My answer to this is yes and no. I think it's great that it can give you an insight to what the film or animation is going to be about, and can give you an idea about the narrative, but by putting a label on it - for example 'Sci-Fi' or 'Romance' - you will judge it before you even know what it's about. You immediately link it to other films of that genre, and make a snap judgement. You could also associate the genre with the 'fan bases' of a certain film or show within it and the stereotypes that are associated with them. For instance, "Trekkies" or "Whovians". You could think of them as stereotypical 'geeks' and be put off by the whole genre just for that reason, when you could actually really enjoy the content of the films. Just because movies have been put into the same categories, doesn't mean they are all going to follow certain stereotypes.
I also think that it's not that helpful in the sense that people will have different options on what certain films should be categorised as, and that genres can over-lap and be hard to differentiate between. For instance Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Now this maybe just me again being ignorant, but I think genre can be quite an subjective concept, and individuals may have different options on what features fall under what genre. I know I do. I think we should take genre less seriously, and use it quite loosely to describe animations and films, especially as the film industry is forever changing and how we perceive genre is changing alongside it. Something that once could have been considered a horror could now be viewed as a comedy, due to society and 'norms' evolving.
I think Paul Wells makes a very good point when he says "It is more useful to think of the ways in which particular narrative structures or values work within genres, or in the case we are addressing, within animations as a form." From this he proposed that there are seven generic plots/genres which I thought were very accurate; Formal (that the animated form is more important, and that the narrative or thematic concerns test and extend the aesthetic and technical parameters of said animated form), Deconstructive (Premises of own construction for comic or critical effect), Political (using the medium to make moral, ethical or political statements), Abstract (exploring new techniques to facilitate non-objective works, and resisting traditional conventions), Paradigmatic (pre-determined conditions of it's own making as the foregrounded terms of it's construction), Primal (defines and explores a specific emotion, feeling or state of consciousness) and finally Re-narration (The re-interpretation of established myths, fairy tales and stories)
I think I have rambled long enough now, so to summarise I think genre is a great thing as we can easily categorise animations and films, but I think we should take the label less seriously. Just because the film may seem to be aimed at children doesn't mean that it can't be enjoyed by adults. Heck, a lot of kids shows are actually quite dark and have adult themes, Tom and Jerry being a good example. In particular this episode:
So yeah. I'm done.
No comments:
Post a Comment