Comparative Essay Sample: Farewell My Lovely and the Pilot Episode from Veronica Mars

📌Category: Books, Entertainment, Series, Television
📌Words: 1047
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 11 April 2022

Hard-boiled detective fiction is a gritty, unsentimental type of American crime fiction that introduced a new tone of realism to the detective genre. It typically features graphic sex and violence, vivid but often bleak urban settings, and fast-paced, slangy conversation are all staples of hard-boiled fiction. A comparative analysis of the noir texts “Farewell My Lovely” and the pilot episode from “Veronica Mars” demonstrates on the one hand, that change through the increasing equality of women in society is apparent, but at the same time, the intractability of class and inequality is evident in American society.

The American Dream is the ideal of equal opportunity for all Americans, allowing them to fulfill their best hopes and goals by hard work and dedication. The novel Farewell my Lovely contains perspectives about the class-based nature of American society and how it has been fuelled by organised crime and criminality as a means of attaining prosperity with disregard for hard work and effort, which has led to the downfall of the American Dream. In the novel Farewell my Lovely by Raymond chandler there are many examples of criminality and corruption in both the characters of the book and their actions, from the police accepting bribes to Laird Brunette using legal loopholes to free himself of any legal action toward his crimes and with this books themes it has depicted issues that has eventually to the "death of the American dream". In the novel we are introduced to many characters including Mr Laird Brunette who owns casinos 3 miles off Bay City's coast, which at the time was illegal due two gambling being prohibited, However Laird takes advantage of a legal loophole that allows him to operate 3 miles off the coast without being subject to local rules. This is an example of the corruption in this society which detective Phillip Marlowe lives in but in spite of his villainous/antagonistic nature, Laird Brunette is a character who is "Affably Evil." This refers to villains or antagonists who are legitimately charming, friendly, and polite when engaging with most other people. Mr brunette has done many bad things such as buy the mayor but that was mostly because it's more effective than paying off a bunch of different politicians individually, but he only wants to keep his casino from being raided, and he doesn't engage in local politics in any other way.

The television series Veronica Mars shows how classist-based societies only care about people’s socio-economic standing. The main character Veronica Mars lives in Neptune city where the town is run by people’s ranks in society and how much money they have. There are many themes in the show which shows the disregard of law enforcement in the town as well as corruption.  In the pilot, we learn that Veronica is the daughter of County Sheriff Keith Mars, who is well-liked in the community. Veronica is an average girl who is dating Duncan Kane and has wonderful parents, but her world is turned upside down when her best friend Lily Kane is murdered. Keith accuses Lilly's father, wealthy Jake Kane, of being complicit in the murder which provokes Jake Kane, and he used his class and power to get Keith removed from office and replaced by Don Lamb in a recall election. In the television series there are also examples of the link between socio-economic status and race and how it impacts peoples success. The wealthy are white in the pilot episode, such as Logan Echolls and Duncan Kane, whilst the disadvantaged are migrants, such as the PCH biker gang, and it is made very clear throughout the show that if you want to be noticed, you must be wealthy. This exemplifies the way that classist-based societies work in film noir as it evolved in tandem with society. Race and gender concerns begin to have a far larger part in society. The move from modern city centre to postmodern suburbia followed suit. As the concept of suburbia became more real, noir found a way to approach it as well. 

The term femme fatale has long been a symbol in Western literature, it was only in the late nineteenth century that it became a clear and unmistakable "type." This notion was further characterised as a woman who uses her alluring charms to entice men into disaster. This lends credence to the notion that the femme fatale is based on a sexist fear of women who question established female roles. The femme fatale is a figure who refuses to serve the patriarchy, and it is precisely her sex appeal and undeniable attractiveness that poses a threat to society. In Farewell, My Lovely, private detective Philip Marlowe begins a search for Velma Valento, Moose Malloy's long-lost love. After Malloy's eight-year incarceration, Moose Malloy hires the investigator to locate his girlfriend Velma, who works as a singer and dancer in a bar. A succession of murders occur, raising additional concerns and posing more challenges to Marlowe's search for Velma while also working for Mrs. Grayle, a wealthy woman who employs him to locate her missing jewellery. The story features characters such as the detective Marlowe and the femme fatale, Velma Valento, who disguises herself as Mrs. Grayle, in a classic example of hardboiled literature. Mrs. Gayle is portrayed as an archetype who defies patriarchal authority and refuses to conform to pre-war expectations that a woman's place in the home should be as the loyal wife of the household's dominant figure. The femme fatale genre in hardboiled fiction uses negative representations of women to glorify the male protagonist and promote correct feminine behaviour.

In the show Veronica Mars, veronica is a healthy brand of feminism. When Veronica attempts to report her rape to Sheriff Lamb in the pilot episode, she is dismissed, symbolising the difficulty women experience in reporting similar crimes to law authorities. The pilot episode also emphasises that date rape is an abhorrent but widespread crime to which women are subjected to, as well as the fact that victims of this crime have little support structures to help them process their trauma. Veronica, on the other hand, opposes Lamb's authority after being patronised. She exacts her vengeance by revealing Lamb's officers illegal dealings to the local magistrate. This demonstrates that she is a character that is not hesitant to question some of her society's patriarchal systems. Even after her difficult past Veronica uses these obstacles to simply strengthen her resolve and determination to discover answers to her problems, exemplifying that Veronica is a tough and determined individual who is a beacon for femininity in modern times.

In conclusion the tv show Veronica Mars and the novel "Farewell, My Lovely" demonstrates that change through the increasing equality of women in society is apparent, but at the same time, the intractability of class and inequality is evident in American society.

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