Sexism In Noir Films

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As a society we value and admire heroes who represent the idealized version of ourselves whom we stride every day to become. This is why they are sometimes scrutinized, unless they are an anti-hero, of course. The anti-hero is also admired by some even if he utilizes unlawful methods to achieve his goal, because he represents the good in a corrupt world. But this is not always the case as it is seen in some Noir stories. In Noir stories, the anti-hero is supposed to be a modern knight. Transgressing society's corrupt rules in order to reaffirm for its male audience the need to act justly do rightly; however, the anti-hero through this false nobility and sexism reinforces the social problems that plague contemporary society. The Noir elements in the film Brick allow the director to cut out some of the …show more content…

Because of this, and one of Noir’s essential characteristics of a convoluted plot, some of the elements that make up the story might be missed by the audience. For example, in Brick Brendan is embellished by the script focusing on his noble and heroic acts that resulted from him trying to save his girlfriend and afterwards, figuring out what happened to her. However, a significant event is hidden in one of the films’ flashback moments. According to the movies’ shooting script written by Rian Johnson, “when Brendan and Emily were still an item she started hanging out with Jerr, a small time dealer. Brendan didn’t approve, so he partnered up with Jerr then ratted him out to Trueman. Emily found out, and that led to their breakup on the field, which we see in a flashback” (Johnson 8). Brendan is the sole reason all the disorder in the story happened and it reflects some of the anti-hero’s heinous traits of jealousy, control and sexism. One of the key identifiers of an anti-hero consists of him acting against a crime for noble reasons. However, Brendan did not act he was simply because he believed it was the right

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