← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · arkady
Thread ID: 14886 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2004-09-01
2004-09-01 13:01 | User Profile
Recently, I was researching some background on the film [I]Dark Passage[/I], which I'd seen the night before, and came across this site. This link might with equal justification have been posted in the "Arts" section, but I'm putting it here in Culture War because of what the author has to say on the main page about the destruction of the concept of Adulthood in what passes for today's culture. "Up until the Sixties," he begins, "it was understood that society was composed of two classes of people: adults and kids, and it was easy to tell which was which by the way they dressed and acted." I think he's right on target -- the very concept of mature thought and behavior has been made unfashionable, even tasteless. After all, kids are [I]so[/I] much easier to manipulate than those stubbornly proud and logical adults.
The film noir reviews are interesting, too, if you care for the genre. Personally, I like an occasional dose of vintage [I]Naked City[/I]-style artsy bleakness, but too much of it is like a steady diet of raw onions. I don't agree with all of Wes Clark's premises (I think that [I]The Two Jakes[/I] is irrefutable proof that sequels should be forbidden by law), and I find it laughable that anyone could consider 1945-1950 a cinematic golden age. And there's no doubt that he's, to say the least, a bit over-analytical. Most tedious of all, he does -- occasional -- homage to the Evils of Racism. But it is at least refreshing to read film commentary by someone who [I]isn't[/I] a simpering leftist.
Judge for yourself: [url]http://www.wesclark.com/ubn/noir_review.html[/url]