The problem with Genre
By pj
2001-10-07
The concept of genre is host to multiple problems and contradictions. Over the years numerous critics have tried to pin down the meaning of genre with little success. The problem is that most films share more than a single genre and there are no characteristics belong to just one genre. One might say that a western is a western because it is set in the desert, but the opening scene of Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand, 1983) is also set in the desert and this film is frequently referred to as a science fiction film. As the Alien Saga shows us, space is not the sole property of Science fiction. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) is a film noir set in the future and the future is associated with science fiction so in what genre would this film fit? Genres it seems can only be applied as a rather loose form of classification because the theory does not appear to stand up to close scrutiny.
Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979) was essentially an amalgamation of genres; it took the location of space, and an alien which usually only appear in science fiction, incorporated the narration of a horror film and created a hybrid. This mixing of genre is commonplace in the film industry today in fact it is unusual to find a film which does not cross genres, the question is why is it so common place? The answer to that question is that our (the audience) enjoyment is based upon the use of repetition and variation. Repetition and variation have to be understood in their relationship to desire and pleasure according to Steve Neale. The Alien Saga is a good example of this process. The saga consists of four films each episode can be viewed independently of the others but as a whole they create the story of the alien Vs Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). The film follows the conventions of a traditional horror to a degree by a female protagonist, who appears to be more aware than her shipmates, and retains a higher sense of responsibility. The crews commercial space freighter, the ‘Nostromo’, doubles as a haunted house where all of the crew will eventually be killed by the alien (except for Ripley who is the sole human survivor). Is this film there is only one alien that Ripley has to destroy. The enjoyment from watching this film is comes from the way the film keeps the spectator in the dark, not knowing when or how the alien will attack, and who if any of the crew of the Nostromo will survive. Aliens (James Cameron, 1986) takes the genres of the first episode and adds themes found in a war movie. In this installment, Ripley and a group of marines take on swarms of aliens, with the majority of marines dying in the process. There is a strong maternal theme in this segment of the saga, with Ripley forming a mother-child relationship with the eight-year-old Newt. The film’s finale is similar to its predecessor, ending with a battle between the two mothers, the alien Queen and Ripley. Again Ripley is the victor, using the now tried and tested method of blowing the alien out of an airlock. This film relies more on adrenaline rushes to keep its audience entertained compared to suspense-filled Alien. It starts slowly but by the time the film gets to its halfway stage the narrative is moving at quite a pace. There are several peaks in the action that involve close escapes (Ripley rescuing Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein), Hicks (Michael Biehn) and Hudson (Bill Paxton) by disobeying hapless Commander Gorman (William Hope) and driving the armoured personnel carrier into the complex) and near misses (when the ‘Sulaco’s drop ship crashes and turns in to a fireball the nearly engulfs our group of survivors). There is the same question of who will survive and what will be left of them because the aliens are present in greater numbers, but there is also the race against time with the threat of the nuclear explosion of the atmosphere processors. This difference in the film text changes the mood of the movie. Most of the film is set on the planet in contrast to the previous film where the action took place aboard the ‘Nostromo’.
The most recent additions to the series are similar to the previous films on quite a few levels. Alien3 (David Fincher, 1992) took the saga back to basics, using the setting of prison on the planet Fury 161 to give the film a slightly primitive feel to it and removing the fire fights that made Aliens so exciting. By doing this, the film is much like Alien in its mood, making it more like horror film in prison, and losing to an extent the essence of science fiction. Again it is Ripley, who, in a prison full of men, is the character who finally defeats the alien, and then destroys herself and the Queen that she has been impregnated with. The fourth film Alien Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet 1997) is effectively Aliens revisited if one can ignore the fact that the film is set entirely on a space station. In place of marines we have smugglers, lots of gunfire and explosions, and again there is a maternal theme. The clone of Ripley is mother to an alien queen, as well as having motherly feelings for the alien. Ripley also has a close relationship with Call (Winona Ryder), a rather young woman who turns out to be an android. Yet again it is Ripley who saves the day by killing her offspring, blowing a hole in side of the smugglers ship and watching her human/alien hybrid child being sucked through the hole by the vacuum of space.
By briefly describing the films it should possible to see the similarities that the film’s share. All of the films feature Ripley, one or more aliens, a crew of some kind that will ultimately end up being killed by the alien/s and some reference or theme involving motherhood. The genres of horror and to a lesser extent science fiction are consistent throughout the saga, but they are diluted with other genres to add differences. It is interesting to note that the success of each film is different. Alien was a relatively low budget film that met with critical and commercial success. Aliens was a blockbuster film in most respects and is for many people the definitive alien movie, the third and fourth films were commercial failures if compared with their predecessors. Is this indicative of audiences’ interest? Is the mix of horror and science getting tired? It is the formula of repetition and variance that forms the basis of our viewing, (and to some degree fictional reading) and by using this formula we draw pleasure and ideas from visual media. It is by using genres that we are directed to the core of film text, and the characteristics within that core.
This process is not done consciously. We all assign certain films to certain genres without thinking about it, but films are not universally pigeon-holed. Personally I would class the Alien Saga as a science fiction and horror hybrid, but others may class it as a feminist text because the film’s main character is a woman who is mentally stronger than any of the men within the films, therefore she survives and the men die. Indeed the majority of writings on the films are with regard to the feminist movement and when written about in terns of genre it would not be unreasonable to concur with these writings. It the same way it would also be appropriate to a ‘Nam’ film on the basis that the scenario in Aliens. The Marines believe that they are going to the planet LV 426 to destroy a xenomorphic creature when they are actually going to retrieve it for commercial reasons. It is easy to draw parallels between the scenario in Aliens and the circumstances surrounding Vietnam.
“The usefulness of this (and classification can only be justified by its use) depends on what it is meant to achieve. But what is certain is that just as the critic determines the criteria on which the classification is based, so he also determines the name given to the resultant groups of films. Our group might just as well be called ‘type 1482/9a as ‘westerns’.”
An interpretation of the film depends largely of the disposition of the reader of the text, and the reading of the text is based almost entirely on the amount of knowledge the reader has acquired and the semiotics used within the text. In this day and age the majority of film viewers are cine-literate, because we have this literacy we are able to understand and accommodate the cross-pollination of genres with ease. Some people are fans of particular film types, such as horror films, detective films or westerns. They have expectations of that film type and enjoy the themes inherent to it.
The problem with genre theory is that there is not much theory to it. The ideas of pleasure being derived from repetition and variance lend themselves more to the theory of spectatorship than to a specific theory of genre, and in that respect genre study can add to the theory of spectatorship. Genre is useful for merchandising franchises, the comics, and novels. Computer games all carry the framework of the Alien world, a framework that requires aliens, Ellen Ripley (in some form), a futuristic scenario and death in abundance. The Internet is rife with the web sites of Alien fans, all predicting future episodes of the saga that conform to the staple diet mentioned beforehand. The Alien films are now cult movies with fans willing to watch any future additions to the franchise.
The use of genre is not only apparent in the domain of films. Genre is used heavily in the worlds of music and sport; we even put people in categories based upon their image and status. It was inevitable that films would be categorized, and by giving names to the categories it is easy to distinguish the different themes of each of them. This is the principle of genre and its main purpose. I do not think there is much scope for the theory beyond this purpose. Genre theory is distinctly different from other theories. Most theories have a real essence to them. For example, the writings of Freud partially form the basis from which psychoanalysts work. Feminism and masculinity are inherent in men and women the world over and stem from anthropology, giving it some academic weight … what does genre stem from the study of? Genre seems to be more of a term than a theory and it is in constantly in a state of flux; it has no fixed meaning. And this is the problem with genre theory, there is no definition of what a genre is, there are no rules to it, and without a definition or set of rules it is difficult to call it a theory. So if there is no real theory of genre, how can one apply it to the study of spectatorship?
“Theorists have been unsuccessful in producing a coherent map of the system of genres and no strict definition of a single genre has won widespread approval.”
Bibliography
Genre Gender and the Alien Trilogy
Written by Doherty, Thomas
From the book The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film
Edited by Keith Grant, Barry
Published by the University of Texas Press, 1996
Critical Method…Genre
Written by Tudor, Andrew
And
Extract from Genre
Written by Neale, Steve
Both from the book The Film Studies Reader
Edited by Hollows, Joanne, Hutchings, Peter and Janovich, Mark
Published by Arnold, a member of the Hodder Headline Group, 2000
Genre and Hollywood
Written by Ryall, Tom
From the book The Oxford Guide to Film Studies
Edited by Hill, John and Church Gibson, Pamela
Published by the Oxford University Press, 1998
Internet Fandom and the Continuing Narratives of Star Wars, Blade Runner and Aliens
Written by Brooker, Will
From the book Alien Zone II: the spaces of science fiction cinema
Edited by Kuhn, Annette
Published by Verso the imprint of New Left Books, 1999