Film noir reflects the fatalistic themes and visual style of hard-boiled novelists and many émigré filmmakers in 1940s and 1950s America, emphasizing crime, alienation, and moral ambiguity. In The Philosophy of TV Noir, Steven M. Sanders and Aeon J. Skoble argue that the legacy of film noir classics such as The Maltese Falcon, Kiss Me Deadly, and The Big Sleep is also found in episodic television from the mid-1950s to the present. In this first-of-its-kind collection, contributors from philosophy, film studies, and literature raise fundamental questions about the human predicament, giving this unique volume its moral resonance and demonstrating why television noir deserves our attention. The introduction traces the development of TV noir and provides an overview and evaluation of the book's thirteen essays, each of which discusses an exemplary TV noir series. Realism, relativism, and integrity are discussed in essays on Dragnet, Naked City, The Fugitive, and Secret Agent. Existentialist themes of authenticity, nihilism, and the search for life's meaning are addressed in essays on Miami Vice, The Sopranos, Carnivale, and 24. The methods of crime scene investigation in The X-Files and CSI are examined, followed by an exploration of autonomy, selfhood, and interpretation in The Prisoner, Twin Peaks, The X-Files, and Millennium. With this focus on the philosophical dimensions of crime, espionage, and science fiction series, The Philosophy of TV Noir draws out the full implications of film noir and establishes TV noir as an art form in its own right.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"This book features a wide diversity of essays, written from many provocative perspectives on the nature of TV noir as presented in various television series. Viewed through the lenses of philosophy, history, and other disciplines, it will appeal to both scholars and intelligent non-specialists." -- Chris Matthew Sciabarra, author of Total Freedom: Toward a Dialectical Libertar
"Given the centrality of television as an organ of popular culture, this book is profoundly important to understanding the legacy of film noir. This anthology is a natural, necessary, and BRILLIANT addition to the series." -- Chris Matthew Sciabarra, author of Total Freedom: Toward a Dialectical Libertar
"The Philosophy of TV Noir is insightful and accessible, offering an introduction to philosophical wisdom that is fun and weighty through the inherently interesting genre of Noir." -- Jacob M. Held, co-editor of James Bond and Philosophy: Questions are Forever
""The contributors' thoughtful inquiry and analysis of these canonical programs draws on staple philosophical concepts- moral ambiguity, nihilism, existentialism, postmodernism, and so on. The resulting discussions are lucid and informative, and they adroitly balance film theory and philosophy."" -- Choice
About the Author
Aeon J. Skoble, associate professor of philosophy and chair of the philosophy department at Bridgewater State College, is coeditor of Woody Allen and Philosophy and The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet.
|
|||
|
Video reviews
|
postwar realism, deep throat, individual relativism, interpretive openness, noir protagonist, noir elements, noir hero, classic film noir, noir themes, conceptual freedom, forensic detection, existential man, philosophical suicide, existential hero, naturalistic reading, noir detective, classic noir, noir films Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Twin Peaks, New York, The X-Files, Jack Bauer, Miami Vice, Lady Heather, Brother Justin, Naked City, Millennium Group, The Fugitive, The Maltese Falcon, University Press of Kentucky, Kingdom of Darkness, The Prisoner, Jason Holt, Michael Valdez Moses, Fall Out, John Drake, The Sopranos, United States, World War, Secret Agent, Frank Black, Art of Forensic Detection, Darker Shade Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
