Quiz 4: Genre Flashcards
Courage: Action Adventure, war westerns, historical epics, heroic science fiction
Commonalities-
Life and death struggle
Test of courage is physical (not psychological/ spiritual)
Love stories are secondary plot
“Hero’s Journey”- travel to a strange location to confront the antagonist
The protagonist is usually an underdog
Revenge (courage)
antagonist kills/ gravely endangers someone close to the protagonist (Martial Arts films, boxing movies, old-time Westerns)
Freedom (courage)
personal revenge is less important than the antagonist’s threat to the world
Intimate Enemy (courage)
Antagonists represent a larger societal force, but may also be personally close to the protagonist (think Darth Vader)
The team (courage)
The protagonist has a community, a group of buddies, allies, or sometimes a mentor
Hero as the common man (courage)
The protagonist is regular, the antagonist is associated with “the man” or “the machine”
Training (courage)
The protagonist must acquire skills, wisdom, tools and bravery
Attack and counterattack (courage)
protagonist often learns of some profound setback when actually involved in the final combat
Victory over death (courage)
evidence of life conquering death (if a protagonist dies, there is an unborn child or younger generation that will carry on the good fight)
Fear: Horror, the supernatural, Dark sci-fi
Commonalities-
Death is much more personal and malicious
Protagonist must be more ordinary- courage is suppressed until the end
Survival over revenge- courage is “fight”, fear is flight
The Illusion of the Rational and Failure of the Law (fear)
characters foolishly try to maintain control in the face of the uncontrollable; those who try to explain things will be met with death/ defeat
“Taboo’s” the Lust for Sex, Knowledge and Immortality (fear)
Overstepping moral boundaries; transgression leads to retribution
A World of Fear (fear)
The world of the story is supernatural/ otherworldly that the protagonist has traveled to, OR the normal world that the antagonist has infiltrated
Nature of the Beast and the Reality of Evil (fear)
antagonist represents a perversion of something normal (or neighbor, husband, nanny, sanity) and is an exaggeration of something in the natural world to which we have an aversion (bugs, slime, snakes)
Fatal Attraction (fear)
being attracted to that which will destroy us (attraction/ repulsion)
Scorched Earth (fear)
supernatural antagonist must be destroyed by a supernatural method (using light/ sunlight to destroy darkness/ vampires), difficult to get rid of the antagonist completely (some small trace leftover)
Voice of Experience (fear)
usually a mentor, some “older” voice of experience
Suspense (terror) vs. Shock (horror) (fear)
fear of the unknown; the suggestion of what might happen vs. showing directly what will happen (shock). Terror is more difficult and complex and requires more skill
Need to know: Detective story, Suspense thriller, Political thriller
Commonalities-
The protagonist may be a cop/detective, sometimes an ordinary person
Story is about uncovering the truth
Putting a puzzle together
Audience is empowered by “being in the know” (the worst suspicion is confirmed)
Suspense vs. Surprise (Need to know)
suspense comes from withholding information from the protagonist (though not necessarily from the audience), surprise must happen to both protagonist and audience and is a key element of a “reversal”
The Detective Story (need to know)
starting with a crime or suspicion of a crime
Cynical Believer- the protagonists’ job is to protect the community (detective, investigator, journalist)
Code of Honor- a private set of morals that drive the protagonist; usually in a dishonorable world
The “innocent person” (need to know)
a regular person is somehow caught up in the conspiracy, some dark power has targeted the protagonist or protagonist has accidentally stumbled upon some master plan/ situation
- Innocence and paranoia- these films play less upon the pleasure of watching a clever tough protagonist unravel a mystery, and play more with our own sense of vulnerability to the faceless threats in our lives- what happens to the innocent protagonist could happen to us!
The Erotic thriller (need to know)
The focus of what is hidden and discovered is sexual transgression
- Sexual danger- using sex as a powerful motivation and betrayal
Laugher- situational comedy, farce, rom-coms
Commonalities:
“Situational comedy” - jokes arise from situations in which people find themselves
Someone else’s expense
