Does "Genre" Even Exist Anymore?

In the grand scheme of things, it's probably just a little thing, but this time of year, it is a thing that gets pushed in my face repeatedly and thus works its way under my skin. At some point in the last ten or fifteen years, the genre of "horror" has been completely lumped in with science fiction. I don't get it. I don't get it, and furthermore, I don't like it.

I think that's because in the last five or six years I have come to realize that I don't really care for what passes for horror these days. This coming from a girl whose all-time favorite author is Stephen King. (He's still doing it right.) But horror movies these days? None of them appeal to me at all. (Because they are crap, and derivative, uncreative, and very rarely scary in a good way.) Suspense, I can get behind. Supernatural mythology, sure. Horror, not so much. I can't even remember the last time I voluntarily went to see a "scary" movie and actually enjoyed it.

And that's fine, really. Normally I don't have to give it much thought. But this time of year? With Halloween rolling in? Gah. I can't escape it. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the occasional made-for-TV-B-movie that is so terrible it's good. The kind of stuff that Mystery Science Theater 3000 would love to tear apart. But this time of year, we are flooded with "horror" movies, in the theaters (which means I end up having to sit through commercials for them when I watch the shows I want to watch) as well as on television.

But it's also there on my science fiction sites. Somewhere, somewhen, some marketer somewhere decided that the people who like horror and the people who like science fiction are clearly the same people, so why not just push all of the horror stuff on the science fiction audiences? Because really, it's all the same stuff, right? Grr. I am putting that marketer on my list of people to go back and slap once my time machine is built.

Now, I can fully admit that the same assumption exists with science fiction and fantasy. Outside of those fan pools (and also a little bit inside), very few people see any distinction between the two. This really doesn't bother me at all, and I am sure it is because I actually enjoy both of those genres.

Obviously, there is a lot of overlap going on. There are lots of horror stories in which the element of horror is caused by a science fictional (or fantastical) element. There are also lots of science fiction (and fantasy) stories that are scary, downright horrific even. But to assume that any two (or all three) of those genres is the same thing because there is overlap is to do all of those genres a disservice.

But maybe I am on the losing side of this argument. These days it seems like the lines are blurring between all kinds of genres. Romance and historical fiction and fantasy and horror and science fiction and mysteries, and so on. Clearly people who enjoy any one of those may enjoy another. Science fiction, for example, has spawned oodles of of subsets over the last century: alternate histories, distopian, post apocalyptic, steampunk, and so on. Elements of all of these kinds of stories are slipping their way into the mainstream (thankfully, since specialized channels seem to be struggling to stay both viable and true to their fan base*). People who would never consider themselves fans of science fiction loved Lost. People who would never consider themselves into fantasy totally devoured Harry Potter. Writers considered "mainstream" are coming out of the genre "closet" and slipping genre themes into their work, or outright changing camps.

As it stands right now, it seems to me that the only reason "genre" still exists is so that people who want to sell us things have a nice pre-packaged way to describe what they are trying to make us buy. But I don't know how much longer they are going to be able to keep that up. It won't be too long before the stories will  completely stop fitting in those neat little descriptions. Maybe that's not a bad thing. Maybe it's time to just start calling it all "fiction" and leaving it up to the reader to check out the book jacket or listen to word of mouth to make up her own decision on whether or not it is worth her time. Just a thought.

I still wish people would stop trying to shove that crappy "horror" stuff down my throat though.

Peace out, folks. Enjoy the weekend.

*That's right Syfy, I'm looking at you.

Weeding

I think that by now it is a well established fact that I watch far too much television. Go ahead, take a moment to collect yourself, I know you're shocked (insert sarcasm mark here).

Part of the reason for this, I think, is that I truly enjoy stories, and television is a vast resource of stories. Sometimes you have to work pretty hard to find any tales that are actually good, but there are times when you just want a story on in the background to engage part of your mind while the rest of it is focused on something else. Very few of the shows I watch drag me in enough to really, truly, actively engage with them. For the most part when I do want that level of engagement, I will pick up a book (or dive into a strongly story-based video game).

If I am being honest, and generous, most of what I watch could clearly be categorized as pulp. That doesn't make my enjoyment of it any less, certainly. But lately I have been trying to weigh that against whether or not the show is worth my time any more. For now, at least.

As my daughter gets older and more interactive, the actual number of hours I spend with my television a day are shrinking. Part of this is due to the need to share the television, certainly. I by no means subscribe to the belief that the television is a suitable babysitter, but it can be a valuable distraction occasionally, and at best a tool for creating shared experiences between parent and child. There are a few shows that my daughter watches each day (Super Why and Sesame Street, mostly) while I get my own ducks in a row. It gives us each our own time when we are both awake, so she knows it is okay to spend time playing and exploring on her own, while I can get things done and also be close enough to keep an eye on her. But beyond sharing the television (and far more important) is just spending quality time with my kid as she grows and learns and develops new skills. Well, that and making sure that my budding gymnast doesn't decide to do a belly flop through the sliding glass door.

So, with less time to actually watch television, I have started trying to reduce the actual number of shows I watch. I'm using a two-pronged approach to reach this goal. The first is to be more selective about what new shows I watch. I have a long track record of jumping on board a new show just because one or more actor I like is in it. While this has led me to discover some real gems I will admit, it also has led to me watching some truly dreadful television. So, I am trying to only add a new show if it looks like it is something I will actually enjoy for its own merits. This is why, despite my love of Summer Glau, I opted not to watch The Cape when it premiered mid-season. The released plot details just weren't doing anything for me, and none of the trailers I saw leading up to the show's first episode changed that impression.

The second prong is to start weeding out the shows that I currently watch and really could live without. I have finally found a use for the networks' screwed up scheduling schemes! Moving a show around to different nights or long hiatuses in between parts of a season, or even just the summer break, are giving me a chance to gain perspective on whether or not I am really engaged enough to keep watching a show or if I am just watching it out of habit. Case in point, when the current season started, I decided not to continue watching V, because while I enjoyed the first season more or less, and love many people in the cast, I just wasn't even remotely excited about the new season. If I couldn't be bothered to be interested in the coming episodes, I really didn't need to be watching them.

Sure, maybe I am missing out on some really good television these days, but I am willing to chance it. That's why nerds invented DVDs (and, subsequently, YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu). After all, I still haven't seen any of Lost, and my world has continued to move forward.

All of this is to lead up to the fact that yesterday I realized that The Event is about to resume from its mid-season hiatus soon...and I really just don't care. So I went ahead and deleted it from my list of series for the DVR to record. Bye bye Jason Ritter and crazy alien conspiracy theories! Sorry, you just didn't do anything I really hadn't seen before.

Now I have a whole extra hour in the week coming to me and I'll admit, I am pretty darn exited about that!