This is a relatively new word for me to use. I’ve heard others use it, and it seemed like a weird word. Pretentious. High-brow. You know, you only use it if you think you’re better than others. Okay. Sorry about that. It’s just that this word never felt comfortable until recently.
Genre
A 19th-century word that simply means “A Kind” or type and we use it to lump things into categories so that we can compare apples to apples and not the proverbial orange.
Primarily it is used in artistic endeavors as music, books, and video. With words like Drama, Action, Horror, and Science Fiction, entertainment is collected into diverse separations that allow you to know what “Kind” of endeavor you are looking at.
Not understand this cataloging system and you may be surprised and disappointed at what you choose to enjoy for a moment!
Though a new word for me to use, I’ve always described what I liked by a category that was broader than what the Genre of today may allude to.
For example, I loved Spy Novels and could read the likes of Alistair MacLean and Jack Higgins all day long. There was a time my focus was on Mystery (Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift), Western’s (Louis L’Amour), Historical Novels (James Alexander Thom, James Michener) based either on Fiction or Fact and, I confess, I’ve always loved Science Fiction (Isaac Asimov) without the Fantasy.
Genre’s may be broad, but their subcategories could skip around the world and either be a deep story with little or no “action”, or it could be fast-paced with pages and pages of action.
I find I must know my mood for story before I pick up one that leaves me dissatisfied.
One of my Thoughts
Recently, an earlier morning moment dealt with the Genre of Drama – and it seems like the daily news has found the way to pitch life to its readers that is Drama Laden.
It seems we are captivated by the Drama of Hollywood, Politics, and Local Disasters. Their sub-categories cover the gambit of sleaze and disgust, hatred and abhorrence, fear and awe, but we live for the moment that we can be challenged to respond to the Headlines.
It was John Newton of Amazing Grace restoration and fame that said:
The hour is coming when we shall be astonished to think what mere trifles were once capable of discouraging us.
~John Newton
And he spoke at a time when there was no worldwide communication system that gave instant access to the unfiltered world. What news finally showed up was months, if not years, old. Tokay, instant access gives us the opportunity to have an instant voice, all minus the filter of time and distance.
Perhaps we need to learn the concept of “filter”. Consider the source, weigh all sides of the report, fact check before believing someone’s swayed view of the event. I don’t know, Think before you Act? Understand before you speak?
If the past 20 years of Internet has taught us anything, there are more sides to a story than you can shake a stick at! And most of them are false, with pieces of truth to make you feel like at least you learned something!
Think About It
Are we so gullible that we would believe a lie?
Each moment we get sucked into the vortex of a story, we become more and more gullible. Incensed. Disappointment rises. How could they? What on earth? Did you know?
Somehow we have missed the concept of filtering the information that is pouring into our life as rapids moving down a chute. Or, as one of my college professors said, “You thought you were going to be drinking from a water fountain but I’m feeding you information with a fire hose!” (A very old quote from several sources!)
Our ability to be deceived goes back to the original story of deception. You know, the Garden of Eden. Adam. Eve. The Serpent!
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” Genesis 3:6 (KJV)
Notice. It was not just Eve, but Adam was there with her!
Jump ahead several thousands of years, and we find the Apostle John talking about the same thing to a future time. Can you see the parallel?
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
1 John 2:16 (KJV)
Early on we find that we can always be drawn away by our OWN lust and desires. Where do these feelings come from? By that which we continually FEED ourselves.
Eve, and Adam, believed the serpents lie enough, and it was probably a regular occurrence that the serpent met them before that special tree. I’m just saying, keep feeding yourself a fantasy and one day you will act upon that daily diet.
So. One day.
Drama, fantasy, fiction, and finally it turns into a horror story. Read the entire story (Genesis 3:1-7) and see how it unfolds.
The Drama of the moment. I can hear the audience shouting as audiences are prone to do when the horror of the moment is revealed! “No! Don’t listen! Don’t walk down that path! Don’t you know the deception the serpent is feeding you?” But Eve picked, tasted and gave to her husband who was right there with her. “Adam! No! Be strong!”
And for thousands of years, we have all been victimized by similar lies. Hollywood only gives us what they see in real life, or do they present life and we blindly follow after them. Politicians only want what’s best for ALL of us and not their own little party of life, right? Courtroom drama, only ask what you already know, and only allow what proves your point. And the local disasters? Well, they only seem to hit home if we know someone personally involved.
And we love the Drama!
Drama Lived
In all my years of reading, there has only been one book that drew me into the pages and made me feel like I was a part of the story. I read it back in the 70’s but it was written in the 50’s. Nevil Shute wrote, “On the Beach” as a post-apocalyptic novel dealing with a planet killer nuclear war.
The characters that were still alive were on the beaches of Australia, and the US Submarine that made it unscathed into their waters. Their daily reports would come back from shortwave radio around the world of the horror of the end of civilization. They could estimate their time left and try to live life with one last great adventure. Car racing. Fishing trip. Even sending the submarine back to the coast of California to investigate a signal that may indicate someone is still alive.
And one morning driving to work in downtown Houston,
I caught myself thinking,
“We have only 3 weeks remaining.”
The story shook me that much. It drew me into the woven idea that life is so fragile, and this planet is even more so, we should strive to not let us get so close to the apocalypse ill-prepared to survive. Of course, back when this was written, Bomb and Fallout Shelters were the rave. If you believed the world was this close to the end, then you would dig deep, and prepare to hunker down and ride out the storm.
Finally…
This brings me back to the Genre thought for today.
Take your time responding to the headlines that are swelling out the newsrooms and living rooms. The incessant chatter come from our devices everywhere we go incites us to rage. We are driven by our emotions, and not by logic, but as a scientist may say, “I only go where the facts take me” may be the wisest truth.
Trust me. If you dare. It’s hard to isolate the truth. Those filters we use to are used to paint the story from a different perspective.
Do not believe everything you find online, nor hear through the media. Give everything time to shake out, and you still may not be closer to the truth than when you first started. But at least you won’t be walking down the path of the gullible and blind.
Just saying.