The term Noir itself implies a complete submersion in darkness. Black is not a color, but merely an absence of light. On the other hand, white is a conglomeration of all visible light. But we must redefine our definition of Noir to consider the gray space in between—all the moral ambiguity, questioning, and chaos.
The more we read Noir, the more convoluted my definition of the genre becomes. Noir is, at a basic level, about the divide of races—of dark and light. “You see, honey, this world is really two worlds,” Phala tells her son, Trick Baby. “The white world and the black world we’re in now” (Iceberg Slim, 59). Phala’s perspective made me question the objectivity of the Noir world; if there is truly just a white and a black world, where do the morally gray characters live?
When we began in this “white world” with Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, a descent into darkness was easy to identify. The affluent, powerful, sharp Spade and Marlowe are society’s apex predators, and subsequently descend into the world of their prey—the world of Irish and white-passing women, gay Levantines, and black murders. But even so, Spade and Marlowe already occupy a morally gray space. Though they may physically encounter darker characters and may travel to places occupied by black, yellow, and brown bodies, morally, they remain self-serving and cryptic. Thus, if Spade and Marlowe live in this white world, it is only physically at least; or, their existence within a white world proves that moral grayness for a white person is not considered “dark.”
Bob in If He Hollers Let Him Go is perhaps the blackest character we gotten to know yet—dark brown skinned and white-loathing. He sits plainly in this “black world,” a place where morals are skewed and inverted and where darkness, suffering, and trickery hides around every corner. And yet, The Expendable Man presents a new kind of black hero: Hugh, although very obviously dark-skinned, has relatively good morals.
But what defines these “good” morals or not? How can Spade and Marlowe exist in a “white world” and descend into a “black one” when they are already morally gray? How can Hugh live in a “black world” when he is more ethical than Spade and Marlowe? If Noir tells us that black = bad and white = good, then why does is there a lack of objectivity within the morals of the characters in its stories?
After watching Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song and discussing morality in class, I begun to realize the way in which morality has been framed. In America and in Christianity, morality has been consistently enforced by the traditions of Anglo-Europeans. In this “white world” we stumble upon through Noir, it is wrong to prostitute women, wrong to kill, and wrong to be queer.
But Noir is a descent into darkness. A “black world” is already dark. I think that the contrast of the white police officers and the energetic scenes of the black characters Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song prove that within a “black world,” white morality need not apply. Sweet Sweetback’s in a sense accepts this “descent into darkness.” It asks, “Why should black people not have sex freely and for pleasure? Why should a black man not enjoy being a prostitute? Why must black people listen to the rules crafted for whites?”
In Trick Baby, White Folks is caught between two worlds. He lives in darkness because of his choice to con those around him. He has, therefore, already made the descent.
All this being said, I think that Noir is less about a moral descent into darkness and more about an interaction with the “other,” who may represent this darkness. Spade and Marlowe remain relatively morally consistent throughout the text. However, they meet members of society who symbolize darkness and corruption. This is their descent into darkness.
Hugh, Bob, Sweet Back, and Trick Baby already live in a dark, “black world” in some sense. This world must not be defined by white morals, because it is in a completely different planet. So, when white people from a “white world” meet others from a “black world,” it is no wonder they treat them like aliens.
I think Noir is about this encounter—it is about the intermingling of the two worlds and the subsequent trouble that results. Perhaps Noir is wrongfully named; it is not primarily about blackness, it is about a clash of black and white. Noir is about the gray space in-between.