Media Studies Genre Theorists

Barry K Grant

 “Genre is what we collectively believe it to be.” - Genre as a cultural agreement, not a fixed formula

Leo Braudy

“Genre films essentially ask the audience, ‘Do you still want to believe this?’” - Values and tastes change, and so do genres.

Steve Neale (1990)

Genres are instances of repetition and difference.” - Genres repeat conventions, but also evolve. 

Rick Altman (1999)

Genre is a process shaped by ‘an ongoing relationship between producers, audiences, and texts.’” - Genre is a product of the time in which it was made.

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Rather than seeing audiences as passive consumers, this theory sees them as active and purposeful in their media choices - Genres are shaped to meet specific audiences needs.

Stuart Hall Reception theory:

Media texts are encoded with meaning by producers, but audiences decode them in different ways based on their social, cultural, and personal context - He identified three key readings: 

Producers and genre

Genre is a tool used particularly by Hollywood producers who like to repeat generic formulas that are commercially successful

Producers have been criticised for repeating the same genre time after time, but this is a commercial model that works well in many industries. Think of how fashion in clothes repeats itself, revealed in headlines like ‘The Mini Skirt is Back’.

Particular genres are linked with certain directors - e.g. Martin Scorsese with the gangster genre.

Thelma and Louise cost and box office

16.5 million USD to $45.5 million USD box office

Little Miss Sunshine cost - box office

$8 million USD - $101 million USD

Hunt for the Wilderpeople cost and box office

$2.5 million USD - $23 million USD

Goodbye Porkpie box office (1981) vs (2017)

$1.6 million NZD - $1.4 million NZD