Genre films essentially ask the audience, "Do you still want to believe this?" Popularity is the audience answering, 'Yes." Change in genres occurs when the audience says, "That's too infantile a form of what we believe. Show us something more complicated."
-Leo Braudy, The World in a Frame, 1977
2020 was the year that people hoped would usher in festivity and good luck. However, the rapid spreading of the virus brought life to a standstill. With the masses being forced to isolate themselves from the rest of the world in their concrete nests, films were their primary source of entertainment. Subscriptions to numerous OTT platforms increased tenfold in the past two years. Aside from the banal genres that would light up people’s TV screens, there has been a dearth of some foundational ones that paved the way for their successors.
Shots being fired in the air, boots clacking along the wooden floor and the strumming of the guitar playing in the background. Does this ring a bell? These are certain features that a Western movie carries in it to differentiate itself from the rest. Being a cultural force rather than appealing to the crowd, Western films always managed to reinvigorate spectators with their compelling yet comical narratives at times.
This particular genre has found itself to be an important part of the American film industry since its inception. As films as a medium started to gain traction, Western was not left far behind.
With early studios relocating their abodes from New York to the dusty terrains of Los Angeles, cowboy stories became a constant staple in theatres. As it was flexible many other unbeknownst genres were invited to introduce themselves through this lens. Musicals, comedy and accounts of moral fibres, all found their place in this category.
Innumerable legendary film stars have cemented their place in Hollywood’s long line of fine actors due to their introduction through this specific genre. Acting in more than eighty Western films, John Wayne is fondly remembered for his memorable performances in Stagecoach and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.
Bestowing various cliches - a tough cowboy act, thrilling horseback action scenes along with barren yet impressive panoramas; the genre has cemented the careers of many celebrities among the likes of Clint Eastwood, Sam Elliot and Robert Duvall to name a few.
For a hearty laugh, viewers would tune into Screwball Comedies that would aid them in tickling their funny bones. A popular genre in the 1930s and 40s distinguished with its snappy dialogues, goofy characters and scenarios that do not necessarily need to dish out virtues.
The early 1950s and 60s saw the arrival of biblical epics in the cinematic world. With scope for huge production value, studios spent time, effort and money on producing historical masterpieces where one would witness constant references to righteous values that must be possessed. The sword-and-the-sandal genre that rose up alongside it saw heroic exploits in ancient times with gladiators indulging in violent sports without strict restrictions.
Being acquainted with extraterrestrial beings, waltzing around the galaxy in enormous spaceships filled with a variety of weird gadgets amongst countless other elements is what sci-fi encompasses. Films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Interstellar pushed the boundaries and surpassed people’s expectations as well as imaginations. Science fiction succeeds when it serves as a reminder of the vast expanse yet to be completely explored and the countless forms of life that still exist.
With the dynamic world that we live in today, new genres of filmmaking crop up every few years. Some of them are from their predecessor or completely original in their conception. Audiences value content over celebrity status and seem to disregard the star power a certain film presents if it does not have a strong narrative. Wanting to be more in touch with their reality, archaic storylines that were spawned over centuries ago; allowing people to escape the mediocrity that life offered, now find themselves being shelved for fresher subjects.
By the 1960s, Western films saw a peak decline in their viability to be considered a bankable genre. This could be attributed to the saturated market in which they were paddling their way through as well as the generic weariness that had settled over the cinemagoers. Being regarded as a ‘genre from the older Hollywood days’, Western films are brought to the forefront during instances of spicing up another genre or evoking nostalgic feelings amongst the senescent admirers.
Although an educational tool informing the public, documentaries were not given their due credit during the early 20th century. Being regarded as a propaganda mechanism during the early 1930s and 40s by the Nazis, documentaries soon saw a resurgence in the 1950s. Now being viewed as a peek into the ‘actualities of life’, they are more ubiquitous than ever. With a myriad of OTTs being the major abode for these real-life accounts peppered with certain fictionalised aspects, people are now graced with a deeper understanding of the distinct subject that the filmmaker chooses to delve into.
Albeit one must stay grounded despite the enchanting freedom that cinema presents, we cannot forget the genres that have shaped their contemporary counterparts and moulded them into canvases that we wholeheartedly indulge in.