We are studying Vertigo after The New York Trilogy so that we continue in the detective-story vein for another week. For this blog, choose another work of art that relies on a detective and comment on how its creator uses the detective-story genre or elements to explore issues other than the obvious crime at hand. The work cannot be anything we have previously read, and the detective should be a "real" one, such as Scottie or Blue.
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My prior detective knowledge consisted of what I had learned from Nancy Drew before reading Paul Auster. I was hesitant to take on this blog because of my insufficient familiarity with the subject but reminiscing on my own childhood, I was able to see connections relating Auster’s protagonists with the feminine sleuth. Although Drew may be an unexpected choice for the subject, she similarly breaches the confined boundaries of a conventional detective. Edward Stratemeyer created the Hardy Boys first and later developed the character of Nancy Drew in the 1930’s to appeal to and capitalize on young girls. Stratemeyer incorporated several elements that were common in a detective novel (and are also prominent in Auster’s novels). The heroine herself is depicted as an independent, social and intelligent eighteen year-old girl who often accidentally stumbles upon new mysteries. Similarly, Auster’s characters fall victim to the mystery as well. Usually we associate detectives as men who have deeply infused issues that evolve from repressed memories and they focus on the mystery instead of their own problems. It seems that both Quinn from The City of Glass and Blue from Ghosts have their own issues with identity. Drew does not address ideas of identity to the extent of which Auster’s characters do but she still brings something innovative to the genre- a female detective. Nancy Drew broke the quintessential mold for domestically traditional women.
ReplyDelete-Alex N.
You can get nothing by Sherlock Holmes. Think there’s not really that much a man could guess about you from your appearance? Holmes can prove you wrong. He will stand there in front of you and remark, coolly:
ReplyDelete“The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes’ scales of a delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter becomes even more simple.”1
Oh snap! You forgot about the coin, didn’t you—a dead giveaway, and now you’re embarrassed. But even if it weren’t for the coin, there’s the “delicate pink” shade of your tattoo to give you away. In short: you can get nothing by the man.
And that is the heart of what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses Holmes to explore, and perhaps to exalt: that is, the power of human rationality. The crimes in Holmes stories aren’t the main attractions. They may be lurid, and the villains may be dastardly, but they are only thus so that the victory of Holmes’s reason is the more impressive. There are no tricks in the conclusions of Holmes stories; there is only the resolution effected when notices something nobody else has, and applies that knowledge to the case. Usually he has written a trifling monograph upon the topic. Inevitably, though, the actual trappings of the crime are unimportant. What is important is Doyle’s message that the human brain is the ultimate instrument. Sherlock Holmes stories, as well as being entertaining detective romps, are pleas to the reader to respect the power of human reason and logic.
1 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Red-Headed League”: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/advsh12h.htm#2
- Kate
I feel a little embarrassed calling a video game a "work of art" for a literature class, but the first thing that came to mind for me was Rockstar Games' "Max Payne" (the game; not the movie, which I heard was terrible). Though the focus of it, like any video game, was primarily on impressing nerdy teenagers with sweet graphics and awesome violence, the story behind it was at its heart the classic detective story (complete with film noir-esque voiceovers and cutscenes).
ReplyDeleteMax Payne is a New York detective whose wife and baby daughter are murdered by an unknown, and very powerful criminal group. He soon finds out that he has been framed for the murder, and the only man who trusts him - his best friend and partner - is also killed. The obvious plot of the story is his search for those responsible, which leads him to the depths of the New York criminal underground. What is really being explored in the story, however, is the lengths a man will go for justice, and the motivation of those willing to make a difference against evil and corruption. Like Scottie and Blue, Payne's goal becomes more than just solving mystery, but an attempt to understand what is going on in his almost unreal world, and why.
-Daniel R. Ball
In the short film "Dead Air," writer/star Andy Breckman and writer/director Tom Scharpling insert a satirical noiresque detective story into the radio studios of freeform station WFMU in Jersey City.
ReplyDeleteThrough their lampoon of detective stories, Scharpling and Breckman examine and exploit issues of working at an independent radio station for humor. The film begins with Breckman and his co-host and general manager Ken Freedman doing their radio show, Seven Second Delay, when they get a caller who "hates the show" and threatens to kill all of the station's DJ's. The call from the murderer is an element prevalent in detective fiction, that Scharpling and Breckman use to deal with caller/DJ relationships. After finding a dead DJ with a cassette tape stuffed in his mouth, Breckman asserts that he can act as the detective as he has seen every Mannix episode.
Breckman agrees that the motives for the murderer must be the station playing bad music, limiting the suspects to any one who owns a radio. With that as the motive, the film joking explores the general population's interpretation of the eclectic music played on the station. Breckman and Scharpling examine the issue of corruption in a scene where Ken Freedman the general manager is caught trying to change his name to Ken WFMU in order to take the money from pledge drives for personal use. Andy limits the suspects to five WFMU staff members and in detective story fashion lines them up and questions each individually, going through each suspect's motives. When none of the staff members are found to be guilty, the staff has a scapegoat in a call screener who they chase and murder. In a final twist, another DJ, Nachum Segal, admits to killing the DJs based on a mistaken premonition that he should go on a rampage.
While the short film is designed for humor and the plot can be non-sensical at times, Scharpling and Breckman successfully tackle several elements of detective stories while humorously dealing with issues of free-form radio.
Dan L. Ball
I've never been an avid reader of the mystery genre, and so the only other sleuth I've read of is Agatha Christie's character Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express. The novel explores the the power of mental prowess, which detective Poirot relies on to solve the case and subdue the murderer. Poirot, like most literary detectives, is a genius, showing himself to be more intelligent than the other train passengers. After Ratchett's corpse is found, Poirot takes a moment to contemplate the details of the case, while his assistant and the coroner entertain such subjects as train repairs and porn. Ratchett was a murderer and fugitive from the law whose victim was related in some way to each of the twelve train passengers, and Poirot reveals to them the possibility that they have committed the murder. Even after they leave false clues to mislead him, Poirot only needs to gather information and connect the dots in his mind to resolve the conundrum. In addition to the power of the intellect, the novel explores the issue of morality in cases such as the murder on the Orient Express. Poirot is not a cold sentinel of the law, and allows his moral intuition to supersede his occupational engagement by letting the murderers go, thus overcoming evil through both is intelligence and morality.
ReplyDelete-Dina
Akira Kurosawa directed the film Stray Dog in 1949. It is a police detective story which comments on the social issues of Japan after the war. The main character, Detective Murakami, gets pick-pocketed and his gun gets stolen. The stolen gun could be argued as a loss of power Japan felt after the war. The gun is also a colt which is American made and Murakami is chasing after the man to get his gun back. During the time the film came out, Japan was in a state of social disorder which is seen through the film with the use of setting. Kurosawa shot this film in the streets and actual back allies where the black market was, capturing real people and not staged events. There is a major emphasis on ration cards in the film, and the black market is creating counterfeit cards. The film was also shot during the time of U.S. occupation. Japan was not allowed to produce any films depicting war or speaking out against the government. Kurosawa drops subtle hints and tries to expose the paradox of the U.S.'s want for human rights, with their treatment to Japan. Stray Dog is a great film with all the elements of a typical detective story and loaded with underlying comment on social issue. It is a must see that I would recommend to everyone.
ReplyDelete-Jeff Tamburri
The TV show Monk explores plenty of issues other than the specific crimes of the episode. The show explores deals with Monk’s capability despite his disability; this is in many ways like Vertigo. Monk develops obsessive compulsive disorder after the murder of his wife. Like Scottie, he is unable to retain a position on the police force and like Scottie he finds a niche as a private eye. Unlike Scottie, however, Monk’s disability gives him an advantage in his investigations. Monk's disorder enables him to remember miniscule facts and details. He regularly solves crimes by the inescapability of his alertness. He is, however, also hindered by his disorders as he has developed numerous phobias in conjunction with his disorder. Monk cannot fulfill all the duties of a police officer, functioning only with the help of an assistant who hands him disinfectant wipes and fulfills similar tasks. He is also obsessed with the murder of his wife (although it is a cold case).
ReplyDeleteKyle Grady
It’s funny that this ended up being the blog topic for the week, because I finally agreed to start watching the TV series The Wire, after being bugged about it for weeks. While I am only a few episodes into the show, I have really enjoyed it and I think it is a fine example of detective work representing more than what is on the surface. The show was developed by an ex-Baltimore homicide detective, which allows for a truthful and raw portrayal of this world to the audience, where good and evil is not as black and white as Hollywood often wants it to be. One of the primary characters, the sort of anti-hero Detective Jimmy McNulty, despite being disliked by many of his co-workers and having a variety of personal issues he must deal with, ends up being quite competent in his ability to work outside of the lines to get done what needs to be done. While is tactics often get him in trouble (fitting into that bad-cop sort of archetype), as he subverts his superiors, he is working towards an ultimate good of taking down these drugs rings that terrorize the city. Furthermore, the show has its viewers feeling for the “bad guys” as well, as it often seems that McNulty and those he is after are most victimized by the government and administration rather than allowing it to boil down to easy questions of personal morality.
ReplyDeleteCatherine Hart
In Chinatown, Jack Nicholson's character Jake Gittes has to deal with alot more than the everyday husband trail/adultry case he thought he'd signed on for. What starts as a boring case just keeps getting bigger and bigger forcing him to face the bigger themes of corruption of power, destruction of family, and the realization that he is ultimately helpless in the face of the big problems that arise, never able to get ahead of the complex story that unfolds before him. He mentions a previous situation in Chinatown where he worked as a D.A. doing "as little as possible" only to have that failure haunt him all over again in a situation where he became overly involved. With both stories ending the same, Jake is forced to come to terms with the fact that corruption is something everyone has given up on fighting against.
ReplyDeleteL.Cortes
Growing up, Law and Order was the only television show I was allowed to watch on weekdays. The slightly educational and intellectually stimulating based-on-a-true-story plots made the primetime show a vehicle for heated family discussion. Classified as a police procedural detective genre, the Special Victims Unit’s season ten, episode ten, “Smut” (2008) raises controversial issues of sexual assault. Detective Elliot Stabler and Detective Olivia Benson go through a series of detailed investigational procedures—tracing phone calls, reading bills, tracking internet access—to put Eric Lutz, a serial rapist, behind bars. The detective pair chisel away at a case where the criminal has “the perfect mode of operation”. The investigation is triggered by the discovery of the criminal’s invisible hard drive containing videotapes of sedated women giving verbal consent. However, they are under the influence of a memory blocking date rape drug, scolopomine or Devil’s Breath. Along with the video evidence of his four female victims, Lutz’s computer has thousands of adults videos of the “no means yes” powerless sexual victim genre. The disturbing plot explores the issues of pornography by questioning the affects of exposure. Lutz’s attorney pleas mental addiction to pornography, saying her client “needs rehab, not prison”. The frustrating plea sends viewers into a furry; this episode makes a connection between watching porn and the urge to rape women—a very serious and dangerous claim. Within the boundaries of the police procedural detective genre, the episode creates dialogue concerning the influence of imagery. It makes a claim that assumes rape is a sexual crime, whereas there has been a strong debate that defines rape is a crime of violence. Does watching pornography create a drive to act out fantasies, or it is an outlet for fantasies? The plot is also complicated by a previous episode when Detective Olivia Benson’s is sexually assaulted during an undercover mission. This twist gives Benson an edge as she urges the shaken victims to testify and finally put Lutz in prison for a minimum of twenty five years.
ReplyDelete-Michelle Peterson
I’ll date myself and say that Magnum PI is the “work” that came to mind in response to our detectives. Early 80s, Tom Selleck, Vietnam Vet from Naval Intelligence, lives in a cool estate in Hawaii, has a few friends, and the house keeper John Higgins is both best friend and nemesis. The show covered some new ground for fictional detectives by making the detective likable, and though smart, no smarter than the audience.
ReplyDeleteMost of the stories are all potboilers from another time, meant to be like Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe: a woman in distress, a missing relative, a creating husband. The twist for this show is that the detective, while charming, is mostly hapless. He runs into fights, he chases dead ends, his car crashes, he has money problems. Chance plays a fair role in his discoveries. He is not traditionally suave, and even his voiceovers mock the detective convention. A thread through the voiceovers is something like, “When I write the great manual on being a private detective, rule number 47 will be to never turn around when the bad guy says turn around.” These kinds of riffs on the genre would be cute, and leave you feeling like you are watching a South Park mockery of the genre, but the show is a bit deeper (it’s not Kafka, just a bit deeper). The characters are likable, and the plots just deep enough, but the real draw is that Selleck’s Magnum has enough mystery and honesty to draw us in. He’s like Quinn, stumbling through it, and coming out the other side.
Magnum has two elements of his backstory that set things in motion and provide the true arc or growth for his character. He was a military intelligence officer in ‘Nam, and was on the ground with a friends who are both loyal and somewhat damaged by their experiences. He also has a relationship with the “great” (fictional) writer, Robin Masters, and it is Master’s estate he stays on in Hawaii. The trick to Robin Masters is that he has estates all over the world, and he is never seen. This thread led many to conclude that Masters was Magnum, and the stories we get are, in fact Master’s stories about a character, Magnum. These two elements keep popping up, giving the audience peeks at the character, and adding them to the story (since, presumably, Magnum knows who Robin Masters is).
Episodic TV (like Monk and a million others) relies on the audience’s connection to the lead detective. They may have a more glamorous life than most, but they reveal themselves and are seen as flawed but human people by the audience. Since most detective stories plots can be boiled down, it seems that the 70s and 80s detective genre became more about the detective’s story (‘Nam and Robin Masters) and the scenery (Hawaii in Magnum), because there are few new “crime of the century” or “locked room” plots to hold the audience’s attention.
-Tim Oswald
When I thought of detective stories and the stereotypes that go with them, what immediately came to mind was the infamous Tracer Bullet of Calvin and Hobbes fame. For those who are not familiar, Tracer Bullet is one of one of many characters that six-year-old Calvin pretends to be. Calvin and Hobbes’s writer Bill Watterson uses every detective stereotype that I have ever been able to think of. (“I’d planned to take the day off and spend time with a couple of buddies. My buddies travel light and they’re fun to have around. One travels in a holster, and the other in a hip flask.”) One of the times that Tracer shows up is when Calvin’s mother comes to yell at him for breaking a lamp. Another time is during a math test at school (“Two saps, Jack and Joe, drive toward each other at 60 and 30 mph. After 10 minutes, they pass…Questions pour down like rain…I had a hunch that, before this was over, I’d be sorry I asked.”) Tracer Bullet is a character that Calvin becomes when he is bored but also when he is intimidated. Tracer Bullet is an excellent example of the power of the detective story genre as a coping mechanism as well as a form of entertainment.
ReplyDeleteLara Kremzner