You Might Be a Noir Fan
You might be a fan of noir and not know it.
Usually what comes to mind when we hear the word “noir” in relation to a book or movie, is the hard-boiled detective trope we know from the Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe -type stories. You know: Humphrey Bogart movies. Sometimes people include paranormal/monster/vampire/horror stories under the noir umbrella. You could even say the entire D.C. comics world is noir and Batman is their king. And that’s just the thing: Noir in and of itself is not a specific genre. In fact, you can find elements of noir in most genres. So let’s dig into what we mean when we say a story is “noir.”
An Attitude, Mood, or Feel
Here are three descriptions I found of noir which start to get at the heart of it.
–“Noir is empathy. It’s giving the underclass without a voice a way to speak, because no one understands their day-to-day life. And noir is about life – because life is hard.” — Lou Boxer, co-chair of Noircon ( http://temple-news.com/arts/noir-fans-celebration-genre-society-hill/ )
— “Maybe our realism is most people’s noir.” –Acclaimed author Eric Miles Williamson ( https://amzn.to/2Jyri0r )
–Noir is an exploration of realism. The hero doesn’t always win, and even when he/she does: It isn’t easy. There isn’t always a clear victor and justice isn’t always found.
So you can see how these concepts of realism, giving voice, and struggle can be found in many, many different types of stories. That said, you’ll quite often find one or more of the following themes in a story which has earned the noir label:
Money and Society
The corrosive effects of money, the meaninglessness and absurdity of existence, anxieties about masculinity and the bureaucratization of public life, a fascination with the grotesque and a flirtation with, and rejection of, Freudian psychoanalysis.
The Cambridge Companion to American Crime Fiction
The Immobilized Man
Big thanks to Joe Bunting at The Write Practice for this great description of a typical noir hero.
https://thewritepractice.com/the-immobilised-man-in-noir/
The immobilized hero lives in the city, yet he’s single and alone. No matter how he likes to observe others, he’s an outsider and doesn’t establish contact with people.
He is anti-materialistic, is written in the first person, holds few possessions, and searches inside himself for answers rather than looking at the outside world.
Feeling superior to others, he’s rather frustrated that others ultimately can’t recognize him. On the other hand, he has a constant love-hate relationship with himself.
He considers himself an artist, regardless of whether he is or not, and believes that he sees the world uniquely with the whole truth revealed, which is the reason for his feeling of superiority over others.
The immobilized man is confined to his room, and is additionally immobilized by his inability to emotionally connect with other people, least of all women.
His accumulated frustration and anger usually results in suicide. By murdering himself, he’s actually killing the part of him that makes him a being like everyone else – a haunting thought for him.
Emotional Tone:
The prevailing emotions in Noir fiction are: depression, apathy, fear, amorality, and paranoia. The Noir hero is the loser, the weak-minded, the psychopath, the sociopath, the obsessive and compulsive.
The character(s) are destined to suffer, to confront the darkness inside them. Whether they live or die is beyond the point; the core of swimming into this darkness is what matters.
Fatalism and Helplessness
Characters within a noir-ish novel seldom have control of their situation and frequently feel helpless to change their positions in life. This comes out in dissatisfaction with a career, relationship, or the way the world is treating him/her. A cog in the corporate world that knows there is something better, that they were meant for something more, but do not know how to achieve a happier life.
Sex, Femme Fatales, and More Sex
Noir films frequently deal with sex, strong and manipulative women, money, and more sex. Noir deals with the primal needs of human nature and what one is willing to do in order to obtain said goal. The men are willing to do whatever it takes to be with the woman, and the woman is willing to do whatever it takes to involve the male in her nefarious plans.
If you are a fan of, or enjoy, novels that deal with real life, real situations, emotional ups and downs, and relatable characters, then no matter your favorite genre: You might be a fan of noir.
Just a few examples to whet your whistle…
Noir in Romance: The Professional, Deadly Games, Novels by Megan Chance, Novels by Karina Halle, Fast Women, What a Lady Wants, 50 Shades of Grey, SMAFU (Situation All F’d Up), SMAFU: SoulMates.
Noir Westerns: Django Unchained
Noir Fantasy and SciFi: The Harry Dresden Series, Mathew Woodring Stover’s Caine series, Supernatural, Fringe, Marvel’s Agents of Shield, Alphas, X-Files, American Horror Story, Vampire Diaries, Grimm, The Originals, The 100, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Being Human, The Walking Dead, American Gods, Altered Carbon, Iron Man, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Wolverine, DeadPool.
Noir Fiction: Most of Ben Stillers’ roles, The girl with the Dragon Tattoo, FBoM, CSI, True Detective, Dexter, Breaking Bad, The Following, Hannibal, How To Get Away With Murder, Most ghost hunting/paranormal shows, Lucifer, Once Upon a Time, American Horror Story, Justified, Criminal Minds, novels by Nic Pizzolatto, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Awakening, She, No Country For Old Men, Elmore Leonard novels, Dennis LeHane novels, Black Dahlia, Michael Connelly Novels, Sin City and other Frank Miller novels and movies.
Noir in comedy: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Most of Seth McFarlane’s works (Family Guy), The Simpsons, Daffy Duck.
Need I go on? Admit it… you’re a noir junkie. Just like me. 😊
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