Brian Andreen Double Indemnity and Film Noir
It seems to me that film noir is not an actual film type but rather a way of symbolically portraying themes that were occurring during the time period these films were made. These themes were prevalent throughout the culture of this time and occurred multiple times in many movies, resulting in what seems like is a genre of their own, but in really were just a reflection of the culture of the day. This is especially true for the theme of good versus evil which is so obviously and easily represented by the black and white, and with light and shadows. With the world coming over such turmoil from WWII and with the world trying to get back on its feet, the struggle of good versus evil resonated with the people of this time period, and I think because of human nature will continue to resonate.
Another key toping in film noir is the. I do not feel that the vixen in these films makes them film noir. Instead I feel the newly arising sexual culture of the 1940’s and 1950’s was being suppressed by the government and other film regulating agencies. The vixen was an attractive woman and was not placed to cast attractive women with a devious nature, but instead was done in order to allow the film industry to get away with what was in the 40’s and 50’s risqué behavior and thus let film industry adjust to the change in popular culture, accommodating for many of the changes in how women were looked at as well as what they were allowed wear and do.
I conclude that film noir is not a genre, but instead is the expression the popular culture of the day through the restricted controls of the government and other film agencies.
The film Double Indemnity portrays many of these cultural themes. It displays the good versus evil with dark and light. It portrays minorities in menial jobs as the car washer. It also has the vixen pushing risqué behavior, all making it a classic example of film noir.