The influence of media on criminals and killers has been oft-publicized; regardless of the positions people take on the extent to which film, television and other mass media influences our collective unconscious, it is clear that certain genres or portrayals of sex and violence in popular culture heavily influence our personalities, attitudes and preferences (Seltzer, 2007). To that end, the exploration of these types of media is an essential part of exploring the psychology of the killer, serial or otherwise. For the past century, film has become an important part of our new cultural mythology; movie characters become our role models as we take cues from their personalities, attitudes, and behaviors (Surette, 2010). In order to understand the influence of media on violent offenders, it is vital to know what it is about these works that glamorizes or fetishizes the act of violence.
Film noir is a genre of film that originated in the 1940s and 1950s which is characterized by extremely stylish cinematography, plots and scenarios involving crimes and murder, and overall pessimistic, sexually charged and cynical portrayals of the world around them. Film noir films tend to be comprised primarily of crime dramas that were produced in Hollywood during the Golden Age of cinema, and employs various cinematic techniques such as high-contrast lighting, Expressionist cinematography, and narrative bookends or narration (Naremore, 2008).
Two of the most prominent examples of film noir in cinematic history are 1944's Double Indemnity and Laura, directed by Billy Wilder and Otto Preminger, respectively. In both works, murder is a primary subject for the film, whether it is being investigated or contemplated. Both films feature alluring, sensual and desired female leads (known in the genre as femme fatales), and masculine, aggressive protagonists. In the former film, an insurance salesman schemes with his female accomplice to murder her husband for a huge insurance payout; in the latter film, a detective falls for a murder victim who may not be as dead as she seems. These works explore the dirty world of high-class crime, showcasing decadent and sophisticated individuals who largely benefit from their crimes. The gritty details of the murders in each film are obsessed over by the characters, making the whole plot about the logistics and sensational nature of taking another life (Leitch, 2002). Together, these films exemplify the quintessential elements of film noir, and could be said to make crime into a fascinating subject, which could inspire real-world killers to emulate this behavior (McNulty and Pulham, 2011).
In this paper, I will argue that the rise of film noir in the 1940s inserted into the popular cultural consciousness the idea that the crime of murder is alluring, tempting and glamorous, emphasizing the modern world as a society of corruption, lewd desire and self-interest. For the purposes of this project, this argument will be explored through textual analysis of two major works in the film noir genre: the 1944 films Double Indemnity and Laura. By examining the various elements of plot, cinematography and character, not to mention mood and mise-en-scene, one can discover the various aspects of the genre that glamorize violence. I will also rely on scholarship from the fields of psychology and philosophy, as well as film criticism, to provide learned and expert perspectives on the various aspects of film noir, and the connection between filmed violence and real-life violence.
The significance of this project largely relates to the understanding that we have regarding the influence of film and other types of popular culture on real-world crime and violence. Film noir, as some of the first, most prominent examples of fetishized, detailed violence on screen, can be said to be a huge influence on crime films and works of other genres in terms of style and subject matter. The huge success of film noir as a genre contributed to the continuation of the study of sex and violence into later films, creating a media culture that is steeped in the glamorization of violence. These same cultural attitudes are bred into the audience of these films through their exposure to such portrayals of violence, paving the way for the tacit endorsement or glamorization of murder.
This investigation will be performed in three different stages. First, the genre of film noir in and of itself will be defined through the eyes of film critics and historians. Secondly, the connection between filmed violence and sex and real-life attitudes toward those activities will be explored through various historians, critics and psychologists. Finally, I will compare these theories and attributes regarding popular culture and film noir to the films Double Indemnity and Laura. The overall purpose is to form connections between the beautiful and painful nature of violence as portrayed in those films to the attitudes that lead to serial killing (or murder as a general practice). It is hoped that this project will form a better understanding of the connection between media and culture, as well as recognize this particular genre's role in that connection.
Works Cited
Leitch, Thomas M. Crime Films. Cambridge University Press, 2002. Print.
McNulty, Eugene and Patricia Pulham. Crime Culture: Figuring Criminality in Fiction and
Film. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011. Print.
Naremore, James. More than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts. University of California Press,
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Newton, Michael. The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Infobase Publishing, 2006. Print.
Packer, Sharon. Movies and the Modern Psyche. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. Print.
Palermo, George B. and Kocsis, Richard N. Offender Profiling: An Introduction to the
Sociopsychological Analysis of Violent Crime. Charles C Thomas Publisher, 2005. Print.
Preminger, Otto (dir). Laura. Perf. Gene Tiernet, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb. 20th Century
Fox, 1944. Film.
Seltzer, Mark. True Crime: Observations on Violence and Modernity. CRC Press, 2007. Print.
Simpson, Philip L. Psycho Paths: Tracking the Serial Killer through Contemporary American
Film and Fiction. SIU Press, 2010. Print.
Surette, Ray. Media, Crime, and Criminal Justice: Images, Realities, and Policies. Cengage
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Waller, S. Allhoff, Fritz and Doris, John M. Serial Killers: Philosophy for Everyone: Being
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Wilder, Billy. (dir). Double Indemnity. Perf. Fred MacMurray, Barbra Stanwyck, Edward G.
Robinson. Paramount Pictures, 1944. Film.
