The Subjectiveness of Genres

The other day I witnessed an increasingly heated Twitter-debate about whether or not Alien (1979) should be definitively genre-classified as a Horror film. People were extremely passionate and resolute on both the “yes” and “no” side of the spectrum, which I find quite amusing because I believe the discussion in itself is rather pointless.

There are no official rules for the appointment of a specific or dominant genre to a film. I might classify Alien mainly as SciFi, while the next person would vehemently claim it is a Horror film. The unspectacular truth is that we would both be right. There is no rulebook or Film Bible we have to adhere to when assigning genre(s) to a film, and the fact is that most features – especially these days – arguably fall into several categories.

What is a genre? My academically infused definition – and I am slightly paraphrasing here – is: “a specific set of rules and conventions by which to categorize a work of fiction.”

This is what they taught me in college, and it immediately identifies the problem – the definition implies certain regulations that are non-negotiable. It certainly explains the endless Twitter fits, but again – I believe all the feuding is futile anyway. In the spirit of my No. Bad. Films. initiative, I am of the opinion that the definition and assignment of genre is multi-interpretable.

My skepticism towards an objective truth about genre classification, originates from getting most of my film education at the local video store. Back then, the rental shop owners had no other choice than to place the VHS cassette of a specific film in one of the sections they had previously determined. Most video stores distinguished between Action, Drama, Romance, Thriller, SciFi and Horror – and of course the Adult area upstairs or in the back – which meant they had to place Alien in either the SciFi or Horror section.

Mind you, Alien is certainly a SciFi film, and maybe – just maybe – it could be argued that its Science Fiction elements are dominant over the Horror qualities. But what about a less evident amalgamation of genres? If you had been a Nineties video store clerk, where would you have placed, for instance, a genre-defying film like Pulp Fiction (1994)? Or any of Tarantino’s films, for that matter?

Genre classification wasn’t always this ambiguous, of course. In the Old Hollywood days, things were much more straightforward. Studios really only made four types of films – Westerns, Musicals, Noirs and Comedies. People are going to come at me for this, perhaps, over-simplification of the facts, but the point I am trying to make is that there was not much discernable genre-fluidness going on in early Hollywood. One might argue the existence of a couple more genres, but there certainly wasn’t a lot of crossing over happening.

The situation is definitely different these days. One of the genre-related issues I have always struggled with personally, is the difference – if any truly exists – between SciFi and Fantasy in the films and series of New Hollywood. My impression is that after Jaws (1975) the two genres became increasingly distinctive.

I had to come up with my own set of rules in this conundrum, otherwise I would still be mulling over it today. My definition is that SciFi always has its roots in technology and discovery – the events portrayed just might be feasible sometime in the distant future. More importantly perhaps – a SciFi film or series is situated in our known universe, it is based in our reality. It could take place on Mars or some undiscovered planet – see Total Recall (1990) or Aliens (1986) for example – but the story always unfolds within the realms of our cosmos.

Other examples are Blade Runner (1982) and Gravity (2013), but also The Matrix (1999) and Prometheus (2012). Although the subject matter of the latter two titles might be more far-fetched than that of Blade Runner and Gravity, it is still conceivable that the events portrayed might become reality one day.

Fantasy films and series take place within a completely fictional environment and often feature magical elements. Yes, I know. Every film or series that is not a documentary basically qualifies as fiction, but for argument’s sake I would classify Fantasy as a genre wherein the action takes place in a universe that is not our own. Examples of this are Game of Thrones, the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings franchises, and Willow (1988).

This set of definitions is by no means bulletproof – I can think of a few examples that present a challenge. For instance, where would these rules place a franchise like Harry Potter? Obviously, there’s tons of magical elements in the films about the young wizard, but they are still – at least partly – situated in our known universe.

And what about a film like Reign of Fire (2002)? The futuristic London setting would suggest SciFi, but the city is overrun by giant, fire-breathing dragons – a genre-convention generally reserved for Fantasy films.

But then again – I am not trying to convince anyone here. I have stated very clearly that I firmly believe that there are no specific rules for genre classification. These are just my personal guidelines and I fully acknowledge the subjectivity of them.

What’s more – genres tend to evolve as new ones appear. A fantastic example of this is the rise of comic book and superhero films and series. Following my personal rulebook, I would earmark the early ones like Richard Donner’s Superman (1978) and Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) as Fantasy because of the supernatural elements. However, since there have been so many of them over the last three decades, it would actually make more sense to introduce a completely new genre for comic book and superhero films. How about “Idols”?

Streaming services obviously don’t have the same problems that the old rental shops were facing. They just assign multiple genres to their content to ensure consumers will always find what they are looking for. This exactly proves my point – we want Alien to pop up in both the SciFi and Horror category, because it acknowledges our personal perception of the film. Actually, I would argue that Alien should be under Thriller as well.

The perceived – or unperceivable – distinction between Horror and Thriller is actually another rich topic of debate and interpretation, but please don’t get me started…

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Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict