Essay on Women in Film Noir, by Janey Place.
The term "film noir" was easy for me to grasp with the reading. It says that it is suppose to be a type of film genre, but then that seems to be attacked, that it's not just a genre, it's more like a time period, which didn't just apply to movies, but to real life. It starts off initially by stating that it's a male fantasy; the idea of a beautiful, sexual, but dangerous woman, and the fundamental role they have in relation to men, as is usual in society.
The idea of a dark lady/spider woman, seems to have always been around. At least the idea of it, maybe it hasn't always been such a practical thing that we deal with in real life, but the idea has always stood. The idea that a woman has the power, with just her beauty and sexuality, to take control over a man, and drive him away out of his life, away from his caring, respectable, moral wife has always been around. The idea stands because of the lust a man has for something that he's never had before, for something he knows is wrong, but that's what makes it even more desirable. The dark lady was portrayed as being gorgeous, long legs, angelic face, and as we all know looks are deceiving. This is something I think these films were suppose to teach. The immoral never win, I think was another lesson that was to be learned. These movies, I think depicted women as immoral for their sexuality, or that their sexuality is what led to the destruction of them, and ultimately the men that lusted after them.
