Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Heath Holland On...Genre

by Heath Holland
This week I attempt to figure out what’s really in a name.

I’ve been on a bit of a film noir kick lately, and I’ve been doing the thing that one does when they find themselves totally caught up in a movie cycle: turning to internet search engines in order to find out as much as possible about the genre that I’m currently devouring. Imagine my surprise when I read that there’s been a raging debate for years about whether or not film noir is a genre at all. The side that believes noir to be a separate genre believes that many of the same tropes play out within a limited number of settings and locations, and that the same familiar archetypes appear over and over within the films traditionally associated with noir, thus making it its own thing. The other side of the argument maintains that film noir is a sub-genre that exists within familiar, already-established genres such as drama, western, and science-fiction and that anything at all can be a noir, regardless of the setting. I’d paraphrase that these people believe film noir is more of an attitude than a genre.

Well, that got me thinking about the nature of “genre” and the categories we go to great lengths to put our movies within. For instance, I consider myself to be a “genre movie” fan, but what does that really mean? What is a “genre movie?” The precise definition of the term is “a movie that follows the conventions of a particular type film style,” but that doesn’t really tell us anything. I’d define genre movies as those that are historically less respected than many mainstream films, and when I refer to genre films, I’m talking about exploitation, kung fu, westerns, sci-fi and fantasy, and old crime movies that are stylized and larger than life. In fact, I perceive the biggest tip-off of genre films to be the way that they heighten and exaggerate reality. The things that happen in genre films take the boundaries of reality just a little bit past the realm we live in.

That’s what it means to me, anyway. I suspect that one’s definition is probably personal and varies from movie fan to movie fan. I dug around on the internet in an effort to uncover the first use of “genre film” as a category, but I was unsuccessful. If there are any film students out there who can shed some light on the origin of the term, I’d be really interested to know where the shorthand originated. It was during this research that I was struck by just how odd it is for me to say that I’m a genre fan. Isn’t that really like me saying “I’m a category fan?” That’s all these genres are, at the end of the day. They’re different categories that allow us to label movies for easy organization.
Why do we do this? Why do I feel the need to break down the movies (and books and music, for that matter) into neat little categories? It was easier to justify this when there were video stores that rented movies, because it was important to know in what section of the store the movie was going to be shelved. If you’re my age or older, you’ve no doubt experienced the frustration of trying to find a movie you were looking for in multiple sections of the store. “Why is Clue in the drama section? Is Blazing Saddles going to be with the westerns or in the comedies?”

Now we live in the age of Redbox and digital rentals, where genres and categories seem to mean much less than they have in the past, which I suppose is a good thing. It makes movies a lot more accessible by a much wider audience and reduces the snob factor. The snob factor is the tendency people have to say ridiculous, prejudiced things about movies based on a title or a genre. Example:

Q: Hey, Bill, have you seen that new John Malkovich movie yet? That guy is cray cray!

A: No way! Psychological horror gives me nightmares. I stopped watching those kinds movies after Black Swan.

Q: You understand this isn’t like that movie at all. It’s funny, in a weird, creepy way. I mean, it’s Malkovich!

A: Yeah, but still, I stay away from those kinds of movies now. That’s not my genre.

These conversations happen all the time. I do it too, and I’ve stayed away from a certain kind of horror movie for a couple of years now because I got wigged out and just don’t know if I’m ready to go back into the water. But if I’m being honest, I’m doing myself a disservice; genre should never define what kind of movies we do and don’t watch. I’m not comfortable with the way I can easily categorize -- and therefore dismiss -- whole swaths of films as being outside of my wheelhouse.
I went into this column wondering what constitutes as a “genre movie” and I came out of it realizing that (for me, at least) there really is no such thing and that ALL movies are candidates for multiple categories. It’s we who break them down into little pieces and try to put them where we want them. Tellingly, toward the end of my research, I ran across some press that Quentin Tarantino did leading up to the theatrical release of Django Unchained (for those paying attention, this is my second Tarantino reference in as many weeks). A reporter from The New York Times was asking the filmmaker about his affection for genre movies, and Tarantino replied “I think every movie is a genre movie.” Now, I don’t always agree with everything that Tarantino says, but I find myself agreeing with his views quite a bit these days, and I think he’s dead-on with this one. There’s also a weird satisfaction in coming to a conclusion on your own and then having a movie maestro and aficionado indirectly affirming it. Tarantino is starting to haunt me in the same way that Johnny Depp has: every time I pursue a new passion or hobby, I discover he’s come through the area before me and blazed a wide trail. It makes sense, though. If you want to be like your heroes, watch, read, and listen to the things that influenced them. I’ve been doing that without even realizing it.

Moving forward, I’m going to do my best not to let a movie’s genre play into how I view it. I’m also going to try not to put movies in little boxes for quick and easy filing, and to not be a genre snob. I know what I like and I know what kind of movies appeal to me, but how they’re categorized shouldn’t matter to me at all. If all movies are genre movies, then why does it matter what that genre is?

17 comments:

  1. Looking at that Netflix screenshot, all I can think of is:

    SELLECK
    SIMMONS
    SPIDERS (mechanical)

    I think it's time to revisit Runaway.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Perfect example. Stage fright. Comedy, Horror, Musical, Slasher

    I agree most films fall into mutiple genre's and that is the main problem.

    Where it got me is when a film gets into a genre classification you dont like? For instance, I hate the term Torture porn, I dont really hate the genre but more just the term and I have found myself avoiding films that get that label for that reason, so for me putting films in this genre can of course have a negative effect.

    Genre's a funny thing I cant get my head around because it is living in the grey area and it is not black or white

    Very interesting column. Cheer Heath

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeah I once contemplated organizing my movie collection by genre - got as far as
    Alien
    and said fuck that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yeah I once contemplated organizing my movie collection by genre - got as far as
    Alien
    and said fuck that.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mine are in just two categories

    80s horror and Non 80s horrors ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I still rent most of my movies from a local video store, simply because it's the most awesome video store in town and probably on Earth. I mean it's a buck-fifty for a 7 day rental. Eat it Redbox. Anyway, this whole unclear genre thing can sometimes make it a royal bitch to find the movie I'm looking for, and of course asking for help is the same as admitting defeat. The store has sections for Action, Thriller, Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and Horror. So where should a man look if, say, he's trying to locate a copy of Jurassic Park for an online film festival? What the hell is Jurassic Park's genre? And is it a "genre movie"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jurassic park may just be a subphyla of the horror film. To me at least it is basically a monster movie.

      Delete
    2. If I remember right they had it under Sci-Fi/Fantasy, which I guess is defensible. I agree that it fits somewhere in the horror genre.

      Delete
  7. Great article Heath. You’ve really got me thinking about genres now. I mean, I tend to think about films by theme. (Which I guess could be genre) It could be classic ideas like action, horror, and drama, but what gets me about genres is when they are labeled by something like their setting. Moreover, the problem with that is how a film can get pigeonholed. I think “westerns” are often unfairly victimized by their setting. Sure the classic John Ford epic showing western expansionism and the old west are the classics of the genre but what about “There Will Be Blood” and “No Country for Old Men”, often labeled westerns. I have heard people say they don’t like westerns and skip those films. We don’t tend to think of films as “easterns” or “big city films”, at least I don’t.

    All that being said I tend to program my viewing around themes. For the past month I have been delving into one of my favorite themes, the submarine film. I have been watching anything with a submarine in it from “Run Silent, Run Deep” to “The Yellow Submarine”. In a few days now I think I will switch over to “Kung-Fu February”. I plan on digging through the Shaw Brothers library.

    It’s funny how themes creep up on you. A few years ago I became aware of the sub-genre of military horror films. The Keep, R-Point, The Bunker, Predator, Below (nice, a submarine film) Dog Soldiers, etc. I let that help program Scary Movie Month a couple years back.

    Also, in my opinion I don’t consider Star Wars sci-fi.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My co-worker and I had a similar discussion regarding "thriller" as a genre. I think it exists he thinks it's simply "Action". I don't agree because besides looking into the numerous sub-genres, I think you can differentiate both. But your article makes me think twice. Well done! Great read, sir.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Genres are like ingredients in a salad. Yes, sci-fi and westerns are two seperate genres, but I can mix them if I wanna!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hey, Heath, I know this is an unrelated subject, but I love that you are becoming the site's go-to music doc expert; I love the form if it's well done. Have you seen "20,000 Days on Earth" yet? I think it was one of 2014's best films.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't, but it looks like now a cheap rental on Amazon Instant. I also see that it has comic book writer Warren Ellis in it. My red right hand and I will have to check that out! Thanks for the heads up.

      Delete
  11. If genre were a genre, what genre would it be?

    ReplyDelete