Unlike many, Eileen Jones finds the dark world of film noir hopeful, even energizing, as tales of redemption, in which a confrontation with death or some horrible circumstance is the only way for a protagonist to find his or her place in the world. 

For Dr. Jones, who wrote her dissertation on film noir, the recent The Man Who Wasn’t There, captures her view of the genre.  Billy Bob Thornton’s barber, feeling constricted by his daily life, undertakes a scheme to transcend his circumstances.  Although this ultimately leads to his execution, he looks forward to an afterlife with an almost religious sensibility, an awareness, Jones argues, made possible only because he searched for a transcending path.

As a young film fan also unaware—on a somewhat less cosmic scale—of the possibilities of transcending unemployment as a college graduate with a degree in English Jones wound up at UC Berkeley where friendships with aspiring young filmmakers open doors for her as a screenwriter and independent producer.

Today, as a teacher, who continues to work in screenwriting and production, Jones believes she has also found her place in the world, at Chapman University.