LA Confidential Essay Example

glamorous and this is still inferred by the lipstick. Both her hairstyle and cosmetics are signifiers to the period and insights into her personality.

One standout cultural reference is to that of the film The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) in which much meaning could be interpreted. It is referenced throughout LA Confidential and this particular film will not have been chosen by accident. It fits in with the recurrent references to 1950s Hollywood and show business.The film itself is about the ruthlessness of the industry and features not only the actress Lana Turner who makes an appearance as a character in the film but also the character Jonathan Shields who shares many character traits with Jack Vincennes.

The use of The Bad and the Beautiful reinforces the audience's thoughts on what Hollywood was like in that period. Branston and Stafford (2003: 12) describe how all human organization is determined by large social or psychological structures. Such structures are highly perceptible in La Confidential.The hierarchy within the police force is one such structure along with the social and economic hierarchy found in the movie business.

It is possible here to mention Marxist theory given his position as a structuralist. The film depicts ethnic minorities as lower class citizens. Although both cops and blacks and corrupt only the cops gain from it in the long term and the blacks are portrayed as weak and impressionable. Marx would interpret their crimes as their way of rebelling against an unfair system.