Page 169 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

CHAPTER 6

had fathered a child out of wedlock. At the same time, the newspaper,
which had relentlessly attacked both Clintons throughout their public
lives, praised Senator Clinton for calling attention to the issue of violence
in video games. But according to Democratic political consultant James
Carville, the reason for this surprising turnaround was not political but
economic; by withholding its criticism of Ms. Clinton, the newspaper
was hoping that she would emerge as the 2008 Democratic presidential
candidate, where her controversial profile would attract readers: “Fox
News and The Post need Hillary to run for Senate and president. There
is only one politician in America that gets people to watch television for
or buy a newspaper, and that’s her. No one else comes close.” 49

Formulaic Elements

Premise

Because the fundamental beliefs that define the premise of a genre are
never questioned by its heroes and heroines, the audience willingly ac-
cepts a premise with ideological overtones. For example, the premise of
police shows like Homicide and NYPD Blue assumes the following:

• We live in a dangerous world.
• Members of lower classes and African Americans are predators who
pose a threat to the dominant culture.
• The protagonists know (without a trial) who is innocent and who is
guilty.
• What is needed is a strong, undeterred authoritarian presence to
remedy these problems.

Thus, in this turbulent world, the reactionary political ideology behind
this premise, in which civil liberties are sacrificed in the name of law
and order, looks like an appealing option.
Around the time of the 2004 U.S. presidential election, the reality
series American Candidate premiered on Showtime Cable network. TV
critic Gail Pennington describes the premise of the series as follows:
“The series asks, what if any little boy or girl really could grow up to be
president of the United States? What if you didn’t need lots of money or
the right connections? What if race and gender didn’t matter?” 50
The winner earned $200,000 and a chance to address the nation. In

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