Double Indemnity's Double Import
The caste of Double Indemnity featured many supporting people of color. While the main characters were white there were several appearances throughout the film of various ethnicities. While film noir generally features minorities in “meager and misery-laden roles subservient to institutions servicing white America� their treatment in this film was not so apparent. There was the African American ticket taker on the train and the car washer in the garage he used as an alibi. There was also the house maid, all subservient roles but the film portrayed them as happy not down trodden oppressed. There was also a white elevator man and a white ticket collector on the train. So while the minorities were shown as serving the white establishment it was with a smile and shared with white workers.
This makes sense for the time. Racial inequalities were still apparent and for the most part legal. But there was a growing movement to increase the presence of different groups in Hollywood and the increasing power of organizations that protested offensive stereotypical treatments. So the inclusion of various people of color was a wise choice. But the studios also had to be careful to not antagonize their white target audience; hence the nonthreatening roles and subservient demeanor. The car washer in particular fell into the “smiling uncle tom� stereotype that has been a part of America’s popular culture since slavery; the happy helper that ‘knows their place’ and is content with it. It assuages any guilt the audience might feel at the limited roles and minimizes any anxieties about a racial uprising.
Nyssa Shawstad