CHAPTER 9 FILM GENRES
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CHAPTER 9
FILM GENRES
Chapter Outline
Understanding Genre
Defining a Genre
Analyzing a Genre
Genre History
The Social Functions of Genres
A Closer Look: Creative Decisions in a Contemporary Genre
Four Genres
The Western
The Horror Film
The Musical
Sports Films
Summary
Teaching “Film Genres”
The Purpose of the Chapter
Students come into introductory film courses already possessing an extensive practical
knowledge of film genres. They can, for example, tell their friends that they prefer horror
films to musicals or romances to action films. Asked to define those genres, however,
they might become more tongue-tied and begin instead listing favorite films as
instances of what they mean. This chapter aims to lead students to think about the
assumptions that allow us to talk casually about genres. It should also help students
realize that these types of films are not always absolutely distinct and that genres may
be mixed within single films. Our goal is to make them aware of how we understand that
Finally, Chapter 9 presents students with brief analyses of four familiar genres, the
CHAPTER 9 FILM GENRES
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Western, horror films, musicals, and sports films. These analyses can serve as models
for the students in examining the conventions and histories of other genres.
Lecturing On and Discussing Film Genres
One approach to lecturing on the subject would be to take the basic concepts discussed
in the book—conventions, iconography, and innovations—and apply them to a fifth
genre.
Once the students understand these concepts, you can show them a film in the
Western, horror, musical, or sports genre, or in the genre you discussed in lecture.
Remind them to take notes on the film, especially emphasizing conventions and icons
that they recognize from other films they have seen (or that were mentioned in the text
or in lecture); they should also note anything that seems unusual within that genre, and
discussion can touch on whether these are true innovations.
Assigning a Paper on Film Genres
Genres are defined by consensus rather than by firm and objectively fixed rules. Thus it
might be useful for a student to read a number of books and articles on a single genre
and write a comparative study of how different analysts define the same genre.
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A simple but revealing assignment would be to direct your students to Internet sites
(Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, etc.) or streaming applications (Netflix, HBO Now, etc.) and
examine what genre (and other) categories are used to organize and present films.
They could spot-check the films put into each category and try to figure out the