picspam: Veronica vs Marlowe

[noblealice.livejournal.com]

"Veronica is an amateur sleuth who is closer in spirit to Philip Marlowe than to Nancy Drew." - The New York Times

I love this quote, because it recognizes how Veronica Mars helped carve out the teen noir genre. So let's compare our feisty, revenge-bent heroine with the iconic Marlowe:

There are WAY MORE examples of noir in future episodes, but I decided not to spoil anyone, so sorry that these comparisons are pale.


Our first introduction to Veronica is through her Chrysler LeBaron (which almost becomes as much of a character as Logan's Jackass Yellow X-Terra) and her cynicism. No marriage for this girl, she can't trust a soul.

Marlow is similarly outcast, even the family of the girl he is trying to help don't want him around (The Big Sleep).



Veronica is an outsider living in a bleak world, and nothing can be taken for granted. She deals with femmes (and hommes) fatale, official corruption and an outwardly sunny society that's got one heck of a dark underbelly. She doesn't exactly make friends with the authority figures, and Marlowe isn't the biggest fan of the official police as well.

To show her isolation, she's shown eating by herself while action whirls around her.

(Random: I LOVE how Wallace just seems to POP up there due to the fast cut. It's awesome.)


This follows the noir tradition in which the hero is always an outsider who finds it difficult to trust anyone for fear of being betrayed. Philip Marlowe might yearn for love but he never finds it; he remains a loner at heart.

'I wanted to create a character who was so far down that her outlook was: "There's nothing anyone can do to me now. I've been through it all." I wanted a teenage girl who no longer got embarrassed or worried about what others said about her, or fretted over what she was going to wear.'
-Rob Thomas, Creator

Veronica has had to completely remake herself after being broken down. She even states that "I'm not that girl anymore", but although her naivety is gone, her sense of justice is perhaps backsliding.



Before, she was bathed in white light and now she's surrounded by neon ribbons cutting through the screen. Noir was known for the sharp contrast of light and dark and light cutting into the smoke through blinds.

'The element that I find attractive about noir is the shades of grey in characters. It acknowledges that all of us have a dark side. I think that most television focuses on white-hatted heroes. Teen shows, particularly, tend to have good guys and bad guys. We work pretty diligently to keep Veronica from ever being too huggable. She's overly bent on getting even. She's brusque. She has a rather Old Testament sense of justice. She has very few compunctions about invading others' privacy.'
- Rob Thomas, Creator


This heroine might be motivated by good but, like Marlowe, she is not afraid to do bad to get there. This episode emphasizes her new moral ambiguity, such as interfering with a police investigation.

(Random: Doesn't KB look really HOT here?)

(Random: I just looooove this shot)


Thomas inverts the concept of a femme fatale. Thomas originally intended the homme fatale to be Veronica's secretive ex-boyfriend Duncan, but it is his best friend and her nemesis, Logan Echolls, who seems best to fulfill the role. Logan is unsympathetic, almost entirely motivated by self-interest and utterly untrustworthy. Yet despite these flaws it's hard not to root for him.


This episode is tinged with old-school class resentment and I LOVE Rob Thomas' use of photography in this episode. It's all weird angles to show how off-kilter her world has been spun.







I like the new use of bright colours to give teen noir it's modern edge. There is still a cluttered office with stained glass windows, but the glass is coloured and there is a neon advertisement outside.


and a new nostalgia for Veronica's lost innocence. I don't know if it's over-saturated or over-exposed (or whatever the term is), the flashback scenes are BEAUTIFUL (although a bitch to icon). It's like a movie that's been played too many times and is wearing down. It's not even real in her memories, but covered with a glossy sheen of how good life was Before.









Veronica doesn't just want justice. She wants to put all the broken pieces back together. In this episode, we see her need to reunite her family (a common urge in kids with divorced/separated parents) and she can't see how maybe her family isn't MEANT to fit together anymore. Later we'll see how she thinks that once they solve the case, everyone will go back and be perfect and how she has to reconcile with the idea that maybe it wont.



If you're interested, there are some photo shopped wallpapers that feature the cast in classic noir movie posters HERE

Quotes were taken from HERE


Caps hosted by me, please don't hotlink. Hope you enjoyed!

Comments

[breeliz.livejournal.com]

I absolutely hate when people only compare Veronica to Nancy Drew and I agree with this entire entry. I never really thought of Logan as a homme fatale but the concept is intriguing.

[noblealice.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me too. I don't usually like comparisons (like to Buffy ect.) but I think that VM as a whole can be compared to film noir.

I need to put more thought into Logan as a homme fatale to see if it fits, but it was a neat gender switch-up.

[ninamazing.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of Logan as a homme fatale. Once I learn more about noir (my film school is doing a noir festival this month!), I might look into that. And write fic. *_*

[noblealice.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I love the Pilot because of all the sparkly back story we are given. Not enough episodes had that IMO. Of course, I'm a Lilly fangirl, so I'm biased. ;D

[noblealice.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I thought that the Black Donnellys had an equally strong Pilot, but then the rest of the series couldn't live up to that standard. But I think that VM (season one, at least) manages to be consistent with every episode. (With the exception of a few bad guest stars that you will soon meet, lol)

[noblealice.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking about Paris Hilton. That episode makes me cringe.

[ninamazing.livejournal.com]

Oh. My. God. You. Are. My HERO.

This picspam is AWESOME. I LOVE how you pointed out all the cinematography stuff, because it TOTALLY makes me geek and squee inside too! And the ROB THOMAS QUOTES! He is seriously amazing -- the way this pilot came together is probably an example of human brilliance at its maximum.

Ooooh, oooh, I just LOVE you. :D And in answer to your question, KB looks hot everywhere. :P

[noblealice.livejournal.com]

Cinematography! That's the word I was looking for but was too tired to google! You are a genius! I love that Veronica isn't PERFECT and she's guarded because she HAS TO BE. She's had the shit kicked out of her and she managed to get up, dust herself off and say 'want some more, fuckheads?' (ALL THE WHILE IN EXTREME LONG SHOTS OR OBTUSE VIEWS OR WITH CRAZY TINTED LIGHT!)

I just love black boots with a short skirt!? Normally I think she's 'cute' and that was when I thought, 'hey, she's kinda hot'.

I love you right back! Thanks for making this comm!!!

[flor-d-liz.livejournal.com]

I love this post and couldn't agree more! Nice work with the pictures!

[noblealice.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much, glad you liked it!!

[squaringkarma.livejournal.com]

You know you rock, right? 'Cause you do. Love VM's noir!

[noblealice.livejournal.com]

Aww, you're too nice!

I adore the noir elements!!!

[bitter-moss.livejournal.com]

I am no fan of noir (other than VM of course ;)) but i loved this! Thanks for sharing =).

[noblealice.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I love what VM has taken from noir and then how it's changed it to fit it's purposes.

[cosmicviolet.livejournal.com]

I love that you contrasted shots of Veronica with shots from The Big Sleep. Looking at them next to each other, they do fit well.
I love the weird angles too, and the way the camera spins while she stands still and just the colours. Veronica Mars has the prettiest pilot of any show I've ever seen.

[noblealice.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean, the colours of this pilot just catch your eye. It may be shallow, but I started liking Veronica from her CLOTHES. She was bitter and snarky, but still wore these great colours like pink and green instead of washing her out with dull black like other shows try to portray disillusioned teenagers. I guess it also helps that it's set in California.