Genre films comprise most of what we know and experience as popular cinema. But what are genre films and how do they work?
This course introduces students to major issues in the study of popular Hollywood film genres such as the Western, woman’s film (known later as the “chick flick”), horror film, sci-fi film, the teen film, as well as subgenres like the stoner comedy, heist film, and road trip movie. We will expand our film and cultural studies vocabulary as we consider key approaches to the study of film genre with attention to myth, structure, formalism, and ideologies of gender, race, sexuality, class, and nation. During the term, students will also attend a genre film at a local movie theater.
To fulfill the requirements of a writing intensive (WI) course, students will work on three short papers: two critical papers and one movie pitch.
Films we are likely to study:
Stella Dallas (1937); Stagecoach (1939); The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951); Rebel Without a Cause (1955); Psycho (1960); Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke (1978); Thelma and Louise (1991); The Doom Generation (1995); Totally F*** Up (1996); Jurassic Park (1994); Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004); Django Unchained (2012); Nope (2022).