I think that there might be a bit of misapprehension as to
what I was trying to say in my original post. It was due, no
doubt, to my own sloppy use of language. (It was late in a
busy day. I will claim no other extenuating factor.)
Jim writes:
>The presentation of the profession may
>be fantastic (i.e. Mike Hammer or Satan Hall), but
the professional status
>gives the character a convincing reason for being
involved.
>
>Amateurs *don't* have a reason.
True, but not having a "reason" makes the situation even more
stark and immediate, dunnit? That's neither here nor
there.
The point I was trying, albeit clumsily, to make is that the
PI is, in HB lit, a totem. And his character/circumstances/
methods are, for the most part, defined by the Trinity -- Op,
Marlowe, Archer. We (that is to say fans) have not moved very
far from that start. All of these men shared: self-reliance,
personal code of justice, solitary nature, primitive (by
current standards) investigatory methods. We admire, nay
revere, these qualities and expect the same of our 00s PIs,
which is ridiculous. Any modern PI trying to hew to "the old
line," were he not killed on his first case, would be laughed
out of the profession at his first convention (loved those
conventions in "Magnum").
But these values/traits are still worthy of admiration . .
.
The only possibility for the qualities that made the 30s --
70s PI believable lies now in your average Joe who's had his
life interrupted, and reacts with alacrity. Only the average
Joe can be accepted as not having access to all the
investigatory trinkets while retaining the ooomph to kick
ass. Characters like Gabriel du Pre (okay, so he's a kinda
half-assed, part time lawman -- mostly he's his own guy) are
the future of HB. They retain the humanity -- and the rage --
without being encumbered by the baggage of adhering to a
pointless, antiquated framework -- Cap Shaw is dead -- or the
necessity of remaining au courant. My kinda guys.
Hey Joe! Where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
Mind if I tag along with ye awhile? PB
-- # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to majordomo@icomm.ca. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/ .
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 02 Feb 2000 EST