Side Street (film noir 1950)
“New York City. An architectural jungle where fabulous wealth…
and the deepest squalor live side by side. New York, the busiest, the loneliest, the kindest and the cruelest of cities.”
L.A. Noir (2011)
“Los Angeles was the kind of place where everybody was from somewhere else and nobody really dropped anchor. It was a transient place. People drawn by the dream, people running from the nightmare.”
Cyberpunk 2077 trailer
“In 2077 they voted my city the worst place to live in America. Main issues sky-high rate of violence and more people living below the poverty line than anywhere else. Can't deny it. It's all true. Everybody still wants to live here. The city's always got a promise for you. Might be a lie, an illusion-- it's there just around the corner. It's a city of dreams, and I'm a big dreamer.”
It is hard to find that type of writing in an Avengers movie, Call of duty, or any number of bad TV series. We question why American literacy has taken a nosedive. I say it is because we no longer care and are not given anything to be excited about. As an American, I am hoping we will be exposed to the gritty poetic writing style that has always been one of the biggest earmarks of noir. As well, the way to take a person out of a time period is to change the music, the style, the environment, and the language. I hope we remember that language can be cool. Obviously, this is not the only project I am hoping pursues the path of improved literacy.
“New York City. An architectural jungle where fabulous wealth…
and the deepest squalor live side by side. New York, the busiest, the loneliest, the kindest and the cruelest of cities.”
L.A. Noir (2011)
“Los Angeles was the kind of place where everybody was from somewhere else and nobody really dropped anchor. It was a transient place. People drawn by the dream, people running from the nightmare.”
Cyberpunk 2077 trailer
“In 2077 they voted my city the worst place to live in America. Main issues sky-high rate of violence and more people living below the poverty line than anywhere else. Can't deny it. It's all true. Everybody still wants to live here. The city's always got a promise for you. Might be a lie, an illusion-- it's there just around the corner. It's a city of dreams, and I'm a big dreamer.”
It is hard to find that type of writing in an Avengers movie, Call of duty, or any number of bad TV series. We question why American literacy has taken a nosedive. I say it is because we no longer care and are not given anything to be excited about. As an American, I am hoping we will be exposed to the gritty poetic writing style that has always been one of the biggest earmarks of noir. As well, the way to take a person out of a time period is to change the music, the style, the environment, and the language. I hope we remember that language can be cool. Obviously, this is not the only project I am hoping pursues the path of improved literacy.
