Stu Presents, Genre Deconstruction In Film: A Crash Course!

[StuSmallz]

The concept of genre in film can be a comforting one, helping us to both prepare our expectations before we start a film, as well as to better process what we experience as we watch (so, say, we're not incredibly confused when characters suddenly stop talking and begin dancing and singing during a Musical). But, at the same time, it can also be extremely limiting, pressuring filmmakers to deliver certain clichés just because that's what the audience will expect from "that kind of movie", without attempting something more ambitious. However, that's where deconstructionist films come in, movies that take the conventions of popular, well-defined film genres, and rather than just reinforcing those conventions, instead choose to subvert them and flip them on their heads, stripping away the clichés Hollywood had built up over time in order to shine a harsh, interrogative light, and challenge our preconceived cinematic notions (and "deconstructing" them, in other words; for more background on this subject, download John G. Cawelti's essay on Generic Transformation In American Film here).


And so, this project will be dedicated to exploring this topic, by featuring "case studies" of at least 10 films that represent deconstructions of their particular genres, with explanations of the larger genre's typical characteristics & historical backgrounds, how each individual film in question deconstructed those genres, and the larger overall impact they had on them, with the entries organized by release date (so the oldest ones go first) for simplicity's sake. At any rate, the basic idea's pretty self-explanatory stuff, and I think you guys have gotten the gist of it by now, so I'll go ahead and stop rambling with this introduction and get on with the show, so get ready for some deconstruction on the MatchCut, guys!