A review by colin_cox
The Fade Out, Act 3 by Ed Brubaker
5.0
Taken in its totality, The Fade Out is an entertaining, atmospheric book that asks several interesting questions about white male aggression, institutional corruption, and self-destruction. To my delight, very little about this book is surprising. Brubaker suggests in Act One (i.e. Volume One) and later confirms that Drake Miller, a government agent investigating communists and posing as a film producer, murdered Valeria Sommers. Brubaker’s simple, unambiguous approach to the book’s central mystery opens space for an exploration of larger, more philosophically rich themes. However, Brubaker does not say or suggest anything new about these themes. Readers are left to conclude that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The most striking moment in The Fade Out is the revelation that Valeria Sommers’ sacrifice occurred in contrast to a form of seemingly insurmountable institutional power filtered through the particular prism of white male aggression. Charlie Parish, the book’s protagonist, learns that Valeria refused to reveal any actual or presumed communists or communist sympathizers to Drake Miller. When describing this situation to Parish, Phil Brodsky, the studio security chief, explains, “Only she won’t give up anything…not on Thursby or the studio…nothing…So the guy just cracks…maybe. He can’t stand it…That his power doesn’t work on her.” On its face, Brubaker wants his reader to celebrate Valeria’s altruism by suggesting that abuses of power are preventable if only individuals refuse to submit to intimidation. Of course, the irony is what Valeria dies protecting. Brodsky cannot help but conflate the individual and the institution. By thwarting one abusive and objectionable institution (the U.S. government during the height of the Red Scare), Valeria has unwittingly ensured the survival of another equally abusive and objectionable intuition (the film industry which perpetually objectifies, assaults, intimidates, and undervalues women). Therefore, whatever Valeria’s sacrifice gains or achieves, it is immediately negated by the survival of an institution that profligates similarly objectionable forms of abuse.
The Fade Out ends with Parish wandering the streets of Hollywood, lamenting Valeria’s decision. Like everyone else in The Fade Out, Parish assumes that Valeria’s sacrifice was about him. Brodsky too is frustrated because he cannot kill or punish Valeria's killer, so like Parish, he also interprets Valeria's death as less about her and entirely about himself. Valeria remains an ambiguous plot point, utterly worthless except for her utility in relation to the male characters who populate Brubaker's story.
The most striking moment in The Fade Out is the revelation that Valeria Sommers’ sacrifice occurred in contrast to a form of seemingly insurmountable institutional power filtered through the particular prism of white male aggression. Charlie Parish, the book’s protagonist, learns that Valeria refused to reveal any actual or presumed communists or communist sympathizers to Drake Miller. When describing this situation to Parish, Phil Brodsky, the studio security chief, explains, “Only she won’t give up anything…not on Thursby or the studio…nothing…So the guy just cracks…maybe. He can’t stand it…That his power doesn’t work on her.” On its face, Brubaker wants his reader to celebrate Valeria’s altruism by suggesting that abuses of power are preventable if only individuals refuse to submit to intimidation. Of course, the irony is what Valeria dies protecting. Brodsky cannot help but conflate the individual and the institution. By thwarting one abusive and objectionable institution (the U.S. government during the height of the Red Scare), Valeria has unwittingly ensured the survival of another equally abusive and objectionable intuition (the film industry which perpetually objectifies, assaults, intimidates, and undervalues women). Therefore, whatever Valeria’s sacrifice gains or achieves, it is immediately negated by the survival of an institution that profligates similarly objectionable forms of abuse.
The Fade Out ends with Parish wandering the streets of Hollywood, lamenting Valeria’s decision. Like everyone else in The Fade Out, Parish assumes that Valeria’s sacrifice was about him. Brodsky too is frustrated because he cannot kill or punish Valeria's killer, so like Parish, he also interprets Valeria's death as less about her and entirely about himself. Valeria remains an ambiguous plot point, utterly worthless except for her utility in relation to the male characters who populate Brubaker's story.