I refuse to take the bait -- I'm not going to argue the
obvious. There's not a reference book on film noir that
doesn't consider Kiss Me Deadly an essential film noir and a
high point of the cycle. I do think it is a culminative
rather than a seminal expression of the noir style, since it
comes late in the cycle. But I see no point in rehashing what
makes it noir. Thousands of writers have done that! It would
be like arguing over whether Hamlet is a tragedy. Anyone
could assert that it isn't one, and could no doubt muster
some sort of arguments along that line, the human mind being
the infinitely flexible instrument that it is. But no one is
obliged to pay attention to someone else's essentially
private definitions, or waste time on trying to defend the
common meaning of terms against such definitions. If you are
asserting that Hamlet is not a tragedy or that Kiss Me Deadly
is not a film noir, you have gone outside the realm of social
discourse; you are talking to yourself. If we had to argue
over the meaning of each word in a sentence, no communication
could ever take place.
Mark
On 12/7/07, William Ahearn <
williamahearn@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> --- "Mark R. Harris" <
brokerharris@gmail.com
<brokerharris%40gmail.com>>
> wrote:
>
> > Ah, the singularity of opinions is an amazing
thing,
> > as this list
> > continually proves.
> >
> OK, I'll bite. Are you saying that Kiss Me,
Deadly
> *is* an essential film noir?
>
> William
>
> Essays and Ramblings
> <http://www.williamahearn.com>
>
>
__________________________________________________________
> Be a better friend, newshound, and
> know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it
now.
>
http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ
>
>
>
-- Mark R. Harris 2122 W. Russet Court #8 Appleton WI 54914 (920) 470-9855 brokerharris@gmail.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 07 Dec 2007 EST