As is true for all forms of art, film relies on innovation within genres. Westerns were first produced with a clear delineation between two types characters – the good and the evil – but revisionist films pushed the boundaries of the Western by relying less on such distinctions. But after a century of Westerns, the genre seems played out with nowhere left to go. Is the same true of film noir? Is novelty in film essential, and if so, can we continue innovating indefinitely? Join Stanley Fish as he discusses different film genres – focussing particularly on film noir – and argues that the tropes which draw us to a genre, after enough elaboration and innovation, prove to be their death knell.