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Conservatives Like Noir ?

Posted: November 19th, 2009, 10:10 pm
by ken123
I am ( generally ) a lover of the noir genre. I am also very leftwing politically and many actors witers, producers,directors associated with noir far known leftists, Dassin, Adrain Scott, ect. I was wondering if anyone here who considers themselves politically conservative or middle of the road are noir fans ?

Re: Conservatives Like Noir ?

Posted: November 19th, 2009, 10:21 pm
by movieman1957
I am a fan of them. I am not passionate about them like westerns or comedies. I like them strictly for the entertainment they bring. I often don't know anything about the politics of anyone behind the movie. If the movie isn't swimming in them they don't really bother me.

Re: Conservatives Like Noir ?

Posted: November 19th, 2009, 11:18 pm
by silentscreen
I very much consider mysellf Conservative in a poliical aspect,
and love Noir movies! I have shown these movies to my more Conservative parents and will continue to do so.They seem to enjoy them as much as I do. What's not not like? Great stories, great acting, not like what we get from current films.

Re: Conservatives Like Noir ?

Posted: November 20th, 2009, 9:34 am
by MikeBSG
I consider myself conservative, and I like noir.

I don't like everything that is noir, and I haven't seen everything that is noir.

I really like Robert Siodmak's films, "The Killers," "Criss Cross," "Phantom Lady," especially.

I love "Gun Crazy" and didn't like "The Big Combo."

"Kiss Me Deadly" struck me as only so-so, but I love "Sunset Boulevard" and "In a Lonely Place."

The only "conservative" noir film I can call to mind right away is actually a neo-noir, "Warning Shot" from 1968 or so. I just saw that earlier this year and liked it a lot but not especially for the the politics.

Re: Conservatives Like Noir ?

Posted: November 20th, 2009, 1:46 pm
by moira finnie
I consider myself a non-ideological lover of film noir and can enjoy films that some might label as left or right--as long as humanity peeks through the point of view of the filmmakers. To me, true conservatism and true liberalism both share a dissatisfaction with the world we live in. As long as the filmmakers are not blind to the small details and nuances that breathe life into a story, the majority of film noirs might be enjoyed by both types of people.

One overtly political film that I find effective, largely because of the small character touches that shine through some of the ideological heavy sledding, was The Iron Curtain(1948-William Wellman). It might be seen as a conservative take on the emerging rift between the Soviets and the Allies in the post war period that employs noirish elements of suspense, alienation, paranoia, the obliviousness of fate toward the individual and institutional conformity. Because of the direction of some very good actors, notably Dana Andrews, Edouard Franz, June Havoc and Berry Kroeger, the characters and their very different perceptions of their bleak world becomes more thoughtful entertainment for me. I suspect that a film such as this can be perceived by any sentient viewer of whatever political background for its merits.

Re: Conservatives Like Noir ?

Posted: November 22nd, 2009, 4:21 pm
by srowley75
I think kingrat summed it up very well. I know among the few film fans that attended the Christian university from which I graduated years ago (most of them very conservative ideologically and politically), those who held any interest at all in classic film tended toward film noir for the very reasons listed in kingrat's post.

Many conservatives (especially conservative Christians) would have no problem with a pessimistic story or even one that implied that the US, capitalism, the social order, etc. was the problem rather than the solution. In my experience, conservative fundamentalists could be very critical of the US and its policies, and sometimes for the very reasons cited by progressives. The difference between the two lies elsewhere, whether in the motivation for their criticism or in the solution(s) to solve these problems.

-S.