Basically a good man with good principles, Joe allows himself to be a "kept" man, trading complements and lovemaking for money and a roof over his head. .
With Roy Dillon in The Grifters, the connection to criminal activity is more overt, as Roy is a con artist. Roy makes his living by conning sailors out of their paychecks with loaded dice. As in Sunset Boulevard, there is also an older woman who is intent on sucking all independence and life out the male protagonist. In this case, the woman is Roy's mother Lily, who gave birth to Roy at the tender age of 14. Back in his life now, Lily sees in Roy someone who has the ability to be a partner in her own grifting activities. .
Walker posits that film noir offers a "generally more critical and subversive view of American ideology than is the norm" (1997, p. 22). The logic behind this statement is drawn simply from the observation t hat in most of these films, the film noir's representation of the plight of the hero reflects badly on the social order that has produced him (Orr, 1997). Certainly, this is true of both films. Joe has "fallen through the cracks" of the Hollywood system. He appears to be a talented writer, but he is reduced to living off an aging film start because of the implacability of the system. A Paramount producer and Joe's agent, who can both be looked on as representatives of Hollywood business practices, are represented as callous individuals, and the power structure is portrayed as unfeeling. .
Roy is also a victim, but his victimization lies in a society that has the capability to produce women like Roy's mother Lily, an unscrupulous, manipulative woman who would rule Roy's life if given the opportunity. Offsetting Lilly is Roy's femme fatale girlfriend Myra. When Lily's con artist activities bring her to LA, she decides to visit her twenty-five year old son for the first time since he set out on his own eight years previously.