Genre Films Predictability and Formulaicity Essay

Genre Films Predictability and Formulaicity This essay shall discuss whether Genre films are predictable and formulaic, looking at the Western genre, and using the example films of, The Searchers and Unforgiven. Genre is a fundamental means by which we communicate especially in storytelling. If looking at genre in terms of Thomas Shatz, he puts forward the theory of similarity and overlap. He adopts a thematic and ideological approach, which identifies only two genres; the genre of order and the genre of integration. In this case the Western would be categorised into the genre of order. This essay shall also look at how genre films change over time, due to changes in society, as characters†¦show more content†¦Within each of the films, the revenge narratives are both set around the female, as in The searchers, Ethan and Martin aim to save the young girl Debbie, and in Unforgiven, Will, Ned and the Schofield Kid aim to get revenge for the female prostitutes, this therefore shows how genre could be seen to predictabl e and formulaic as these two western films show how they both follow similar structures and narratives. The theorists Propp and Todorov have focused on the similarity in narrative across different genres. They suggest that genres that are different from one another in terms of visual, verbal and musical signifiers operate according to the same narrative structures. Propp puts forward the story functions of hero, villain and donor etc, and Todorov puts forward the equilibrium narrative theory. These two theorists therefore show, how genre could be seen to be predictable and formulaic, as both of their theories can be applies to The Searchers and Unforgiven, and they also believe they can be applied to many other genres and films. The characters within The Searchers fit into Propps story function as it is shown that, Ethan is the main hero within the film, Martin is the main helper throughout the film and Debbie is seen as the princess who needs to be saved. The same story function can