Contemporary Issues of Screen Culture - Essay Example

This lack of theoretical exploration is explained by several factors. Most scholars view the entire body of genre theory as sufficient enough to explain the genre in any medium. The film genre does not account for some of the industry and audience norms that are uniquely identified with television.

In particular, the major question which motivates scholars in the current days is: how do these television programs compare to the historical systems of politics and power? The solutions to these questions have not been adequately given. This is because most television genre scholars seem to be content with the initial research done. The few who seem to care have been quickly convinced into buying the idea of the film and literal theories, in which, they seldom notice the errors made and recommend for more research be done. Most traditional approaches to the television genres have relied on a few assumptions which should be studied and resurfaced in the contemporary theoretical paradigms.

Traditionally, the genre has been looked at by media scholars as a component of the text using various guiding questions. This seeks to identify the core elements entailed in a particular genre by looking at the texts to cripple any formal mechanisms that constitute the viability of that genre. Another approach, which most probably is common in media studies raises the questions of interpretation by critically studying the contextual meaning of the genres and placing them in wider contexts. The third mode of analyzing genres traditionally poses the question of genre, emphasizing the genre’s evolutionary dynamics. The core issue in this scenario is how the changing circumstances in the culture cause shifts in the genres.

Despite the methods mentioned above, a great percentage of the analysis of genres tends to view the genre basically as a textual and contextual attribute. This central notion is viewed as a position that is meant to take many forms. Scholars, more especially in the literal theory, have made assumptions that genres more intrinsically are a member of texts. Media scholars support the same idea, and this is evident in the following ways: placing a genre in wider discussions of texts and examining a genre methodologically via textual analysis. The decline in the genre has been attributed to textual assumption.

Since texts are the most fundamental objects of the media, they have been an element of analysis by most scholars. This is logical to have a deeper understanding of the genres. With this, we can gain an understanding as to why there are stunted growths in some of the television genres while others such as sitcoms and reality shows continue to be reproduced.

With this, we can also understand that some genres can be mixed, and it is no offense. It is a cultural process invented and implemented by the television and media industry at large in honor of the viewers’ requests if not demands. It can be said, thus that the genres are constituted of external factors such as the viewers of the program.

The difference between texts and genres can be viewed as artificial and arbitrary. There is a thin line between texts and genres and the content entailed in them has no clear distinction. So, emphasizing the differences between the two only blocks how the genres traverse these two media.