Maltese Falcon as Hard-Boiled Hero - Essay Example

27 November Assignment Almost every film these days has more than one protagonist; there is always a hero who has the stereotypical characteristics of doing well in life, being popular with the girls and solving the mysteries of his time. However, he is often accompanied by another character that might seem evil in his search for life, but has the same goals. This character is known as the antihero or a protagonist whose character is contrary to that of the archetype hero. He is also known as the antagonist, or someone that provides leverage to the character of the main hero or heroine of the work of fiction. The Maltese Falcon is a film that has a hero as well as an antihero; the film stars Humphrey Bogart as the director / private investigator Sam Spade who has been regarded as the antihero and not the hero, for reasons discussed within the purview of this paper. Sam Spade has a very tough exterior as he lives life by his own rules and rarely listens to anyone else. When his partner in crime dies, he does not even seem to bother or care, displaying an aura of someone that does not have any emotions. He tries to put forth a very strong and non caring attitude towards the audience. He does not possess any scrupulousness; this is clear when the audience finds out that he had been having an affair with the wife of his partner. Furthermore, he plays along with Brigid within the movie, not letting people know for sure whether or not he actually had feelings for her. This makes a number of people averse to his entire character because he does not come off as a man who would listen to anyone or be liked by most people. He says, “When a mans partner is killed, hes supposed to do something about it. It doesnt make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and youre supposed to do something about it. And it happens were in the detective business. Well, when one of your organization gets killed, its bad business to let the killer get away with it. Bad all around. Bad for every detective, everywhere.” (The Maltese Falcon) Spade’s rugged aura puts off a number of people and his smooth mannerisms help to provide a very hard twist to the entire story. Spade is truly an antihero with a penchant for women. A number of people have maimed the movie to be exactly like its contemporary, Citizen Kane. Spade does not carry a gun throughout the movie; however he shows people that he is not afraid to use one. He will do anything in order to make some money and is not attached to many things, probably because of his prior life experiences. Thus, through these instances and characteristics, Spade helps people to see how he is the antihero. In this circumstance, Spade is the main protagonist however, with a twist. This is because he possesses strength, agility, intelligence and charm just like any hero would, however he looks like the ‘bad guy’ because of his don’t care-ish attitude towards the rest of the world. He thus comes off as an antagonist in the Maltese Falcon. “The novel describes Sam Spade as looking like "a blond Satan," and although he is clearly the hero, he comes across as being nearly as amoral, ruthless, and greedy as the criminals he defeats. For the film, Huston, who not only directed but also wrote the screenplay, softened Spades character somewhat, but left enough of the hard edge to make Spades final act of heroism more complete and more poignant.” ("Film Noir and the Hard-Boiled Detective Hero – A Film Noir Studies Essay.") In the same manner, other movies and works of fiction have also presented antiheroes. Shakespeare was one of the first novelists to have written about the antihero and provided him with a different take on life altogether. In modern day fiction, Professor Snape in the Harry Potter series has been regarded as an antihero. He tries to save Harry from all kinds of danger without letting him or his friends know of the same. He has excellent hero like capabilities as well as potential and this is quite evident from the way he portrays himself to be as well, however, to the audience at first, he comes off as an evil person because of his attitude and traits. Thus, it may be said that looking at the characters of Sam Spade and Professor Snape it may be noted that an antihero just has a difference of opinion from the main hero, however, his goal is the same as the hero’s – to remove the evil that persists within society. The way by which they go about doing the same is also different than the hero’s conventional way and thus the audience usually ends up thinking that the antihero is the bad guy who does not want to achieve justice for the people. The antihero is actually a good person with good motives despite being portrayed as bad. The reason that the antihero is not liked as much as the main hero is probably because he is there to undermine the character of the hero. Everyone enjoys a good story line with a stereotypical hero who saves the day. The anti hero tries to do the same in a different manner, not the conventional manner, and that is why he is branded as the bad guy and not liked by so many people. Taking Professor Snape as an example, one can easily comprehend how he was not liked by the people as much as Harry Potter was because of the way he conducted himself. Jack Sparrow is yet another example of the antihero. He is different from the other characters on board the ship however, has the same goals as them. Johnny Depp tries to portray the character of a lost pirate in search for his own ship and a means to survive. Orlando Bloom does the same, however because of his obvious good looks and appeal, is regarded much more than Depp is, by the audience. The Star Wars franchise also has an antihero in the form of Han Solo, played excellently by Harrison Ford. Han Solo has the characteristics of a ‘bad guy’, a typical man with raw appeal, liked by the women in a different manner than the rest of the people. However he is not the main hero in the story because he does not possess the obvious motives that the hero should be having. Most comic books and graphic novels as well are full of antiheroes. When it comes to superhero comics and movies, the antiheroes mostly turn out to be the sidekicks. Taking Batman and Robin as an example, Robin is probably an antihero because he is sidelined by Batman most of the time, however still has the same charm, strength as well as love for justice. In conclusion, the antihero is not a ‘bad guy’ per se. He might be portrayed as a villain in every work of fiction, however he is not the villain because he does not have any mala fide intentions. He wants the same things as the main hero does, but does not possess the actual rosy side that the hero has. In a number of movies, the antihero and the hero is shown in a single character as well. For example, the recent bollywood film by the name of ‘Rockstar’ where the main protagonist, a young obedient boy, falls in love and tries to make it as a singer and musician. However, when his lady love leaves him, he loses his mind and that brings out the raw animal in him. Both these sides of him have only one goal – to find his love in a woman as well as his music and to understand how they both correlate with one another; however the two different sides to him are shown throughout the course of the movie. In this way, the antihero is actually the hero even though at first glance the audience always ceases to think so. The antihero has all the qualities of a hero and fights crime and the villains just like the hero; however in a different manner. Works Cited "Film Noir and the Hard-Boiled Detective Hero – A Film Noir Studies Essay." Film Noir Studies. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. . Read More