A Fresh Take on the Past

     Absolutely enjoyed reading Dangerous Days and Midnight in Silicon Valley from the collection of Los Angeles Noir. Right away I could see the characteristics in these Neo Noir stories that were similar to the classic noir we started with, and the differences that gives them a fresh perspective.

     In classic noir, the obvious black and white filming differs from the newer Neo noir and it's life in color. Many similarities also exist, especially the crime, although in classic noir, the murders and malicious acts seem to be down played, while in Neo Noir in stories such as Dangerous Days, the crimes are viciously graphic and detailed. In the period of classic noir,there seen to be much more reservations about the way opinions and ideas are presented to the reader. Another similarity is the presence of the infamous Femme Fatale. Although they exist in both classic and Neo noir, in Neo noir, the venomous women seem to be much more sexually assertive and seeking to satisfy themselves sexually as well. In classic noir, it seemed that the women were all talk and no action, and in Neo noir, the femme fatales take things further sexually. Of course this is because of the way the scripting is done. Society has come to be very open sexually compared to previous times.  Something that left an impression on me, and definitely proved to be a huge difference from classic noir and Neo noir, was the amount of blunt sexual remarks and ideas made throughout the story Dangerous Days. Don't get me wrong, I'm used to it, nowadays as we know, sex sells. Having been introduced to classic film noir and seeing the more reserved manner in which sexual situations are explained, it made me realize the straight to the point way that things are said and described now. It is definitely more acceptable nowadays and is actually desired by many. As we can see, there are many ways to compare and contrast the two.

     There are many reasons to love both classic noir and Neo noir. Classic noir, gives off a sense of elegance and wonderfully represents it's era, while Neo noir gives new generations sassy new story lines that keep us hooked. Neo noir is very successful at reinventing something old like classic noir, into something new without killing the initial core that gave it life.