Essay Question Plan2

(June 03a)- Account for the poularity of 1 genre of your choice. Illustrate your answer with examples.

• The Slasher genre is one that follows conventions of shock and suspense.
• Repetition and variation.

Its popularity is shown through the vast teenage audiences that have gone to see these films throughout the last three decades.

Slasher genre conventions:
The suburban setting
The mask to strike fear
The phallic object to kill
The 'final girl' (Carol Clover)
The psychopathic killer (usually male and deprived of sexual experiences)
Cliche lines e.g. "I'll be right back"
Horny teenagers

What is a genre? The concept of genre is to categorise films/texts because they hold similar features and aspects to each other. In this sense they are then designed for a specific audience and repeated to tend to the audience's wants and expectations.

The slasher genre reflects certain events going on in the world at the time, but more indirect and unconcsiously then anything else. This could make them popular as the 'zeitgeist' is felt by the audiences and enjoyed more because of it.

ZIETGEIST- Spirit of the times

Media cross-overs in the genre attract bigger audiences. Eminem, for example, is one that can influence other audiences to be attracted to such a genre in compensating for the increased popularity by wearing some icongraphic features in the genre such as the hockey mask (from 'Friday 13th' sequels, 1980) and hold ing the chainsaw (from 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre', 1974).

The breakdown of the family that is apparent in this genre could attract teenage audiences to identify with and feel a sense of relief that they are not alone in their struggles domestically.