Guns, Germs, and Postmodern veiws

Postmodern views of human life are all around us in everyday life, but no where else can you get such a heavy does of postmodern views then in recent novels. In the Yiddish Policemans Union one particular view stands out to me. That is that almost no one in the book has sympathy for people that have been killed. Landsman even takes offense when Berko tries to call Landsman out on him feeling sorry for Emmanuel Lasker. These veiws remind me of a book I read called Guns, Germs, and Steel. This book was about the fate of human societies and how the Europeans became the dominant societiey for the last 500 years. The book puts a negative spin on life like most scientific works do, but Diamond give us a simple, yet complex reasons on why some societies developed faster than others. Both of these books make me feel that were just here to live out or lives. While this is true I would like to have the feeling that life on the planet has a purpose. One of Diamonds main arguments to why Europeans became the dominant race is simply that the Eurasian continent had the most productive and largest population before the cultivation of crops. This led to technological advances by the masses. Comparing this to what the tribes of Malaysia had to live with; a small population, and a small area of production led to the people worrying more about how they are going eat instead of trying to innovate. These arguments make me feel that once you are born into a situation in which your not going to be able to better your way of life. I do not argee that people should go about their lives happy to be numb to the world, and the the societies we are born into will determine how our lives play out. Just like the people of Sitka to be a refugee's in Alaska, or the Malaysia's born into the hunting and gathering life in the jungles.

Novel to Film

When transforming a novel to a mainstream movie most of the time the very foundation upon what the novel is based on is totally restructured. The same theme holds true in the Devil in a Blue Dress. One scene in particular stood out to me and showed me that the movie was changed to be less offensive to certain people. One of the main differences I saw was how in the movie the race card was not as emphasized as in the book. The scene that stood out the most to me was when Easy went to meet Todd Carter. In the movie the scene with Todd Carter is business like and hostile at times. Carter does not give Easy answers to the questions he has for him and, there is no hint of racism Todd Carter just offers Easy some money to find Daphne. Compare that to the novel, the scene with Easy and Carter is much different. Carter is quick to tell Easy all of his problems and feelings. Easy says in the book it is the worst form of racism he had ever been a part of. Easy says Carter was so rich he did not even see Easy as a human any more.
Now the question is why would writers and/or director/producers choose to leave out on of the most controversial topics in novel. My answer is just that it is so controversial. The movie is geared toward mainstream American people and the majority of those people are white. The movie producers did not want any one to be offended by having troubling topics play a major theme in the movie.

Role of Race to Readers.

In the three books we have read so far race has played a role in how readers see the characters, and how the authors target a certain audience. Of the three novels Cotton Comes to Harlem, and The Chinese Parrot, race plays a large role on how characters act. The Big Sleep on the other hand used certain hints at sexual orientations to tie the storyline together. For example, we found out that after Carol shoots Joe Brody, that he was living with Geiger, and he moved the body so he could get revenge for his "friend". All in all, The Big Sleep deals with whites; I will use this as a basis of comparison for the other two novels.
In the Chinese Parrot race is used to let Chan weasel his way into being able to find clues. Chan and Bob Eden are sent to deliver the pearls to the Madden ranch. Chan is carrying the pearls, but he is the one who is disguised as the servant. This is due to the time period this story takes place. During the 30's a white man having a Chinese servant would not be suspicious looking, and because the audience can accept a Chinese servant. If we look at it in reverse a white man being a servant to Chan would have be very suspicious to readers of the time and not that believable. As compared to The Big Sleep race in The Chinese Parrot is used to make Chan's actions follow general stereotypes at the time.
On the other hand, Cotton comes to Harlem is going to use race as a source of major conflict. The first chapter gives a foreshadowing of these events on page 7 " A police cruiser was parked at the curb. Two white cops in the front seat cast sour looks over the assemblage. "Where do you think they got a permit for this meeting?" "Search me. Lieutenant Anderson said leave them alone." "This country is being run by niggers." " I had an idea what the book was going be about just from the title, but after reading this passage I knew that the main conflict would be caused by race relations. In comparison with The Big Sleep Himes uses race instead of criminal activity as the source of conflict in the novel.

The Big Sleep vs CSI and Law and Order

At any time of if you turn on the TV you can most certainly find ether a Law & Order on or CSI. These two shows and the characters on them are bound by laws the police have to follow, but at some points the shows must cross the line and the characters put their necks on the line to get answers. Chandler does the same thing with Marlowe in the Big Sleep; Marlowe is not afraid nor does he care much how out of line he has to go to get the job done. This one time on Law and Order particularly sticks out in my mind on how Jack McCoy the assistant DA, puts himself and his career on the line to get justice. McCoy was specifically told by a federal judge not to mention a certain detail of his case because that information could have compromised an ongoing federal case. Well, of course in the State trail McCoy brings this exact evidence up. Then he proceeds to win the case and the federal government did not bring charges upon him. On the other hand CSI is nothing like Marlowe. CSI uses all these little clues then find on the crime scene like sand or a blue cotton fiber. Marlowe uses people skills and manipulation with a little force here and there to get his information.

Crime Flim

One of my favorite crime films of all time is the movie Blow. This movie shows how quickly one can get sucked into a world of crime and destruction. In Blow the man character, played by Johnny Depp has his friends and family turn on him as he tries desperately to move away from the drug underworld.