From my posting backlog, this Wayno/Piraro Bizarro from 1/17/20:
(#1) (If you’re puzzled by the odd symbols in the cartoon — Dan Piraro says there are 3 in this strip — see this Page.)
If there’s a film noir, there must be a film blanc, right? If there’s black comedy, there must be white comedy, right? If there’s an X, there must be a ~X, the opposite of X.
Film noir. From my 8/16/12 posting “Possessed by film noir”, about a Zippy cartoon in which Zippy and Griffy are caught up in film noir:
(#2)
In that posting, from Wikipedia:
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations.
… The term film noir, French for “black film”, first applied to Hollywood films by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unknown to most American film industry professionals of the classic era.
Then a linguistic note:
Film noir in French is a N + Adj phrase, with the Adj understood metaphorically. It’s been taken over in English as a head-first compound (and, with other such compounds, has primary accent on the second element).
So, if in film noir, attitudes are cynical and disregarding, and the motivations are sexually exploitative, in film blanc, the attitudes are trusting and positive, and the motivations are supportive and loving. As the private eye explains in #1.
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