What is genre? Dictionary.com defines it as ‘a class or category of artistic endeavor’. While The Bedford doesn’t offer its own definition for the word, it does identify a variety of different phrases that qualify as genres, such as satire, comedy, and drama, which we’ve discussed in class already. Both in class, and in Literary Analysis, however, it has also been discussed that genre can be limiting, overbroad, or simply ill fit to describe something. In Literary Analysis, it was mentioned that most three-dimensional works aren’t contained to any one specific genre either, rather, they capture several, making them difficult to classify.
At that point in the reading, my mind went to one place in particular: the 2001 film Donnie Darko. When I first saw the film earlier this year, I remember being amazed at the way it seemed to jump genres, how every twenty minutes brought an almost seamless transition to something new, carrying the story in a sharp turn from where it looked to be heading, and making perfect sense all the while. In class, in the discussion of the September video series, I couldn’t help but think of the film once more. We, as a class, had been asked to place the videos in a genre, in a box, as is human instinct to categorize the things it comes across, however, what is one to do when something can’t be neatly packed away?
The September videos could have been classified as music videos, parodies, remakes, or any number of other things. It was for that reason that my group found it exceedingly difficult to place a tag on it for just one thing, a problem I had also found with Donnie Darko, which began with all of the signs of a typical horror film, then transitioned to the signs of a romance, sci-fy, etc. and ended on a philosophical note, almost allegorical in the way it depicted Donnie as a Christ-like figure for his final sacrifice. Such is the problem with genre, such is the problem with categorisation.
In class, we discussed the limitations of genre, its faults and shortcomings in accuracy. Some of the things my group had brought up involved how vague a category could be. As with humans, human creations such as works of art often protest any assignment as a single thing, a single label that defines their entire being; no human is just one thing, and thus, most works of art aren’t either. To put a label on something is to pick out one characteristic, whether it is obscure or prevalent to that being, and can lead some to look at the object of discussion, the thing labeled, in only the angle that its label presents. This can lead to dangerous situations, often leading to the formation of stereotypes. For instance, as people may classify each other by their nationality, socioeconomic class, education level, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etc. readers, r audiences in general, tend to make judgements on films or literature based on their categorisation into fantasy, horror, drama, etc. As was brought up by one member of my group, someone may snub their nose at the word fantasy, but take interest in an actual description of the work.
And yet, genre is not without its benefits either. As I mentioned earlier, it is human nature to categorise things, primarily because it may help to discern how a certain situation should be handled, if one is able to distinguish specific characteristics in a person. It may also help one to find something that helps them relate their feelings, in cases of choosing a form of entertainment to fit their mood (i.e. a comedy for a lighter air, or a tragedy that may allow one to project their own emotions or current thoughts. Categorising art forms into genres can thus help one find something that they think they will enjoy at the moment, at the expense of looking past anything they think they won’t.
Really, I suppose genre is harmless until one adds weight to it. When one begins to dismiss certain works on behalf of their genre, without any real consideration of it as its own entity, they may have glossed over something they may have enjoyed. Or, if one makes a similar predetermined judgement based on genre around something that they have to read, say, for a class, they may find it more difficult to get through the work or concentrate on it than if they had started out with an open mind. But then, that can apply to most anything.