Exam Question.

To what extent do your three main texts challenge genre conventions. 

Genres have elements within them that the audience associate with the genre and expect to see in the films.  Films use these genre conventions as a way for the audience to identify what genre they are watching and what they can expect to see, for example actions films tend to include explosions (form of genre convention). Most films follow genre conventions rather than go against them, however this is not true in most of my case studies. Two out of my three case studies go along way to challenge the conventions usually seen in films of the same genre.

One of the most noticeable genre conventions used in the romance genre includes the idea of a 'happy ever after' between a male and female character. This is seen in many romance films as it is a convention that is often not challenged. An example of a film that does challenge this genre convention is the film 'Weekend' directed by Andrew Haigh in 2011. The film firstly goes a long way to challenge the genre conventions of a romance film by depicting the relationship of a homosexual couple rather than the 'traditional' heterosexual couple. Secondly, the film goes even further into challenging the genre conventions by going against the fairytale ending. Romance films often show couples splitting due to a disruption in the equilibrium but then shortly reunite at the end. Weekend goes against this by bringing the protagonists to a more uplifting conclusion to the relationship. Weekend goes a long way to challenge genre conventions because it is not a stereotypical film as it tells a story that is not commonly shown in other films, this being the struggles of two men in a romantic relationship and the issues they face. The film purposefully challenges conventions linked with the genre in order to get it's intended message across, which is to show a true and realistic representation of relationships unlike the ones seen in big Hollywood films.

In order to challenge genre conventions, films also completely flip them which is commonly seen in comedy's. A film in which this is evident in is Kingsman: Secret Service (action, comedy) directed by Matthew Vaughn in 2014. The film does still follow major comedy and action conventions but challenges what the audience expects to see in spy films. My other case study 'Skyfall' (directed by Sam Mendes in 2012) doesn't obviously challenge or tries to challenge the genre conventions seen in action spy films. Skyfall has set the standard of spy films by showing the audience an idealised spy (James Bond). In Skyfall, Bond is shown to be intelligent, sophisticated and strong who always saves the damsel in distress which is what the audience expect to see. Skyfall does not challenge the stereotypical genre conventions seen in action film especially when it comes to spy driven narratives. Going back to Kingsman, it completely contradicts and almost mocks the genre conventions seen in Skyfall. Unlike James Bond, the protagonist (Eggsy) from Kingsman is from a working class background and lives on an estate in South London. He is shown to be intelligent but from a disadvantaged background which is one way the film challenges the conventions. By comparing the two films it is clear that Skyfall doesn't go along way to challenge conventions where as Kingsman does.

In conclusion two out of the three case studies go out of their way to challenge genre conventions as a main way of showing more realistic depiction of certain scenarios. Weekend and Kingsman go a long way to purposeful go against what the audiences expectations when it comes to genre conventions, whereas Skyfall sticks to the conventions in order to keep more traditional links to the genre.