Blog 5

In the freelance article "Notes on film: Double Indemnity" by Thomas Caldwell, he proposes the film "is regarded by many as the first true film noir...[and] is also one of the best." Caldwell does a great job breaking down elements of film noir, that would be easily understood by a first time reader who has no idea what film noir is about.  He touches on several qualities of film noir such as the femme fatale, the detective type leading male, the darkness and venetian blinds, and provides detailed examples on how Double Indemnity incorporates each. He also goes on to describe the background and history of film noir and how it came to be known in American film genre to"...reflect both the post World War II survival at all cost mentality plus the ruthless desire to overcome any obstacle by any means necessary."  Caldwell has a great way of explaining the relation of the film's characters and roles to the era of the film and what was taking place at that time in history, what with the war, and role reversal of women in power.  He states "The women in these films were tough, independent, intelligent and cunning. They used their sexuality to their advantage and often wielded considerable power over men. Although the femme fatales often met their doom at the end of these films (thus restoring perceived social order) they were powerful and empowered for the other 95% of the film."  This was very true to the times post World War II with the women having to do a lot of work in place of the men at war, when the men returned, they found women were no longer just a 'Susie home-maker' and no longer wanted to be treated as such.  Although I have become familiar with the elements of film noir, this article clarified some relations of the genre to the era and why it was so relevant and popular at the time.  It almost makes me wonder if men were not fans of this type of film in that time period. I wonder if the men thought that this type of film would encourage women to strive for power. Even though in the end, as stated by Caldwell, the women often got what they deserved, "thus restoring perceived social order," I feel as though men would be opposed to the films message portraying women as having the upper hand.  Or maybe, because in the end the femme fatales were defeated, the directors and writers did this intentionally as a way to discourage women; kind of portraying the message to them of "if you try to stay in power, bad things will happen." So many elements and qualities of film noir have deeper meaning than what is originally perceived, it really makes me think: what is the true moral of the story, what is the underlying message they really are trying to get across?