This week we discussed genre hybridisation, being comedy intertwined in a different genre e.g. drama or romance. The idea of genre hybridisation is that genres have become more fluid, and that since the 1980s, TV and film have seen a rise in this hybridisation, (Middleton, 2002). Genre hybridisation with comedy is the idea that comedy can be integrated into something that would naturally fall into a different genre, acting as a sort of element. A good example of genre hybridisation is mockumentaries or rom coms, where different fields are joined together to create a single piece of media. “Rather than seeing genres as mechanistically rigid and static, critics in the 1980s argued for a more organic view, often seeing genres undergoing an almost evolutionary trajectory from ‘primitive’ to ‘mature’ to ‘decadent’.” (Mundy & White, 2012). While comedy may not be the main genre of the piece of media, elements of comedy are intertwined throughout. Comedy “has been particularly adept at exploiting the potential of crossing borders between and within genres,” (Mundy & White, 2012). Not only has genre hybridisation with comedy created more dynamic styles of media, it has also arguably made the media more entertaining.
Our media artefact created this week titled, ‘The Divorce’ is a drama about a couple visiting a lawyer’s office to discuss their divorce agreements. The inspiration for the film style was Succession. While the majority of the sketch clearly follows the drama genre, there is an element of comedy in the end when it is discovered the lawyer and the husband are secretly having an affair, resulting in the divorce. There are hints as to their affair (both never free Thursdays & the Grindr notification), but the real comedy is the discovery of the lawyer’s phone and laptop background being the pair in bed. The sketch responds to the concept of genre hybridisation because while the bulk of the skit remains serious (as a drama), there is still an element of comedy that adds to the plot.
Comedy’s relationship to the drama genre I believe is a great relief of tension. Watching dramas can be jarring, as the subject at hand tends to be very serious. Comedy can allow for the drama genre to be more digestible as well as adding an element of entertainment for viewers.
As for my own comedic sensibility over the last 3 weeks, I have found it 100 times easier to work in a group. Because I am not particularly comfortable acting in comedy sketches, it has helped to have a group of people around me working on the same project. As for what I liked, I enjoyed parody and satirical modes of comedy. I found for me personally in parody and satire modes I had the most ideas and found it the best way for me to display comedy.
REFERENCES:
Mundy, J. & White, G. (2012), “Comedy and Genre Boundaries Links to an external site.” in Laughing Matters: Understanding Film, Television and Radio Comedy, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 130–148.
Romanowski, M. & Sheldon, Z. (2020), “‘Time to Ranch It up!’: Ethics and Satire in New Media Links to an external site.“, Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies, 15(3), pp. 239–254.
Middleton, J. (2002), “Documentary Comedy Links to an external site.“, Media International Australia, 104(1), pp. 55–66.