Generic Sensibility

There is something inherently comfortable about seeing a straight genre film. The fact that we are more comfortable and accepting of things we are familiar with may have something to do with it. The genre film does not come alone. The package includes the very distinctions that make it a genre film in the first place. Here, we have expectations as to what we see on screen, how the story will play out, possibly lines of dialogue or at least topics and themes that will play out in the narrative. It is true that seeing a genre film, that is the act of watching a film whose content we know before seeing it, tends not to be a challenging experience. I am not referring to the content of the story, not trying to say that a crime drama is going to be a neat and clean and enjoyable experience. Rather, I am referring to the fact that with a film whose genre is clearly defined we do not have to consider where in the cinematic spectrum of films this particular entry falls. We can devote our attention entirely to the story itself without stepping back and asking ourselves what the movie is about.

I am intentionally generalizing. I won’t suggest that anything is absolute; especially when it comes to film, whose parts can easily intermingle and transform. Yet when a film comes to us, whose parts are clearly defined and easily identified, the experience of watching it is not threatening. We do not have to guess as to its content or struggle in placing it. The next natural thing to do, then, is question the effects this has on the quality of the film itself. In a world so saturated by film, those that are straight reproductions falter the most. Audiences get bored and we want something new, for the most part. But there is also joy of watching a familiar story unfold, one of the reasons we return to the same movie again and again. Thus the pleasure of the genre film rests on a precarious edge.

I suppose it would be possible to watch the same kinds of movies forever and ever, but I would have to get tiresome. Such a practice, when chosen, would have had to been with maximum enjoyment in mind. And as sequels, remakes, reboots, and genre films themselves prove, people do indeed like familiarity. Thus we are proving the genre film to be a comfortable place from which to watch the world, even if it is an entirely cinematic world. Does this then mean that the straight genre film, one that does not mix numerous genres together, is a close-minded decision on the part of the film viewer? Are we choosing not to challenge ourselves to different modes of discourse and topics of conversation?

I would like to think not. I will instead assume that the genre film is but one of many entries into any filmgoers participation log. For anyone who watches films with regularity, it is obviously an enjoyable experience. Thus approaching a film with particular and certain expectations in mind is also done with a sense of purpose. With so many films out there to experience, genres may make the selection process a bit more manageable.