Philosophy Black Film Film Noir Read online

  philosophy, black film, film noir

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  Philosophy, Black Film, Film Noir

  dan flory

  the pennsylvania state university press

  university park, pennsylvania

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  Disclaimer:

  Some images in the original version of this book are not

  available for inclusion in the eBook.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Flory, Dan.

  Philosophy, Black film, film noir / Dan Flory.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  Summary: “Examines how African-American as well as international films deploy

  film noir techniques in ways that encourage philosophical reflection. Combines

  philosophy, film studies, and cultural studies”—Provided by publisher.

  isbn-13: 978-0-271-03344-0 (cloth : alk. paper)

  1. African Americans in motion pictures.

  2. African American motion picture producers and directors.

  3. Film noir—United States—History and criticism.

  I. Title.

  pn1995.9.n4f59 2008

  791.43’652996073— dc22

  2007050089

  Copyright © 2008 The Pennsylvania State University

  All rights reserved

  Printed in the United States of America

  Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press,

  University Park, PA 16802-1003

  The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of American

  University Presses.

  It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper.

  This book is printed on Natures Natural, containing 50% post-consumer waste, and

  meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information

  Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Material, ansi z39.48 –1992.

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  for Susan

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  contents

  list of illustrations    ix

  preface xi

  acknowledgments xv

  introduction: Philosophy and the Blackness of Film Noir 1

  1 Spike Lee and the Sympathetic Racist 39

  2 Noir Protagonists and Empathy in Do the Right Thing 65

  3 Race and Tragedy in One False Move 100

  4 Nihilism and Knowledge in Clockers 124

  5 “Guilty of Blackness” 153

  6 Beyond the Gangsta 185

  7 Other Forms of Blackness 224

  8 Noir and Beyond 261

  conclusion: Race, Film Noir, and Philosophical Reflection 309

  bibliography 323

  index 341

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  contents

  list of illustrations    ix

  preface xi

  acknowledgments xv

  introduction: Philosophy and the Blackness of Film Noir 1

  1 Spike Lee and the Sympathetic Racist 39

  2 Noir Protagonists and Empathy in Do the Right Thing 65

  3 Race and Tragedy in One False Move 100

  4 Nihilism and Knowledge in Clockers 124

  5 “Guilty of Blackness” 153

  6 Beyond the Gangsta 185

  7 Other Forms of Blackness 224

  8 Noir and Beyond 261

  conclusion: Race, Film Noir, and Philosophical Reflection 309

  bibliography 323

  index 341

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  illustrations

  1 Eunice Leonard (Theresa Harris) and her date (Caleb Peterson) warily answer

  the questions of private detective Jeff Markham (Robert Mitchum) ( Out of the

  Past, RKO Radio Pictures, 1947) xviii

  2 Dr. Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier) asks Edie (Linda Darnell) to recognize the

  humanity of the man who just shot him, Ray (Richard Widmark) ( No Way Out,

  Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, 1950) 31

  3 A crowd disperses, leaving Joseph (Juan Hernandez) alone on the dock

  ( The Breaking Point, Warner Brother Pictures, 1950) 34

  4 Pancho (Thomas Gomez) moves to protect the injured Gagin (Robert Mont-

  gomery), as Pila (Wanda Hendrix) cradles him in her arms ( Ride the Pink Horse,

  Universal International Pictures, 1947) 36

  5 Sal (Danny Aiello) angrily racializes the confrontation about which pictures

  should hang on the wall of his pizzeria ( Do the Right Thing, 40 Acres & A Mule

  Filmworks, 1989) 45

  6 Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), Smiley (Roger Guenveur Smith), and Buggin’

  Out (Giancarlo Esposito) enter Sal’s Famous Pizzeria ( Do the Right Thing,

  40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, 1989) 51

  7 Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) threatens an off-camera Eddie Mars (John

  Ridgeley) ( The Big Sleep, Warner Brothers Pictures, 1946) 67

  8 Jeff (Robert Mitchum) confesses to Ann (Virginia Huston) his mysterious past

  ( Out of the Past, RKO Radio Pictures, 1947) 69

  9 Nazi ringleader Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains) succumbs to the charms of

  American spy Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) as his mother (Madame

  Konstantin) suspiciously looks on ( Notorious, RKO Radio Pictures, 1946) 73

  10 Caustic pickpocket Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) baits his police depart-

  ment rival, Captain Dan Tiger (Murvyn Vye) ( Pickup on South Street, Twentieth

  Century-Fox Film Corporation, 1953) 77

  11 A shot from Spike Lee’s homage to Robert Mitchum ( Do the Right Thing

  40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks 1989) 85

  12 The first of four shots depicting Radio Raheem’s (Bill Nunn) lifeless stare

  ( Do the Right Thing 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, 1989) 86

  13 Da Mayor (Ozzie Davis) pleads with neighborhood residents to calm down,

  think rationally, and act accordingly ( Do the Right Thing 40 Acres & A Mule

  Filmworks, 1989) 92

  14 Mookie (Spike Lee) agonizing over what to do ( Do the Right Thing 40 Acres &

  A Mule Filmworks, 1989) 93

  15 A visibly constricted shot of Hurricane (Bill Paxton), as fate closes in on him

  ( One False Move, IRS Media, 1992) 110

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  illustrations

  1 Eunice Leonard (Theresa Harris) and her date (Caleb Peterson) warily answer

  the questions of private detective Jeff Markham (Robert Mitchum) ( Out of the

  Past, RKO Radio Pictures, 1947) xviii

  2 Dr. Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier) asks Edie (Linda Darnell) to recognize the

  humanity of the man who just shot him, Ray (Richard Widmark) ( No Way Out,

  Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, 1950) 31

  3 A crowd disperses, leaving Joseph (Juan Hernandez) alone on the dock

  ( The Breaking Point, Warner Brother Pictures, 1950) 34

  4 Pancho (Thomas Gomez) moves to protect the injured Gagin (Robert Mont-

  gomery), as Pila (Wanda Hendrix) cradles him in her arms ( Ride the Pink Horse,

  Universal International Pictures, 1947) 36

  5 Sal (Danny Aiello) angrily raciali
zes the confrontation about which pictures

  should hang on the wall of his pizzeria ( Do the Right Thing, 40 Acres & A Mule

  Filmworks, 1989) 45

  6 Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), Smiley (Roger Guenveur Smith), and Buggin’

  Out (Giancarlo Esposito) enter Sal’s Famous Pizzeria ( Do the Right Thing,

  40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, 1989) 51

  7 Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) threatens an off-camera Eddie Mars (John

  Ridgeley) ( The Big Sleep, Warner Brothers Pictures, 1946) 67

  8 Jeff (Robert Mitchum) confesses to Ann (Virginia Huston) his mysterious past

  ( Out of the Past, RKO Radio Pictures, 1947) 69

  9 Nazi ringleader Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains) succumbs to the charms of

  American spy Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) as his mother (Madame

  Konstantin) suspiciously looks on ( Notorious, RKO Radio Pictures, 1946) 73

  10 Caustic pickpocket Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) baits his police depart-

  ment rival, Captain Dan Tiger (Murvyn Vye) ( Pickup on South Street, Twentieth

  Century-Fox Film Corporation, 1953) 77

  11 A shot from Spike Lee’s homage to Robert Mitchum ( Do the Right Thing

  40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks 1989) 85

  12 The first of four shots depicting Radio Raheem’s (Bill Nunn) lifeless stare

  ( Do the Right Thing 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, 1989) 86

  13 Da Mayor (Ozzie Davis) pleads with neighborhood residents to calm down,

  think rationally, and act accordingly ( Do the Right Thing 40 Acres & A Mule

  Filmworks, 1989) 92

  14 Mookie (Spike Lee) agonizing over what to do ( Do the Right Thing 40 Acres &

  A Mule Filmworks, 1989) 93

  15 A visibly constricted shot of Hurricane (Bill Paxton), as fate closes in on him

  ( One False Move, IRS Media, 1992) 110

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  ListofIllustrations

  16 Hurricane (Bill Paxton) speaks to his long-denied son Byron (Robert Anthony

  preface

  Bell) for the first time ( One False Move, IRS Media, 1992) 112

  17 Cynda Williams’s character pleads with a reluctant Hurricane (Bill Paxton) to tell

  their son that he is the child’s father ( One False Move, IRS Media, 1992) 119

  18 NYPD homicide detective Rocco Klein (Harvey Keitel) tries to force Strike

  (Mekhi Phifer) to confess to a crime he did not commit ( Clockers, 40 Acres &

  A Mule Filmworks / Universal Pictures, 1995) 129

  19 Rocco (Harvey Keitel) as reflected in Victor Dunham’s (Isaiah Washington) eye

  ( Clockers, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks / Universal Pictures, 1995) 136

  20 Rocco (Harvey Keitel) guides Tyrone (Pee Wee Love) through his confession

  of having killed Errol Barnes (Tom Byrd) ( Clockers, 40 Acres & A Mule Film-

  In order to understand white resistance to full equality for African Ameri-

  works / Universal Pictures, 1995) 141

  cans, black ex-slave, abolitionist, and civil rights leader Frederick Douglass

  21 Teenagers give in to temptation and frighten a passerby ( Juice, Island

  argued more than once that we need to use philosophy.1 I have sought to meet

  World, 1992) 166

  his requirement by writing a book that addresses how race functions in nar-

  22 O-Dog (Larenz Tate) takes offense at a remark about his mother by a frustrated

  rative fiction film. Although Douglass lived long enough to have overlapped

  liquor store operator ( Menace II Society, New Line Cinema, 1993) 169

  with the invention of motion pictures, I do not know whether he ever actually

  23 Caine (Tyrin Turner) thinking about the meaning of life ( Menace II Society, New

  saw any. However, had he seen those early films of Edison or Muybridge I

  Line Cinema, 1993) 174

  think he would have understood at once that existing conceptions of race play

  24 The film’s protagonist (Laurence Fishburne) holding an African mask

  ( Deep Cover, New Line Cinema, 1992) 187

  a fundamental role in how human beings are represented. I believe he also

  25 The undercover policeman Russell Stevens Jr. (Laurence Fishburne) becomes

  would have understood that philosophical analysis would be necessary to dis-

  drug dealer John Hull ( Deep Cover, New Line Cinema, 1992) 193

  entangle the rat’s nest of beliefs that make up most typical cinematic viewing

  26 Easy Rawlins (Denzel Washington), looking very much the noir detective

  habits. Douglass often argued that errant but enduring presumptions about

  ( Devil in a Blue Dress, TriStar Pictures, 1995) 214

  black humanity distorted many whites’ ability to perceive African Americans

  27 Mouse (Don Cheadle) and Easy (Denzel Washington) in visual counterpoint

  as fully human, so the transference of such beliefs to watching movies would

  ( Devil in a Blue Dress, TriStar Pictures, 1995) 217

  have come as no surprise to him. On the other hand, more than a century after

  28 Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals) is tortured by Albright (Tom Sizemore, off-

  his death it still shocks many whites to discover that their cinematic percep-

  camera) ( Devil in a Blue Dress, TriStar Pictures, 1995) 218

  tion may be raced.

  29 Matty Mereaux (Lisa Nicole Carson) and Louis Batiste (Samuel L. Jackson) in

  Over the years makers of black films have frequently taken as one of their

  erotic embrace, as reflected in Eve’s (Jurnee Smollett) eye ( Eve’s Bayou, Addis

  objectives the communication of this insight to audiences, and yet it has also

  Wechsler Pictures / ChubbCo Film, 1997) 233

  30 Louis, appalled that his daughter has seen him having adulterous sex

  frequently been misperceived, ignored, or deemed an exaggerated response

  ( Eve’s Bayou, Addis Wechsler Pictures / ChubbCo Film, 1997) 234

  to existing social conditions. Rather than seriously entertain such a possibil-

  31 Socrates Fortlow (Laurence Fishburne), confined by bars ( Always Outnumbered,

  ity, many viewers— especially white viewers—resist this racialization of how

  Always Outgunned, HBO / Palomar Pictures Corporation, 1998) 246

  they perceive film narrative because it would require too profound a change

  32 Anthony (Al Palagonia) and Joey T. (Michael Rispoli) drag a beaten and bloodied

  in their fundamental belief structure, too painful a shift in how they thought

  Ritchie (Adrian Brody) off to see the neighborhood Mafia captain as former best

  about their fellow human beings. Instead of considering the possibility of

  friend Vinny (John Leguizamo) looks on passively ( Summer of Sam, 40 Acres &

  racial bias in their film viewing, many cling to the belief that they already see

  A Mule Filmworks / Touchstone Pictures, 1999) 267

  characters in films (as well as the world) from a humanly “universal” stand-

  33 Sloan (Jada Pinkett Smith) forces Pierre Delacroix (Daman Wayans) at gun-

  point. A problem often confronting makers of black films, then, is how to con-

  point to look at what he has contributed to by creating Mantan ( Bamboozled,

  vey this socially critical realization in a way that their audiences would readily

  40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks / New Line Cinema, 2000) 291

  comprehend.

  34 Li’l Zé (Leandro Firmino da Hora) and his gang pose for a photograph in

  City of God ( City of God, O2 Filmes / VideoFilmes / Globo Filmes / Lereby

  Productions / Lumiere Productions / Studio Canal / Wild Bunch / M
iramax

  Films, 2003) 300

  35 O-Dog (Larenz Tate) firing his gun sideways ( Menace II Society, New Line Cin-

  ema, 1993) 301

  00i-348.Flory.indb 10

  4/8/08 3:50:32 PM

  preface

  In order to understand white resistance to full equality for African Ameri-

  cans, black ex-slave, abolitionist, and civil rights leader Frederick Douglass

  argued more than once that we need to use philosophy.1 I have sought to meet

  his requirement by writing a book that addresses how race functions in nar-

  rative fiction film. Although Douglass lived long enough to have overlapped

  with the invention of motion pictures, I do not know whether he ever actually

  saw any. However, had he seen those early films of Edison or Muybridge I

  think he would have understood at once that existing conceptions of race play

  a fundamental role in how human beings are represented. I believe he also

  would have understood that philosophical analysis would be necessary to dis-

  entangle the rat’s nest of beliefs that make up most typical cinematic viewing

  habits. Douglass often argued that errant but enduring presumptions about

  black humanity distorted many whites’ ability to perceive African Americans

  as fully human, so the transference of such beliefs to watching movies would

  have come as no surprise to him. On the other hand, more than a century after

  his death it still shocks many whites to discover that their cinematic percep-

  tion may be raced.

  Over the years makers of black films have frequently taken as one of their

  objectives the communication of this insight to audiences, and yet it has also

  frequently been misperceived, ignored, or deemed an exaggerated response

  to existing social conditions. Rather than seriously entertain such a possibil-

  ity, many viewers— especially white viewers—resist this racialization of how

  they perceive film narrative because it would require too profound a change

  in their fundamental belief structure, too painful a shift in how they thought

  about their fellow human beings. Instead of considering the possibility of

  racial bias in their film viewing, many cling to the belief that they already see

  characters in films (as well as the world) from a humanly “universal” stand-