THE GENRE AND GENRE

THEORY
ALEXANDER WEIR-WITMER
UNIVSERSITY OF ARIZONA GLOBAL CAMPUS
ENG 225: Introduction to Film
David Makhanlall
08/31/21
 V for Vendetta is not for everyone; for those that love this film from the moment they

saw it, the symbolism, costume, and dialogue bring this movie from more than just a movie on a

screen. The use of symbolism throughout the film shows in various ways. One is the Guy

Fawkes mask, rose, and letter. The use of costumes in this movie draws you in and keeps you

captivated. There is also more to the outfit than just looks. The way they have the actors' dress

shows the progression of their role and re-emphasize the one they are playing. The overall dialog

the actors use in this movie adds character and makes them more relatable.

Genre theory revolves around the ideas surrounding how we define and distinguish

genres. Also, how we categorize films into genres based on essential knowledge we understand.

The genre will often be divided into groups based on observing characteristics features exhibited

within a film using recurring symbols and motifs. When it comes to categorizing movies into

genres, one will look to the characters, setting, plot, sounds, and star persona. We tend to look at

the technical elements such as camera shots, cinematography, and editing styles. The audience

expects certain things from a director, including certain expectations for a film based on its

design genre. Genres are used as a tool to communicate to the audience what the film will

contain.

When creating films using this same set of rules and structures, boredom will always factor in

when repetition occurs. Film studios began implementing a simple term called familiarity, a tool

used to grab audience attention and then incorporate the new and or unfamiliarity into the film.

Genre classification can be limiting, and no genre can reverse a theme, symbol, or feature.

Different forms of the genre are now found across a wide variety of media, regardless of its

genre. Cross-matching is something known as hybridism. We must understand that even if we

wish to define genre clearly, it would be its fluidity in nature, and revisionism will occur, as it

has in the past and often does to others' traditional thinking and social aspects.

According to Rick Altman, there are two ways one can define a genre. The first is

inclusive or semantic. The second would be exclusive or syntactic. A semantic approach is

concerned with the way the film creates, surface-level elements, and the narrative topics of the

film. A syntactic system is concerned with the relationships that are asked to observe these

elements and the film's narrative closely. An excellent movie to best demonstrates semantic is

the movie "V for Vendetta.". The difference between good and evil and a one man's terrorist is

another man's freedom fighter shows semantic in this film.

The movie begins flashback back to 1605 when Guy Fawkes unsuccessfully conspired to

blow up parliament and was captured and executed. "Remember, remember, the fifth of

November" by 2019 people have forgotten, and a mysterious man emerges and broadcasts a

message of revolution. Calling himself "V," he rescues Evey Hammond from a trio of lecherous

government goons. He takes her up to the top of a building, and when the clock reaches

midnight, he blows up the Old Bailey Courthouse on the fifth of November. Leading up to the

backstory of "V" and the illegal experiments the government was performing on its citizens, and

the only survivor after an explosion at the facility "V" spends the next 28 years plotting his

revenge on those that did him wrong and others that ended up being collateral damage in the

government eyes in their pursuit for supremacy. As Eve's and V's" lives intertwined, they

discover they have more in common than they each believed. Evey is captured and tortured by

those that desire to find "," she one day discovers a letter in her cell written by a previous

cellmate who creates hope for her and the integrity to hang on. In the final scenes, "V" faces

down his ultimate opponents and losing his life in the process. Before he set off, he delivers
Evey the train that will blow up parliament and says the outcome is not his to make but those that

will change the better future.

In the film "V For Vendetta," the director, James McTeigue, uses symbolism, costume,

and dialogue to emphasize the idea of everybody having a right to individually and the right and

duty to their fundamental human rights. Symbolism is used essentially throughout this film to

symbolize resistance, individuality, and freedom without self-prosecution. The initial important

symbol that is shown throughout the entire movie is the "V" mask. In modern society, this mask

has become a symbol of anarchism, revolution, and civil disobedience. The highly significant

element of Guys Fawkes is the power and energy to anonymity.

Throughout the movie, "V" kills his enemies and accommodates their death by placing a

single rose on the remains. After reading the letter, he learned to leave roses on each of his

victims in his cell. He notes that the Norsefire government destroyed her happiness and "took

away the roses." "V" pays tribute to Valerie's memory by leaving the roses he is "bring back" the

roses. The last symbol powerfully used in this film is the letter that Evey and "V" find in their

cell. They find comfort in the letter and the strength to hold on. Valery tells her life story in the

letter and encourages all those who read it to maintain their integrity. She says, "Integrity is not

more than "an inch" but as long as humans protect this inch, they are free.

The "V" costume is vital as it ties many of the film's central ideas together. It's a

fundamental link back to Guy Fawkes and the notion that ideas are bulletproof and cannot be

shot down by guns or silenced by those in power. Also, ideas can change nations and must be

remembered, but so should be the lives of the men and women who struggled for them. "V"

dresses in all back, wears a wig, a top hat, a Guy Fawkes mask, and simply goes by the name

"V." In doing so, the film makes created a persona that is identified not by its title and or gender,
but by its convictions. Overall, this movie combines all the critical aspects of the film beautifully

with a bow.
 Works Cited

Grant, Barry Keith. Film Genre Reader IV. University of Texas Press, 2014.

Textbook, Arizona. "Color." Log on to Constellation, content.ashford.edu/books/Goodykoont.5132.18.2?

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