Ch. 4 Genre 3/25

Summary

Genre is a concept used by consumers to help them choose which movie or television show to watch before purchasing it.  Genres categorize movies based on its similar plotlines or characteristics. For example, a horror movie is extremely different from a rom-com movie, and hearing both genres gives the audience a distinct image of what they can expect to view.  Genres contain components that the audience sees as a signal of the specific genre and gives them more context of the film. Each genre has a classic time, theme, style, place, character that most films in that genre pivot around. This chapter highlights the meaning of genre “as a blueprint for mediamakers.”  Genre can also be used as a critical tool. Critics use genre to broaden our understanding or perception of a genre that the audience may not have noticed before. The chapter also discusses “‘production trends’” that indicate genres that become popular and replicated in the media, but do not remain a genre for a long period of time.  The example in the chapter was a genre centered on characters switching bodies, like in Freaky Friday or Big.  These contain a unique characteristic that is different from the classic genres, like comedy and horror, but as it rises in popularity, it also declines and can even disappear completely.  

Example

When reading this chapter about genres, it reminded me of how many popular or successful movies and television shows are the ones that do not fall into one singular category.  They do not apply to the basic formula that a genre can present. For example, when you see a trailer for a romance movie, you assume the couple will fall in love, followed by a big fight or revelation to drive them apart before they reunite and live happily ever after in the end.  When reading this I thought of Game of Thrones because it balanced many characteristics of different genres- fantasy, action, and suspense- without following a formula we had ever seen before.  In most television shows you expect the main characters to survive and prevail against their enemies, but this show is notorious for killing off its main characters at any given moment.  This shows how some of the most renown movies and television shows often surpass genres and stereotypical plotlines to blindside audiences into shock and awe.

Connection

When reading the chapter, I considered how genre played a role in the success of a television show like Game of Thrones.  The chapter talks about how the length of time a category of film or television stays around determines whether it is a genre or a production trend.  This show does not fit into a production trend because many of its plotlines are unique to itself, but it can not be fully categorized into a singular genre.  It is not a dramatic fantasy or a suspenseful thriller, but it incorporates elements of each genre into each of its many characters and plotlines, appealing to many consumers.  So while I read this chapter, I thought of Game of Thrones more in the sense of how it defies the normal rules of genre and television we are accustomed to rather than how the rules apply specifically to the show. I believe that is the characteristic key to its success- its inability to be classically defined.