Blog Entry #10 - "The Gold Coast Section"

The Girl Who Kissed Barnaby Jones would have to be the best example of Noir for me, out of all the 4 reading selections in "The Gold Coast Section."  The qualities of traditional noir that I found are similar with this story are;

• A femme fatale who will do anything to get a guy to help her carry out a murder.
• A beautiful femme fatale, who seduces a guy in hopes of gaining his trust.
• A femme fatale who turns on the guy that she got to help him with a murder.
• A protagonist named Tate, who doesn't know whether or not he should help the femme fatale, or turn her in to authorities.
• The protagonist is a "loser type" individual with no real aspirations.
• The main setting of the story seems to be at night, because the windows of the house are described as dark, and the inside of the house is dark as well.

The story that I felt to be the most difficult to classify as noir would have to be What You See.  I was really frustrated with this story the whole way through.  The main character in the story, made me want to slap him in the face!  It's almost as if he was trying to play a cool guy, but he is actually a big loser nerd with mental issues.  I think the harder this character tried at anything, the more retarded he got.  I almost felt as if he was whining and rambling on throughout the story.  The whole thing just seemed really fake and ridiculous.  The plot was also too predictable.

Blog Entry 9 - Kidnapper Bell & City of Commerce

The City of Commerce for me, gave great detail of past and present.  Although I have never visited that area of L.A. before, I can visualize in my mind what it looks like by the great detail given.  Examples of detail which I found interesting include; 1. Judging by what the main character's wife (Karen) said, I got the feeling that they lived in a city which was probably far from rural Ojai. 2.  I got the sense that the couple lived near the City of Commerce, where apparently a casino or two was.  3.  By the description given on page 230, Commerce use to be a industrialized city with industrialized jobs, but now its changed, and has a couple of casinos.  On page 231, it describes how you have to go thru downtown to get to Commerce.  As I read further, Commerce is a "sooty," industrialized, less definitively part of L.A." (pg. 231).  As the main character further explains, "I get to Commerce, the empty concrete lots, smoke stacks, and shaddy public park.  What else can I think about in such an environment but poker" (pg. 232).  This tells me, this place is nasty!  In regards to The Kidnapper Bell, for me this story focused more on a particular area within a city (L.A. River), rather than discussing a city in itself.  Good descriptions are also revealed, for example; "shallow river that cuts into downtown, on its way to the ocean" (pg.209).  I felt like although the author mentions Chinatown, I got the feeling of more of a description of the restaurant, than anything else.  "Dark corner of favorite bar, wobbly square table, cigarette smoke filling the room."  However, the description of the L.A. River and of what had taken place there, made me feel scared of ever wanting to visit a place like that!  Examples are; East of Chinatown, dark left takes them down an industrial service road, then bike paths that run along the crest of cement lining deep, empty river basin, knee high barrier loose of chain link tops.  Of course, the list just goes on and on.  This place just seemed very creepy, and nasty, and its that creepy, nasty feeling that reflects one of the really bad parts of L.A.

Blog Entry 8 - The Method & Morocco Junction

I actually appreciated the fact that finally a woman was portrayed as both the protagonist and first-person narrator.  Sure it was a new twist in comparison to the original noir story lines.  But being neo-noir from the 20th century, the protagonist and the first-person narrator was consistent with the changing times.  In the 40's and 50's, men were more domineering, but now a days, women are also in domineering roles, like being executives in business, as well as holding jobs that were usually meant for males.  Sure I would consider both of these stories as noir, because of the constant "roller coaster" ride we are taking through the plot.  Nothing is obvious, everything is twisted.  And in both stories the woman took over the role of the investigator, to find out what actually  was taking place in the plot.  If I had to recommend one of these two stories to a friend, I would lean more toward "The Method."  My decision is based on personal choice of course, but I just found a little more action - passion - and mystery in this story.  Plus all the "fucking" that was going on, made the story juicier!  Personally, I just found the story of a younger woman, falling for a older guy more interesting to me.  Maybe because I myself fell for an older guy, and ended up marrying him.  LOL.

Contrast Between Film Noir & Neo-Noir...

From what I gathered from the reading of the article that Mr. Toth provided, for me it was saying that neo-noir imitates classic noir at times.  It expresses anxieties, but to a modern condition.  It exists in a postmodern frame of mind.  I liked the following quote from the article, "The world is too warped and incomprehensible, and our access to it is so flawed, that we cannot make sense of it."  This quote reminds me a lot of how the story line goes in film noir.  The article goes on in mentioning that neo-noir finds "absolute truth, as meaningless."  And then, it describes this statement by suggesting that "Obsessions with labels and brand names are as important than the products themselves; image is all-important in the postmodernist era."  This quote I think would be a good comparison to the movie Fight Club.  Lastly, I would like to mention that I found it interesting to know that neo-noir tends to demonstrate drastic changes in employment patterns for men and women, increasing gender role reversals, in having stay-at-home dads, and having mom's work outside the home. 

To Agree, Or Not To Agree?

The film review that I chose by The New York Times, illustrates the movie as being a "refrigerating effect,".  The film review also describes the movie as being suspenseful, which is a character of the film that I feel we can all agree upon.  The film review does a good job describing the plot of the film.  Right in the first paragraph, it tells us how Baraba Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray set out to achieve the perfect murder, in such a way, that not even a cleaver insurance adjuster (Keyes) can figure it out.  I liked how this film review does a good job describing the ambiance felt about the movie.  I wasn't so sure though, about what to make out of the comment from the NY Times quote "Such folks as delight in murder stories for their academic elegance alone should find this one steadily diverting, despite its monotonous pace and length.  Okay,...monotonous means in one varying tone, so how exactly does this word tie in with this movie?  I saw this film being far from monotonous.  Then the critic of this article says, "No objection to the temper of this picture; it is as steel."  This statement I do agree with, because the film dealt with how the characters had a sense of toughness in their attitude, giving the characters a sense of foundation or accomplishment.  Lastly, the critic states that "the very toughness of the picture is also the weakness of its core, and the academic nature of its plotting limits its general appeal."  Again a conflicting statement by a critic which I feel, didn't make his opinions clear as to whether or not he truly liked the film.

An Uncertain Ending

An uncertain ending that left me wanting more.  Chapter 14 gave me the feeling of many "possibilities."  It wasn't a "final chapter," but rather a opening to something more.  Its kinda like when you come to a fork in the road, but with more than two options.  Escaping from it all to another place, marry Phyllis, or even suicide!  On page 113 Walter says, "Ive been thinking about something else.  Phyllis smiled then, the sweetest, saddest smile you ever saw.  "I thought of the five patients" she said.  "The three little children, Mrs. Nirdlinger, Nirdlinger, and myself.  It didn't seem possible that anybody that could be as nice as she when she wanted to be, could have done those things."  Walter then asks her, "What were you thinking about?"  Then Phyllis says "We could be married, Walter."  Walter replies, "We could be.  And then what?  The notion of uncertainty surrounds them, bringing almost a desperation to which way they should retreat.  "She started it again.  There is nothing ahead of us, is there Walter?"  "No.  Nothing" says Walter.  I almost feel sadness and pity for this "dynamic duo."  But like the saying says, what goes around, comes around, and that is exactly what happened to them.  Walter and Phyllis's relationship started, and then ended just as quickly, the same.  For two unforbidden lovers, found themselves going separate ways at the end. 

Blog Entry #3, The relationship between Walter and Phyllis....

In the start of this section in the novel, I believe that what Phyllis and Walter shared was lust for each other.  Of course, with an added bonus of the accident insurance money to share.  It seemed like Walter was really looking out for Phyllis, making sure she wouldn't do anything to mess up their scheme.  In actuality though, I feel like Walter was actually only looking out for his own interest.  I that that the deeper he got involved with this plot, the more he felt insecure about it.  Not only for himself, but too that he didn't want Phyllis to mess up on anything.  After getting to know Lola more and more, Walter quickly realized who he actually had fallen for.  Being filled with feelings of guilt for having to kill Lola's father, made Walter's feelings for Phyllis look less attractive.  Although he knew he just couldn't kick Phyllis out of his life, it was because he needed her, even if it were to be only temporarily.  So many important quotes in this section describe the love-hate relationship that Walter and Phyllis shared.  Their feelings for each other were not based on love, but rather for convenience.  Phyllis and Walter build a dependency on each other.  An example of this was when Walter becomes paranoid about having the murder discovered.  He constantly needs to check with Phyllis to make sure she is taking the right steps during the investigation of the murder.  Throughout this section, Phyllis and Walter learn to predict each others moods.  For me, they are much more alike then they really want to admit to.  They are both really lonely, twisted, and insecure people.