Film noir is known for changing many things from the norm of society at the time. It had a much darker tone to it, with many accounts of criminal acts and a hint of romance in it. Before this all films were a bit wishy washy, gooey romantic, fairytale type of deal. But then again, society at the time was changing into a much darker age as well. In this post I will talk about the representation of women in film noir.
From the 1900's up to the 1940's women were thought of as the weak character. The "Oh yes sir, golly me," sort of character. The main woman character would take off the man's shoes and cook him dinner, then ask about his day, completely disregarding herself. Film Noir changed that concept of the women.
Take the movie 'Detour' for example, Vera was stubborn, strong-willed, 'I don't care what you think, this is what we're doing', type of gal. That had not been seen on screen until that day and age. Not only was the woman now in charge in a lot of the cases but she had a very noticeably evil side to her.
Again I'll use Vera as an example, she knew what Al had done and knew how to use it against him, and she did. The woman should not and would not cross the man before the 1940's film noir presence. But with the change in society, came a change in cinema and film would never be the same again. In the times to come, cinema in the 1940's that they called 'dark' or 'disturbed', would be laughed at by the folks in the 1960's and 70's when women's rights and power took center stage. Film tends to reflect society and society reflects films. But that's a story for another time and post.
Photo found from the following: http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTQxMzA0ODk4OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTkwMzQyMQ@@._V1_SY317_CR3,0,214,317_AL_.jpg
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