American literature, film productions, and pop culture, as well as what the future holds for noir sentiment in the entertainment industry.
1.9 1940s American Sentiment
The dark moods of this genre can be seen to have arisen from the general mood of the country after the war. There was a disillusionment found after WWII when servicemen
returned home and housewives and businessmen had to change their lifestyles. Urban crime increased and poverty was on the rise. The films showed an antagonism toward American
society. Some of these movies showed problems lingering from soldiers returning home, the effects of the atomic bomb, McCarthyism, and communism in Korea.
A common theme in noir films is of an individual striving to reinvent oneself but ultimately failing. Film noir can be seen as being against the American Dream of life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. During World War II, many Americans had a dream of improving their status, obtaining liberty, getting equality, and engaging in free enterprise.
Materialism and individualism were increasingly prevalent during the period. In relation to film noir and the American Dream, one can analyze the relationship
between one’s personal background and current personality. In looking at film noir, it is pertinent to consider whether one’s identity is permanent from birth or whether the person
can better himself. Associated with this, it is important to think about the possibility of a person escaping from hisher past.
Many Hollywood movies deal with the theme of achieving the American Dream, which centers on improving one’s social position, equality, home ownership, and Western
ideals. This theme is underlined in the Declaration of Independence, which was drafted by
Thomas Jefferson in June of 1776.
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The concept of individualism even supersedes the belief of pursuit of happiness. Individualism basically means that regardless of one’s status, race,
gender, or background, the person can achieve a better life through endurance and self-effort. In many film noir stories, and Mildred Pierce in particular, the characters counter and clash
with their struggle to reach the American Dream. Various historical figures are representative of individuals who have succeeded to
reach the American Dream through their own determination. One such individual is Benjamin Franklin. He reinvented himself several times through various entrepreneurial
endeavors like being a printer, publisher, inventor, scientist, ambassador, military leader, legislator, among others. Franklin can be seen as being an example of how one’s past does
not necessarily affect success in the future. By looking at Franklin, one can see how all you need is a will to find a way to reach your goals.
A different train of thought can be seen from the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who believes you cannot simply reinvent yourself, but rather have to discover and refine your true
nature by looking within.
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Essentially, this means that you cannot escape from your past but must rely on your “aboriginal self”. Emerson believes that your true nature will greatly affect
choices or changes you make in the future, as you always have to look back to your past. Emerson believes that you must “Insist on yourself, never imitate.”
27
Even though the philosophies espoused by Franklin and Emerson are slightly different, they both deal with the concept of individualism, which is strongly related with
25
http:www.archives.govexhibitschartersdeclaration.html . “The Charters of Freedom”. Accessed on
March 2
nd
, 2014. Web.
26
Osteen, Mark. Nightmare Alley: Film Noir and the American Dream. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2012, p.3.
27
http:www.goodreads.comauthorquotes12080.Ralph_Waldo_Emerson . “Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes”.
Accessed on March 12
th
, 2014. Web.
achieving the American Dream. If you do not have a strong desire, you cannot reach your goal.
In Franklin’s mindset, a person needs to balance individual and community interests to successfully reach one’s dream. In noir films, the characters are often unable to reach this
balance and succumb to their own fate. The characters are unable to control the events in their lives and face many hindrances from their own character shortcomings to societal
constructs. Therefore, “noir protagonists come to recognize the difficulty – if not impossibility – of achieving modernity’s implicitly cosmopolitan promise than an individual,
by dint of hard work, education, and reason, can develop a politically robust subjectivity.”
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This infers that even though characters can obtain social mobility or achieve success in certain aspects, it is often short-lived or not as what they had previously imagined. The
characters come to the realization that their lives are not in their control and they cannot ultimately reach the American Dream.
Noir films can be seen as being contrary to the concept of equality. Made in the World War II era, the movies are an extension of society struggling to achieve its own
national identity, in conflict with the ideas put forth by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. These kinds of movies are often against Franklin’s and Emerson’s concept
of identity. “The films are disguised parables of social mobility as a punishable deviation from one’s assigned place.”
29
28
Osteen, Mark. Nightmare Alley: Film Noir and the American Dream. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2012, p.3.
29
Ibid, p.4.
Many noir films show traumatized veterans, missing or displaced characters, women stressed because of their roles in the workplace and domestic arena, fear of communism, and
characters with psychic disorders, in response to the effect of the war period.
30
It is also necessary to point out that noir films were not called as such at the time period they were made. They were considered more as melodramas. Only in recent times has
the term been used in looking at the time period in retrospect. The movies can be seen as being reflections of concerns of an American society that was in transition.
In the 1940s, the societal expectations of women changed. On the one hand, women were supposed to play a domestic role. Their entire worth and value was based on their
domestic prowess. However, in the World War II era, a sense of urgency emerged for women to abandon or compliment their traditional roles of being homemakers to having to seek
gainful employment, as much of the male workforce had to fight in the war. A struggle ensued between traditional beliefs and modern aspirations through materialism. Women were
divided through societal expectations of being a homemaker and having a desire to pursue non-traditional lifestyles. During the war, these traditional expectations shifted as women
were encouraged to gain skills and do non-domestic jobs to help boost the war effort. The time that noir films were made was during a great tumultuous period which
changed all citizens’ lives. There were many problems with people having to adapt to those changes, which caused gender and racial problems. Film noir often shows expressionistic
visual styles and pessimistic or doomed worldviews in American cinema during the World War II era. World War II caused many Americans to feel anxious about their lives and
question the traditional identity of what being an American is and should be in the future. There was some discord and confusion about where America was going in the future.
30
Ibid, p.11.
Americans had to reconsider whether the established American ideals during the foundation of the nation still applied or not. This identity crisis can be seen in the noir characters’
personalities as well. Americans during World War II also experienced a sense of need for authenticity
related to modernity. This means they wanted to experience new things and escape from their boring and mundane lives.
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This need for authenticity is seen through the eyes of various characters in film noir as well. Several of the main characters strive to achieve wealth,
personal sexual experiences, and new adventures, often at the detriment of others. The characters link authenticity with the pursuit of happiness through materialism. Many of the
characters in film noir, like Mildred Pierce, have a deep-seated obsession with a particular goal or object. Concerns about identity crisis and authenticity can be seen in the nature of
femme fetale characters. Some film noir reveals the difficulty of social mobility during the 1940s and a critical viewpoint of capitalism. Consumerism can be seen as a means of dealing
with the anxiety of the time period. Related with existentialism, film noir can be considered as a reaction or reflection of
this belief and how people see the world. By thinking in these terms, various commonalities can be found in analyzing a film noir, and Mildred Pierce in particular. The characteristics
found within this noir style reflect the loss of value and meaning in human lives. Therefore, by looking at the characters’ traits and their relations to the general traits of
a noir film listed above, they can illustrate how existentialism can be applied to this particular style. It shows the nihilism and lack of morality or conflicting morality present in the
characters. Even though America was built on a Puritan foundation, the noir style can be seen as being counter or opposite to that particular way of believing. Maybe from an existentialist
31
Ibid, p.5.
perspective, this story can be seen as a way to depict how through modernism people have lost their morality, here in response to World War II fears and alienation, and perhaps more
generally to the realization that people are nowadays disoriented, not knowing the meanings in their lives or how to live at peace with themselves.
In summary, then, films can be considered as having a very influential role in society, whether as an active or reflective function. Films can act as a permanent record and
preserve a particular language. It will be preserved from one generation to the next to show how society has changed over time. Movies can be a social construct of the family,
community, and a particular institution. Films can reveal how a society was shaped and the morals and values found within it. In a time of war, villains can be painted as an enemy
nation like with the Cold War and Communism in various film noir works. These beliefs can be transferred into a film noir and used as an instrument to teach society about the present,
show its connection with the past, or reveal where it might be heading in the future. Films are essential to portray how individuals interact with each other in various social situations and
what kinds of social constraints or dilemmas they are faced with. Therefore, it is essential to realize the significance of film noir to show how the ideas and themes found within it can
influence a person’s ideology as well as how the values are reflected in society at that time.
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CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
