book stores.
Sadly I didn't get to see the TV version because it was either on one of those new streaming services that have only one thing that I want, or one of the old cable channels that we no longer have because we went for streaming.
The internet reports it aired on USA Network, which I don't think I interacted with even when we had an actual TV. Wow. Speaking of burying deep.
The line of Walter's I always remember is "I was thinking about that anklet." And he's obsessive about it! You're the one doing the looking, pal!
Ding ding ding ding ding!
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Thank you. I have at least had to deal with no further falling windows or driveway garbage! (Knock wood.)
That does indeed sound like a wonderful book, though, and one I might have to check out!
I really recommend it. She writes evocatively, too.
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seriously: sash falling out of window: no; overspill of garbage: no; rats: no; picking up after rats: no; reinjure back: no. In other words, no, no, no, no, no!
Why am I still running into this Manichean nonsense --I think maybe because dualism is so culturally embedded? ... Along misogyny, of course.
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*hugs*
--I think maybe because dualism is so culturally embedded? ... Along misogyny, of course.
I'm sick of both of them!
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I'd love to see them! Thank you for asking. What a very cheering thing.
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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UpsQzkyAO5jtfzOox9Ws2Nhnp19V3IiR/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UkjQ7z4L6WbPQfLQP8zNXFLA8wQtklGZ/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VCQZ2XfT4oN1i8GPG807-0mAN0VMGmp1/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Uxn4pASWiyitlKhNKegAOKB-kNxQSivJ/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UQEsMulekBZya1VKYvMa4aKwZAwRPcI1/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UPK5YROzVP6cWCR2h8oRIbp1wHLRgkcc/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UPIFKNXQ3NNEAn04BEM627Rlk6rhDIfo/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UOqfW4--fhH7QyrLBdgMOVWOAfJFKVtL/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VCV7rS5hMm5sJXl65Fr7bWziAHMgLwJe/view?usp=sharing
(They were all readable on my phone, but some of them are looking blurry there, but hopefully will be ok! Just let me know if any aren't, or I have missed de=restricting viewing of any. Enjoy! He was already starting to suffer from the tumours up his nose I mentioned before, so if he refers to sniffing and being stuffed up and the like, that's what he's on about!)
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All legible! Thank you!