miker responded to my comments about Sin City:
"However, I find your comment about evil characters being
pure evil in noir as odd. Some might be, but some are little
more than immoral opportunists. I don't think of Cora or
Frank from Cain's Postman as pure evil. . . ."
I don't think I made myself clear. I was saying evil was evil
in Sin City, which was one of the reasons I saw it as
noirish, not noir. Similarly, that's why I find most serial
killer novels so boring; pure evil is all the same, whereas
there are many shades of immorality in noir. I'm with you
that noir is interesting because characters find out their
own level of morality, or lack of, when faced with temptation
(and are often surprised themselves). It's kind of like the
saying that you can't con an honest man, because he's not
looking to take advantage of anyone. Perhaps a corollary of
this is that you can't write noir about a moral man.
It reminds me of the Washington Post's Tom Shales's review of
the TV show American Gothic. He hated it because it was so
evil, particularly the sheriff, played so well by Gary Cole,
However, except for the opening rape (granted, a big
exception), Cole almost never took a hands-on approach to
evil. Instead, he was the Devil, placing temptation in
people's paths. They had free will to choose between good and
evil. Like vampires, evil must be invited in in noir.
Mark
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