Occasionally I find it a bit complicated to determine a piece of works genre. However, as Daniel Chandler stated in “An Introduction to Genre Theory”, genres may change periodically in different types of work, this would consequently be difficult to determine the genre. However, Chandler also stated that it is possible for a single piece of work to contain various genres. This is something I would have to agree with because in many novels and films the settings mood tends to shift.
An example of this would be the 2004 horror film Dawn of the dead. In this particular film, in my opinion, there are various genres the central one being horror. Despite this there are several scenes, in which one would conceivably contemplate another genre such as romance. There are several scenes in this film that prove romance plays a part in the film. One of these scenes would be when the character of Andre, who is the male in the young couple who are expecting, is helping deliver his own child. However the character of Norma, who is one of the survivors, tries to be helpful but is instead shot to death by Andre. In a sick and twisted way I see this as an act of Romeo & Juliet because the character Andre already knew that his wife had turned into a zombie as well as their child and instead to killing them or keeping them away for his own safety he chose to stay with them until the end with no fear.
Another genre that I believe was manifested in this film was comedy. In a specific scene in which where the survivors of the zombie invasion are gathered on the roof of the mall they are all engaged in different activities. Although, what I really found witty was the fact that some of the characters were shooting zombies and naming them as a form of entertainment. I find this comical because in a real case scenario I highly doubt people would be this undisturbed by zombies walking around their surroundings.
I never really looked at Dawn of the Dead that way, being more than just a horror/zombie flick. I think it might be a little bit of a stretch with the romance, but there are certainly comedic relief moments.
ReplyDeleteI like where you went with your sub-genre's for this movie. I also find it interesting that we chose the same movie to write our response on, even though I chose the better of the original and remake haha. I have seen this movie quite a few times and I agree with what you say about the romantic aspects of the sick and twisted Romeo & Juliet portrayed by Mekhi Phipher and that no-name actress playing his pregnant girlfriend. What I do have to disagree with you on though is the part where you discuss the characters shooting zombies as a form of entertainment. Yes it was funny, but if you really think about it....in a real case scenario, what else could you do to ease the tension? You'd have to have some kind of release and making light of the morbid situation at hand would be a very human, and natural thing to do. "Tell him to go for Rosie next! Rosie O'donnel!"
ReplyDeleteI like that you tied in several genres into your post. I was going to write about Dracula at first (the one based on Stoker's novel, not Dracula 2000)and describe how it is a horror film but essentially it is a love story. I didn't want to complicate the task of making the film I picked fit into a genre so I went with a more typical movie (The Ring). You went the other direction, good job! =]
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