feminine roles.”
4
Therefore, in analyzing the femme fetales of today, they possess some of the same characteristics as those of past years but have expanded and more developed
personality types and are more blatantly aggressive and domineering than in the past. What’s more, modern femme fetales do not necessarily meet their doom or reform themselves. They
may continue going on living in the same manner. They can subvert the traditional patriarchal structure and determine their own destiny.
In analyzing how the modern femme fetale has been reinvented, Kate Stables claims, “The new fatale uses the accumulated visual iconography of the fetale in art and film, but the
introduction of three key areas: 1 repeated representations of sexual acts; 2 transparently sexual speech; and 3 the open problematizing of the fetale’s sexuality; has skewed the figure
in a totally new way.”
5
Stables continues by stating that, “Classic film noir sexualized its heroines through highly cooled glamour, and an armory of visual iconography arranged to
signal sex and define her as a sexual presence. Put repeatedly on sexual display, the new fetale is redefined as a sexual performer within a visual system which owes as much to soft-
core pornography as it does to mainstream Hollywood.”
6
The new femme fetales are more direct, blunt, and harsh in the way they talk, whereas the classic femme fetale is not as open,
uses more metaphors, and is more ambiguous in her manner of speech. Classic femme fetales go back and forth with their male protagonist counterparts while flirting without engaging in
much physical contact, while the modern femme fetales can be much cruder and engage in visible sexual acts on the screen.
4.5 Neo-Noir Anti-Heroes
4
Jones, Amelia, qtd in Kaplan, Ann. Women in Film Noir. London: British Film Institute, 2008, p.167.
5
Stables, Kate, “The Postmodern Always Rings Twice: Constructing the Femme Fetale in 90s Cinema”, from Kaplan, Ann. Women in Film Noir. London: British Film Institute, 2008, p.172.
6
Ibid, p.173.
Related with detective stories, in the 19
th
century Sherlock Holmes is the popular typical detective hero who is rich and solves cases out of goodwill. In the mid-20
th
century the detective is more of an anti-hero flawed character like Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe
who solve cases out of financial need, are from a working-class background, and are at odds with the society around them, as reflected in their cynical, harsh, and pessimistic attitudes.
The classic noir detectives work alone, unlike Sherlock Holmes who has Watson as his assistant. For neo-noir, the detective does not look for a criminal as much as he is doing a
self-exploration while solving a case. Neo-noir detectives may have amnesia, hallucinations, artificial memory implants like in Blade Runner or other science fiction stories, or other
instances which cause them to struggle to find themselves.
4.6 Existentialism and Neo-Noir Today
By examining the philosophical themes of neo-noir films, the correlations can be seen from the classic noir literary and film works. Like traditional noir, neo-noir also has an
existential sentiment, even more so in many respects than that found in traditional noir. This is supported by Thomas Elsaesser, who wrote,
The psychologically or emotionally motivated classic hero was replaced by the unmotivated hero, who brought an almost physical sense of inconsequential action, of
pointlessness and usefulness; stances which are not only interpretable psychologically, but speak of a radical skepticism about American virtues of
ambition, vision, and drive, which had underpinned the classic Hollywood action genres.
7
More freedom was given to producers to make various kinds of films, and they did not necessarily have to be tied up into a neat resolution with a happy ending. Since the
Production Code based on previous censorship regulations, the Hays Office was no longer in effect, producers had more artistic freedom. The neo-noir directors stayed within the crime
7
Spicer, Andrew, “Problems of Memory and Identity in Neo-Noir’s Existentialist Antihero”, from Conard, Mark. The Philosophy of Neo-Noir. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2009, p.49.
genre and used the traditional quest, investigation, or journey format, but made their actions look even more absurd or meaningless, thus showing how existentialism was more prevalent
than in classic noir films. With more indie and art house film productions making creative films and not relegated to just showing them as box office productions or other major film
labels, it has allowed for a greater variety of neo-noir productions to be shown. Furthermore, viewers can watch these kinds of films on DVDs or other media formats, unlike in the past
where they had to go to the cinema. Besides that, viewers are more knowledgeable about film productions today and do not necessarily need to have a perfect ending with a moral
resolution; they can better appreciate cinematic creativity today than in past years.
4.7 Three Types of Neo-Noir
