Sunset Boulevard Essay Questions

Can Sunset Boulevard be adequately classified as a film noir? Or is such classification limiting? How does the film conform to the conventions of film noir, and how does it disrupt these conventions?

Wilder and Brackett seamlessly blend genres—satire, dark comedy, film noir, and melodrama—to masterful effect in Sunset Boulevard, so solely classifying the film as a film noir would be limiting. The film employs film noir conventions like the femme fatale and male antihero archetypes, high contrast lighting, voice-over narration, a downbeat ending, and a bleak, cynical tone. However, Sunset Boulevard’s fusion of different genres also subverts these conventions. The film’s dark comedy—as seen in Joe’s self-deprecating retorts, the somber expressions of the “waxworks,” the chimp funeral, and Norma’s ridiculously dramatic demeanor—adds a sardonic entertainment uncommon within the film noir genre. Through Norma’s tragic ending and the various love triangles, the film also entails a melodramatic streak and tough-as-nail romanticism. While film noirs often evoke nihilistic, dramatic themes, they usually lack the sentimentality in which Sunset Boulevard occasionally indulges. Thus, it is imperative to acknowledge the film’s intermingling of different genre conventions while interpreting its tone, themes, and narrative.

Norma’s mansion is central to the plot of the film. Examine the mansion’s atmosphere, what it represents, and how it reflects the inner disposition of the film’s characters.

Much of the film’s events occur in Norma’s rotting mansion, which cements its narrative importance. From the moment Joe arrives at the dilapidated estate, he—and the viewers—are struck by its unrelentingly grandiose architecture, but also by its loneliness and lifelessness. Due to its perceived abandonment, Joe assumes the mansion is vacant, and even after he learns that Norma and Max reside there, the house never becomes more lively. Vermin crawl in the drained pool, the tennis court appears unused, and the various doors render a prison-eque, rotting atmosphere. The mansion symbolizes Norma’s disposition: like her home, Norma is aging, lonely, and permanently out of touch with the outside world. Additionally, the deteriorating mansion evokes the decaying state of the silent era of film; Joe associates the home with “the kind crazy movie people built in the crazy 20s.” Norma’s rotting estate is ultimately a product of a dead film movement, and it’s fitting that Norma finds comfort in her reclusive lifestyle in her mansion: it evokes the past which she insistently clings to.

Sunset Boulevard plays with notions of gender in compelling ways. Examine the dynamics of Joe and Norma's relationship. How does their dynamic undermine—or conform to—gender norms?

Through the depicted relationship between Joe and Norma, Sunset Boulevard both subverts and adheres to gender norms. Generally, masculinity is associated with domination, strength, and aggression, whereas femininity is associated with weakness, submission, and compliance. These normative conventions of masculinity and femininity often become scrambled in the film. Norma takes on more traditionally masculine traits in the film—she manipulates Joe to satisfy her own libido, and she bluntly tries to command Joe, Max, the security guards at Paramount, and even DeMille. Meanwhile, Joe’s masculinity becomes threatened by Norma; he is unable to leave the house and becomes subservient to her needs and desires. Joe’s passive emasculation subverts traditional male antihero film noir icons like Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon); he a passive, subdued object of the femme fatale’s exhibited power, and by the time he attempts to reclaim his masculinity, Norma kills him. Despite this inverting of gender norms, Sunset Boulevard in some ways conforms to traditional notions of femininity. For instance, Norma rests all her value on her appearance and endures oppressive beauty treatments to conform to what is expected of her as an actress in the patriarchal movie industry: youthfulness, allure, and beauty.

At the beginning of the film, we see Joe’s corpse floating in Norma’s pool. What purpose does this revelation serve? Does this knowledge affect the way audiences experience the film?

The audience's awareness of Joe’s death from the prologue informs the way we perceive the events leading up to his death. When he contemplates a return to Ohio, we know he will never make it back alive, and when he is being chased around Los Angeles, we know he will escape somehow. Ultimately, the examination of Joe’s characterization, life, and relationships prevail over his death. The circumstances and inevitably of his death produces its own form of tension. We know Joe is murdered, but we don’t know how or why it will happen and who will do it. His narration guides us through these set of circumstances, and because we recognize his doomed fate from the get-go, witnessing his slow demise drives the film’s suspense.

By the end of the film, Norma descended completely into madness. To what do we attribute Norma’s prevailing illusions? In other words, what makes her so narcissistic and disconnected from reality? Is it the film industry, celebrity culture, herself, or the men in her life (Joe, Max)? Is it a combination of these factors?

Arguments can be made for each of these factors, but they all intermingle and contribute to Norma’s illusions in different ways. After the advent of talkies, the film industry ultimately abandoned Norma. She was aging, losing her youthful charm and beauty, and was firmly associated with the waning silent film era. The neglect from the industry fosters Norma’s lonely, reclusive lifestyle—where she dissociates from reality—as well as her scathing criticism of contemporary Hollywood, which is permeated with personal biases and self-absorption. Celebrity culture additionally contributes to Norma’s delusions, as being a star is an inherently ephemeral phenomena. Norma was once “the greatest star of all” and adorned by millions, but as soon as new, younger actresses emerged in talkies, she was deserted. Norma’s only form of self-worth is her fame, and once she is deprived of that, she has nothing and chooses to live in denial. There is also Norma herself who encourages her own detachment from reality: she is a narcissist who constantly lies to herself because she can’t cope with her diminished status and the truth of the outside world. Also, the men in her life, namely Max and Joe, enable her illusions as her protectors, errand boys, and lovers. They have the capacity to shatter her self-deceptions but refuse to do so, until it is too late.