Page 133 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

CHAPTER 5

a victim of his own hubris—failing to understand his limits as a human
being. As a result, he creates a monster that, in the novel, destroys all
that he loves, including his father and his fiancée.
The subgenre of slasher movies presents a world in which we have
become the monsters; human nature is bestial, wicked, and corrupt. In
this world, the weak (usually women characters) are preyed upon and
brutalized by the strong. This genre puts us in touch with an interior world
characterized by evil impulses with which we are somehow familiar.
The soap opera is a world marked by dramatic, extraordinary change,
in which anything can happen. All of the characters are engaged in a
quest for control and understanding in this dizzying array of events.
The heroes are seemingly blinded by their goodness; the true nature of
other characters remains hidden to them. On the other hand, the villains
know the ways of this world and are willing to cross any ethical or moral
boundaries to attain their goals.
Many popular genres offer a more attractive and compelling world
than we encounter in our own lives. As an example, in a review of a
televised family drama The Last Dance (2000), critic Neil Genzlinger
describes an ideal world that is often in stark contrast with the reality
faced by senior citizens:

The world portrayed in “The Last Dance,” Sunday’s pleasantly smarmy
television movie on CBS, is an almost perfect place. It’s a world where
old people with fatal diseases look as great as Maureen O’Hara and where,
when her character starts giving away the junk in her cluttered house,
people actually want it. 22

However, the underside of these worldviews extend, dramatize, and
exaggerate areas of cultural concern. For instance, the sitcom Desperate
Housewives presents a disturbing picture of the American Dream. The
title of the series suggests that this comedy is rooted in tragedy. After
attaining everything that women have been told they want, the main
characters find a world without meaning.
In the opening scene of its premiere episode in 2004, Mary Alice
Young is seen in her lovely suburban home, seemingly a perfect wife
and mother. After completing her errands, she then proceeds to commit
suicide. After this grim introduction, series creator Marc Cherry notes
that “then, we’ve got to make that comic turn to let you know that this is
going to be a fun romp for the next hour.” The series then follows Mary
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Alice’s community of friends—women who, similarly, have achieved the
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