Unmasking Marvel's Superheroes: A Genre Analysis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: A Genre Analysis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Larsen, Christian Bredvig

4. term

English, Master

2019

2019-06-02

68 pages

Det er en almen antagelse at superhelte har regeret Hollywood siden årtusindskiftet. Dette lader sig især komme til syne ved Marvel Studios succes med deres Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Dertil er det ikke ualmindeligt at hører kritiker og filmindustriens analytikere spekulerer hvornår superheltegenren går af mode, da den har holdt sig selv ved lige i usædvanligt lang tid. Dette speciale stiller dog spørgsmålstegn ved hvorvidt superheltegenren reelt kan siges at være hvad der har domineret Hollywood blockbusters de sidste to årtier. Da genre ikke er urokkelige kategorier og da film ikke er påkrævet at bekende sig en bestemt genre, så kan det være svært at skabe præcise skillelinjer mellem hvad der er inde og hvad der er ude for kategori. Men hvis ønsket er at kunne forudse hvornår superheltetrenden svinder hen, så er det dog vigtigt at kunne fastslå præcis hvad det er der forventes at svinde hen. For, som dette speciale påviser, så er MCU en gruppe af film, der egentligt består af mange vidt forskellige genre. Dette er vist ved at anvende Rick Altmans semantic/syntactic genreanalyse, for at påpege at få tydelige genretræk egentligt gør sig gældende for MCU-filmene i deres første fase. Dertil følger en analyse af Liam Burke, som har forsøgt at beskrive moderne Hollywood film (her iblandt MCU) gennem en genre han kalder "comic book movies". Problemet med sådanne analyser er, at MCU har opnået succes lige præcis ved ikke at bekende sig til én genre. I stedet forslås følgende som en forklaring på MCU-fænomenet: MCU som helhed repræsentere en ny genre der begynder at bane sig vej gennem Hollywood. Denne genre, som i specialet bliver døbt "world building cinema", er den seneste udvikling af transmedie narrativer, og kan trive i det 21 århundred grundet hvem fremmet IT-teknologien er blevet. Transmedie narrativer bliver beskrevet af Henry Jenkins som fortællinger der udfolder sig over flere end et medie, med hver fortælling som en lille del af en større enhed. MCU har adopteret denne tilgang til fortællinger, med I stedet for at sprede sig over flere media som for eksempel Matrix franchisen gjorde, så ligger fornøjelse i at følge MCU i at dette kan opnås ved blot at fælge et medie: film. Alt i alt, så konkluderes følgende: en konventionel genre analyse af MCU resultere enten i reduktionisme eller er ude af stand til at forklare fænomenet der er MCU. Dertil forslås "worldbuilding cinema" som er kendetegnet ved at finde genretræk ved filmserier, i stedet for at definere genren for de individuelle film i en given filmserie.

There is a common perception that superheroes have been the rulers of Hollywood since the turn of the 21st century. A perception that partially based on the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). With the long-lasting prevalence of superheroes in general and the MCU in particular, it is not uncommon for industry analysists and scholars to wonder why this genre has survived in the limelight for so long. This thesis attempts to solve that mystery, as it questions the conventional wisdom that superheroes have been dominating Hollywood blockbusters for the past two decades. Given that genres are not unchanging entities and since movies do not need to declare themselves as a specific genre, it can be difficult to create clear dividing lines between genres. However, if the ambition is to predict the trend of superhero movies, it must first be established exactly what this trend entails. This thesis delves into how the MCU actually consists of movies pertaining to widely different genres and how this might be why the MCU has managed to persist for as long as it has. This is shown by applying Rick Altman's semantic/syntactic approach to genre, in order to show how the movies in MCU's phase 1 adhere to different genre conventions. This is followed by an analysis into Liam Burke's attempt to categorize contemporary Hollywood blockbusters as "comic book movies"; a genre label Burke himself has defined. Burke attempts to include the MCU as part of the comic book movie genre, but this is critiqued for its poor applicability and lack of explanatory power. Since genre theory, in part, is a tool to explain audience engagement with narrative patterns, it is argued that this lack of explanatory power represents an oversight in Burke's approach. Instead, it is proposed that the MCU as a film series represents the emergence of a new genre for Hollywood blockbusters. This new genre (christened "worldbuilding cinema") has evolved from the trend of transmedia narratives. Henry Jenkins describes transmedia narratives as stories that unfold over multiple forms of media, with each text adding to a greater whole. The MCU has adopted this approach to storytelling, but instead of spreading across multiple media platforms, the MCU offers the enjoyment of a transmedia narrative through a single medium: movies. Ultimately, the following is concluded: any attempt at confining MCU movies to a single genre either suffers from reductionism or lacks explanatory powers in terms of describing the MCU phenomenon. Instead, it is proposed that worldbuilding cinema as a genre label for film series can describe the genre conventions of film series, and thus avoid the issue of applying genre labels to individual movies within a given film series. Hereto, it is offered that worldbuilding cinema can explain blockbuster trends over the past decade, as well as unveil the business model that Hollywood studios are currently trying to achieve.

Superheltefilm ; Tegneserier ; Genre ; Hollywood

Download
View record in AAU Student Projects