Page 29 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

CHAPTER 2

in a real-life situation that might not be so great. It can save you from a
bad scene. . . .
It works wonders at social functions I can’t get out of. . . .
You have to embrace your co-workers as friends and family like Mary
Richards (of The Mary Tyler Moore Show) does. They share all of their
important events with each other, like Lou Grant’s birthday party is at
Mary’s house. TV can really teach you to embrace the people you are
closest to and spend every day with. 16
Within this context, sitcoms can be regarded as morality plays, which
dramatize the folly of hubris and self-serving behavior, while rewarding
honesty and supporting one’s community at the end of each episode.
Dramas present conflicts between good and evil and address the question
of living honorably in an unjust world.
Moral instruction is even part of the reality series Real World (MTV),
which tracks a group of young people living together. Jonathan Murray,
co-creator of Real World notes: “If a particular cast member acts badly,
in telling our story we like to show the part where he realizes he acted
badly, and that he’s learned something from it.” 17
At the same time, however, genres can glorify violent, self-destructive,
self-indulgent behaviors. Video games like Grand Theft Auto present a
world without consequences. The protagonist takes to the streets, killing
indiscriminately. This type of behavior recurs throughout the genre of
video games. (For further discussion, see Chapter 5.)
Finally, genres promote social conformity by regulating individual
behavior. Genric programming establishes standards of conduct by dra-
matizing appropriate and inappropriate behavior.

Escape. Popular genres permit individuals to explore in fantasy the
boundaries between the permitted and the forbidden and to experience in
a carefully controlled way the possibility of stepping across this boundary.
In the words of Bernard Timberg, “They turn to fictitious worlds which
are less painful and which promise symbolic fulfillment of desires and
aspirations which are thwarted in their actual environments.” Thus,
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watching a gangster program like The Sopranos (HBO) enables the
viewer to vicariously experience thrills associated with living outside
the law without suffering the consequences. Indeed, in The Sopranos,
Tony is a mobster who makes that identification easier by leading a
conventional, suburban lifestyle. Tony is plagued by many of the daily
issues commonly experienced by the audience. He has trouble with his

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