What makes a film a Film Noir is a tone, an atmosphere or particular semantic elements which embody a particular outlook on life . The role of women in films has changed since Film Noir, providing more opportunities within a film and also in society, such as the characterization of the femme fatale and how she transformed into a neo- black. In classic film noir, the femme fatale never escapes justice, Elizabeth Cowie suggests that film noir is a genre with a sense of fantasy showing how a film noir hero is a man who "suffers from alienation and of despair and is attracted to femme fatales and deceivers.” Andrew Spicer describes "the irruption of film noirs with dark, cynical and often pessimistic stories into the sunny pastures of Hollywood's typically optimistic and affirmative cinema." Film noir arose from the emergence of German Expressionist cinema and incorporated the use of high-key cinematography to accommodate upcoming film noir crime thrillers. The role of the deceitful woman is evident in the character of the femme fatale, particularly in Double Indemnity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original EssayDouble Indemnity is an example of the classic film noir with a stereotypical femme fatale, which simply translates to the danger of sexual differences. Suggesting how the man risks his desire for "spider women", which ultimately makes the downfall of the male protagonist inevitable. The interaction between Walter and Phyllis follows James Damico's plot structure and his thoughts on film noir character types; This shows as follows how the man meets a not-so-innocent woman who fatally attracts him, but leads to his betrayal. Damico also deduces that the femme fatale is the antagonist of film noir. Therefore, in a classic play such as Double Indemnity, there is an element of justice where there is sometimes metaphorical destruction but usually literal destruction of the woman. Furthermore, Double Indemnity constructs the reality of the social order, the masculine world of the insurance industry which creates the problem of castration for the man of patriarchy. The women in this film, particularly Phyllis, are used as "signifying the lack of heterogeneity, the inherent fault of patriarchy as an order." This is further emphasized by Laura Mulvey, who contemplates “the female form which evokes castration anxiety in men”. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay This introduces how this is a recurring theme in films, especially in Film Noir, the femme fatale character, such as in Double Indemnity, uses it. to their advantage to achieve the inevitable downfall of the male protagonist. Within Film Noir, women have not always been seen as the antagonists, the attractive women who cause a man's distress. Works Cited Cowie, E. (1997). Representing women: cinema and psychoanalysis. University of Minnesota Press. Damico, J. (2001). A method to their madness: the story of the Actors Studio. Thunder's Mouth Press. Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. Screen, 16(3), 6-18. Naremore, J. (1998). More than the night: film noir in its contexts. University of California Press. Spicer, A. (2002). Film Noir. Pearson Education. Sweeney, K. (2002). Celluloid Confessions: The Privacy Crisis in Film Noir. University of Minnesota Press. Telotte, J.P. (2008). A distant technology: the science fiction film and the age of machines. WesleyanEdit.