Steve Nale's genre theory

Steve Nale - Genre theory

Neale stated that ‘genres are instances of repetition and difference’. 

Discuss what this statement means in relation to the duel scene from The Magnificent 7, directed by Antoine Fuqua? Use specific  evidence from the scene to support your ideas.

With this statement Nale wanted to explain how it is important for films to be classified into different genres based on their characteristics. They are repetitive as each genre has some props or scenes which are found in each genre. for example in the a western movie we would expect it to take place in the middle of the desert, and we can see this for example in Magnificent 7, where the fight between the 2 cowboys happens in a very dry land in the middle of nowhere.
This is important as it gives the audience a sense of familiarity and they know what to expect in accretin movie. for example by knowing that Magnificent 7 is a western film, an audience would expect to find cowboys in it , dressed with baggy clothing all covered in dust and holding guns. This can be shown in the extract as the characters are all wearing white shirts and light brown trousers, typical of cowboys, with a hat and boots. they all have special belts where they hold their guns.An audience in a western film would expect to find violence, and in Magnificent 7 we can see this for example as there is a duel and fight sequence between the 2 cowboys in the ring, and the people watching take bets on who would be the winner. Finally an audience watching a western movie would expect it to have a clear protagonist and antagonist. The plot always has a character who has a mission and needs save someone or something. In Magnificent 7 we can clearly see that the skilled protagonist is the man who easily kills the other cowboy as soon as the gun shoots, which higights his skilfulness and abilities.
on the other hand in order to keep the audience engaged a director needs to make each scene a bit different. in this way he makes sure that the audience does not get bored while watching the scene, and is surprised by some events which take place, as they did not expect them. For example in a western movies people would expect all characters to be white american males. this is in contrast with Magnificent 7, where we can see that one of the main characters, possibly the protagonist of the film is a man from an asian background. this is effective as it helps keep the audience engaged, and creates a sense of surprise, as the man is not the usual protagonist that an audience would expect to fin in a normal western movie. Furthermore in a western movie people would expect to see many guns, and they would believe that each cowboy used a gun or a rope as their main weapon. In magnificent 7 this is challenged as we see that before starting his fight the protagonist takes all his guns off, and putts on the ground the belt containing all his shooting weapons, remaining with just  a knife. he is then able to kill the cowboy standing in front of him without any difficulties. this is effective as it will add excitement to the scene and make the audience feel more engaged with the movie.

EXTENSION – suggest how Fuqua manipulating genre conventions in this way may have maximised appeal to audiences.

the fact that different genre conventions have been mixed is really effective as it brings together different types of audiences. It makes a movie targeted to a mass audience, instead of a niche, as many different interest are bought together in one movie.