Media

Entertainment
Genre and Popular Media
Prof Marc Raymond
 The word genre, first used in literary studies, derives from the
French word genus, meaning type.

Over the years it has been used to distinguish between different

forms of literature and then eventually to other forms of media
texts, such as films, television, and now even video games.
What is a
Genre? Some genres, like the mystery or adventure, can be seen across
mediums, while others are some medium specific (first-person
shooter video games, for example).

Genres can be defined in different ways: formal elements or

narrative elements
Formal Elements
Many genres are identified
through their form:

Iconography

Costume, Settings, Staging,

and Stars

Lighting, Music,
Cinematography
 • Another way to identify genres is by
considering narrative.
• Genres typically adhere to a formulaic way of
telling a story. Narratives can be seen as
blueprints that are frequently repeated
Narrative across many films.
• For example, the mystery genre hides some
information from the reader or viewer,
usually a crime, that the detective solves by
the conclusion.
 One reason to study genre is that genre films are
popular texts, which often contain a great deal
of ideological meaning.
Ideology: ideas and beliefs about society and
how people should live; a worldview
Genre and
Ideology We all have an ideology, although we often do
not reflect on what our worldview is; appears
natural, the way things are, common sense
Media texts, especially genre films, often reflect
the ideology of a society, although they often
show changes in society and its ideas as well
Genres of Order / Genres of
Integration
Genre of Order

• 24 (television show)
• Lead character, Jack Bauer, is a
counter-terrorist agent; he saves
the society and eliminates the
villains that that threaten America
• However, he cannot enter the
society; he remains outside
• Similar iconography to the western
genre
• https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=Os-sKyfHRi8&t=17s
Genre of Integration
• Romantic comedy
• Two characters from different worlds
who come together at the conclusion
• Represents the coming together of
society more broadly
• You People (Netflix film, 2023)
• White Jewish man and a Black Muslim
woman become engaged and try to
bring together their two very different
families
 • Another advantage to studying genre is to
track social change across genre cycles
• All genres tend to change over time, and

Evolution some genres even disappear (or almost

disappear), to be replaced by different
genres

of Genres
• Westerns, for example, were the most
popular genre in the 1950s but are now
rare; but many of the same themes and
ideologies can be seen in urban action films
or even in science fiction, a genre that has
increased in popularity
 (1) Primitive: Genre is established

(2) Classical: Form is perfected and its values are shared by most
of its audience

Genre (3) Revisionist: More complex treatment of the genre’s themes

and ideas; less assured, questioning the values of the genre

Cycles (4) Parody: the genre’s conventions have become so well-known

that they are mocked because of their cliches.

Genres constantly cycle through these phases and reinvent

themselves in order to attempt to stay relevant with
contemporary audiences.
 • Genre revisionism occurs when the dominant
ideology (formal elements and narrative) in
traditional genres is no longer considered
applicable to the time period.
• In order to be relevant, genres develop in a
manner that is relatable to contemporary
Genre audiences. As a result of these developments,
when genres reemerge, many of the established
Revisionism features have evolved, mutated, become
subverted or, in some cases, are omitted.
• The Western is a good example of how
revisionism has completely changed the genre
and its meaning.
Case Study: Horror Films
• Horror films have been very popular throughout the world
• However, also usually seen as very low culture
• Not taken seriously
• But within media studies, it has been a genre that has been
analyzed extensively
• Felt to contain important ideological meanings about the
society in which they are made
 Most horror films have a very basic formula

“The Monster” threatens “Normality”

Horror The difference in the ideology of each horror film would be

how these two variables (the monster and normality)
Formula related to each other
Is the monster purely evil?

Is normality purely good?

 • Although there are cultural
differences in how normality is
defined, it is relatively constant
throughout horror films regardless
of culture.
Normality
• Heterosexual monogamous couple
• The family
• Social Institutions: Police, Church,
Army
 • Monsters tend to change from period to
period and from country to country.
• Usually responding to some social
anxiety or fear
• It is the relationship between the
The Monster monster and normality that is the
essential subject of horror movies
Progressive Versus Reactionary Horror
Horror films that have a more
sympathetic monster, or that have a
more negative view of normality,
tend to be more “progressive” or
liberal: they are critical of society
and believe in changing the older
power structure
Horror films that present the
monster as simply evil and that see
normality and its institutions as
positive tend to be more
“reactionary” and conservative: they
believe in traditional society and fear
changes in the social order
1950s Horror
• Usually, horror was an external threat
• Aliens were a very common enemy
• Tended to be very conservative and traditional
• Monster was pure evil, usually not human
• Normality, represented by the heroes of the story, was
basically morally good
• 1950s were also seen as a very conservative period in
American history
1970s Horror

• 1970s were a much more turbulent era (Vietnam,

political assassinations)
• Normality in American society was being questioned
• Horror’s low cultural status made it possible to make
more political statements
• The monsters were no longer purely evil and external;
often, the horror came from within the family unit
itself
Halloween (1978) (2007)
• One of the most popular horror franchises is the Halloween
films, featuring the killer Michael Myers
• In the original 1978 film, he is presented as pure evil
• Almost a supernatural threat, like a ghost or death itself
(inescapable)
• The 2007 remake, however, makes Michael more human,
showing him as a child and how his dysfunctional family
and childhood of being bullied turned him into a killer
• Very different ideologies
The Slasher Film
Halloween was one of the first of a sub-genre called “the slasher film”

These films featured a killer murdering many victims; often these victims were young women,
leading many to see these films as misogynist (hatred of women)
Extremely popular in the 1980s

Sex was also often punished; and like the 1950s, the 1980s were a very conservative decade in
America, which could be seen reflected in the popularity of these films
By 1996, with the film Scream, these conventions were so well-known they began to be
acknowledged and even the subject of revision and parody
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvLpbHKV1_8&t=1s
“The Final Girl”

• However, another characteristic of the slasher film was

the presence of a “final girl”: one female character
would usually survive to the end and sometimes even
kill the monster
• Why was the survivor usually a woman?
• Because she also had to depict terror (“scream queen”),
and if a man was shown screaming, he would be seen
as feminized and the film would appear comedic
• But the final girl also complicated the genre; many
feminists even saw the slasher film as one of the few
genres with an active female hero
Case Study: The Crime Film

• The crime film is another genre that can be examined in terms of ideology.
• Crime films feature two main opposing characters or sets of characters
• (1) the criminals
• (2) the police or law enforcement
• A crime film’s ideology is linked to its identification: does the film
sympathize with the criminals, or with the law?
 • Very popular American film genre
• 1930s gangster films were so popular that they
were seen as dangerous (Scarface, Little Caesar,
The Gangster The Public Enemy)
Film • Although the movies showed the lead gangster
character being punished at the end, audiences
were attracted to these characters (often played
by charismatic actors as well)
• Robert Warshow, “The Gangster as Tragic Hero”
• Seen to embody the dark side of the American
Dream (rising from lower class status to the top)
Modern
Gangster Films
• Even though Hollywood were forced to stop
making these films in the 1930s, the genre
eventually returned after the removal of
censorship in the 1960s
• Remains a very popular genre
• 1983: Scarface is remade with Al Pacino as the
lead character
• Again, the character dies at the end, but many
audiences identified with the character,
especially African-Americans
• The film is especially popular within hip-hop
culture
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_z4IuxAqp
E
Police Procedurals
• The opposite of gangster films within the crime
genre are police procedurals, in which law
enforcement are the heroes
• Inherently more conservative genre
• Popular as well on television, with cop shows a very
popular genre on Amercian TV
• “copaganda”: cop and propaganda
• After the police killings of African-Americans in
recent years, many started to critique these films
and programs that showed the police as heroes
Bonnie and Clyde / The Highwaymen

• Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

• The Highwaymen (2019)
• Both films depict the true-life case of bank
robbers and murderers Clyde Barrow and
Bonnie Parker
• However, their perspective is very different:
the 1967 film sees the criminals as heroes and
the police as villains; part of the
counter-cultural rebellion against authority;
became very popular with audiences
• The 2019 takes the side of the police and
identified with them, making it a much more
conservative film
 • What genres are the most popular in your
country? Why do you think these types of
film are attractive for viewers?
Discussion • What kind of ideological messages do these
genres convey?
Questions • What genres are you most interested in
(these can be genres in books, films, TV,
music, etc)? Why do you think you are
attracted to these genres?