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Stylistic and thematic characteristics of film noir
An essay on film noir
Film noir history analysis
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The Hays Production Code of 1930 America asserted that “No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it,” “The sanctity of the institution of marriage and the home shall be upheld,” and “Sex perversion or any inference to it is forbidden.” Such restrictions crippled the film industry’s ability to overtly display homosexuality, a “sexually perverse act.” But film producers increasingly found reasons to use homosexual characters. Film Noir movies were B-rated movies that weren’t considered as high-caliber movies as the A-listers, so they weren’t as heavily monitored. Film Noir directors used this to their full advantage. With greater freedom to experiment, they tried things that A-listers wouldn’t or couldn’t. Noir in its experimental essence fit perfectly with the struggle to figure out a character’s sexual identity. Often by trying to define a character through stereotypes, the confusion was even more glaring. This confusion of character identity and true intentions added to obfuscate the order of the narrative and what was taking place within it. In films such as Laura and Mildred Pierce the character’s unresolved sexual tension, due to emotions/ desires that are constantly thwarted, lead them down …show more content…
He begins by stalking Laura’s apartment to find out who she is spending time with. He continues to spy on her and her relationships and turns up unexpectedly as if she is his possession that he has come to claim. Then sets out to sabotage Laura and her relationships. He drives Jacobi away with a scathing article he publishes about him. He looks into Shelby’s past and is watchful of his liaisons, so he can inform Laura. He becomes increasingly obsessive, and ultimately his obsession leads him to criminal behavior, killing one of Laura’s models, who he mistakes for Laura. Finally, he attempts to end Laura’s
Throughout the film of Smoke Signals, the story centers on two characters, Thomas and Victor. Thomas, through his storytelling shows Victor that there's more to life than cynicism and pure anger, while Victor let's Thomas know what it means to be a real Indian. We can see this in the scene where Victor tells Thomas that Indians are not supposed to smile to white people and that Indians always should look mean in order to gain the respect of white folks. However, we can see that after they return to the bus their seats have been taken by two white men and neither did Victor’s mean face and faded smile help him gain their seats back. This scene shows us that those stereotypes about how what an Indian is supposed to act are not in fact true because
Men and women have played gender specific roles, from the earliest sign of civilization to modern society. In the cult classic “Night of the Living Dead”, stereotypical gender role were on display. George A. Romero’s film hinted at subtle references to the role of men and women and depicted the stereotypes America held during the 1960s. Men played the protectors and enforcers, while the women represented the submissive homemakers and caretakers. Romero’s film portrays the sexes, men and women, in their respective stereotypical behaviors. Stereotypes that sets the undertone for the duration of the film.
Minorities have made significant strides towards autonomy and equality over the last century. They had been subjected to oppression and cruelty. There was no proper representation for the natives and were considered ‘barbaric’ by the Europeans and Americans. In both continents, the Africans have been exploited to suit the needs of the colonizers. They have always been stereotyped, which are hasty generalizations, in all walks of life.
“Bringing Down the House” featuring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah is a clever comedy that creatively showcases the sociolinguistic phenomena covered in this course. The film is about a tax attorney named Peter, played by Martin, who stumbles into an online lawyer chat room and meets Charlene, played by Latifah. The two chat frequently, mostly about court cases, and eventually decide to meet in person. When the day finally comes, Peter is greeted at the door with who he thought would be a middle-aged Caucasian woman, but happened to be Charlene, a black woman who just escaped from prison. Thinking this was a mistake, Peter tries to kick out Charlene but is later convinced she is the one who he was speaking with in the chat room. Charlene was able to successfully impersonate a lawyer through speech, and along with a deceiving picture, able to convince Peter she was a petite blonde. During these chats, the two talked about court cases that happened to relate to Charlene’s predicament with the law. In attempt to clear her name from a crime she did not commit, Charlene researched the judicial system and similar court cases to hers while in prison. Now that she is out, she seeks personal assistance from Peter who has already through the internet, given her support. All throughout the movie the characters contrast in viewpoints, culture, and most importantly for our studies, language. Charlene and Peter represent different language backgrounds which we can analyze as the root of their character development and actions throughout the film.
(4) Conventional is easy. Whenever an idea is generally perceived by society as standard or traditional it becomes very easy to display to the public without the raise of an eyebrow. This is the basis on which stereotypes appear in films. You’d think in the 21st century where what once were radical notions like same sex marriage and recreational drug use are being legalized that something uncalled for like the constant portrayal of character stereotyping would come to an end. Alas, stereotypical characters continue to emerge in film and unfortunately have become a staple of Hollywood because they’re simple and straightforward, requiring little effort on the part of the writers or thinking from the audience.
I can relate to your initial thoughts of the film McFarland, USA. Often, the “savior” of a group deemed troubled tends to be of different race and ethnicity. There are many stereotypes perpetuated in American Society. However, I appreciated the fact that Jim White genuinely cared about his students. I loved how he immersed himself in the townspeople’s culture and was willing to pick crops with his students if it meant they would keep competing in cross country running.
In the movie “crash” people from different racial group crash in to each other and at least two of the characters come to recognize how their prejudice and stereotyping is based on their accidental encounter with members of other social groups.
After viewing the film Bamboozled by Spike Lee I feel as though he is suggesting that racial stereotypes will continue to be emphasized in television and other mass media outlets but as a way to provide entertainment. From a person working with the media’s perspective, many communities are growing towards becoming more diverse in which would lead them to think of an effective way to connect with a hugely diverse audience. Many races have common stereotypes that the media would use to connect with their audience on a personal level, sometimes it would be seen as offensive, but avoid conflict with their audience and maintain their image they would add comedic effect so it would only appear as a joke.
Lujayn Abdulmajeed Communications 120 Sep.12th.2016 Don’t Judge Them. According to the movie “Gran Torino” every step that Walt Kowalski made from the death of his wife till his own death, Walt is not racist. In the beginning of the movie when watching Walt’s beliefs and actions no word will fit him better than racist old man.
The term film noir is a French term literally meaning, black cinema. During the second world war occupying Germans would control what pictures the people of France saw, and it was not until after the war that the French got a glimpse of what American cinema had been doing for nearly five years. The first thing they noticed was how dark the films were both literally and figuratively; hence the name 'black cinema' [1]. Critics were shocked to see plot lines focusing on betrayal, murder, and topics thought to be taboo at the time including drug use and rape. These films were indeed revolutionary in their time, pushing the limits of what was thought to be acceptable on a motion picture screen in America during the 1940?s and 1950?s.
Identity is a substantial component of a person, it’s something that determines who they are and help establish themselves with people who you find enjoyable and shares similar interests. It could bring people together, and provide a sense of belonging and unity. However, there are times where these people who are within certain cliques are perceived more negatively or believe that all people within that group perpetually have a certain set of traits. In most cases, these negative perceptions lead to discrimination and conflict, and obscures the positive and more genuine traits of an individual. In S.E. Hinton’s book, The Outsiders, there is a group of poor and lower-middle class teens who are labeled as greasers. This group of wild teenagers
Early Hollywood cinema and the average American citizen of the time looked at the taboo topic of homosexuality from the same point of view. This viewpoint conveyed was that homosexuality was immoral; therefore it was made illegal to partake in any homosexual acts. Moreover, before the decade of the 1960s, in the laws of sodomy, there was a law that prohibited sexual contact between people of the same sex. Therefore homosexuality was seen as a crime punishable by law. An example of this would be………………………….
While there are many different ways to classify a Neo-noir film, Roman Polanski’s, Chinatown captures many. The 1974 movie consists of many of these elements, including both thematic and stylistic devices. One of the main themes of neo-noir film that is constant throughout the film is the deceptive plot that questions the viewers’ ideas and perceptions of what is actually happening in the film. Every scene of Chinatown leads to a twist or another turn that challenges the practicability of the film’s reality. All of the never-ending surprises and revelations lead up to the significant themes the movie is trying to convey in the conclusion of the film.
Wyatt, Justin. “The Stigma of X: Adult Cinema and the Institution of the MPAA Ratings System.” Controlling Hollywood: Censorship and Regulation in the Studio Era. Ed. Matthew Bernstein. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1999. (238-264).
The film Gran Torino directed by Client Eastwood challenges The issues of stereotypes through the attributes of contemporary assumptions of status, gender and ethnicity. Exploring the themes of absence of a male dominate figure, enabling protagonist Theo to be a feminine figure exploits the idea of gender portrays the Hmong men to be stereotyped.Ethnicity and status also express multiple meanings through the cinematography and the Hollywood narrative style illustrates many representation of the western and eastern cultures These key terms gender, ethnicity and status all intertwine with each other during the entire film. The Hmong culture have been stereotyped by the western culture concerning that the American way is the only way which evidently challenges the ideas and ideologies of the Hmong society. the film illustrates the idea of realism but underlines the factor that cultures outside of America should obtain the manners and ideas of an American to survive in society. there is clear indication that classical Hollywood narrative, mis en scene and cinematography style can support stereotypes about gender, ethnicity and status.