Neo-Noir and Noir-Lite: Masculinity and Postmodernist Aesthetics in New Retro-Noir

Abstract

In the preceding chapters I have attempted to address the question of postmodernist filmic practices and gender representation by examining the use of filmic techniques associated with postmodernist cinema – such as irony, allusion or self-reflexivity – in genres associated primarily with the female audience. The rationale for focusing on what are generally regarded as women’s genres: costume drama, domestic (romantic) melodrama, or romantic comedy is twofold. Firstly, to extend the analysis of the ideological and political uses and effects of postmodernist aesthetics into areas which have hitherto tended to be associated with a conservative ‘feminine’ aesthetic of emotional over-engagement. It seems clear that many contemporary female-identified films tend to blend the more conventional pleasures associated with these forms with either a wry acknowledgement of their social function in fuelling traditional female aspirations (as in recent romantic comedy) or with a more obviously feminist-inspired attempt to critique traditional genre roles by working against generic expectation.