Most people know about the most popular movie genres. You might say it’s an action movie, a drama, or a documentary. If you want to be more specific, you might say it’s a buddy comedy or a nature documentary. But then again, you can be even more descriptive and sometimes this requires coming up with new terms.
Just as some folks have come up with words like “dramedy” to describe their films of choice, using a portmanteau might be the way to go. Here are a few ideas for some alternative movie genres
Docufiction – As a fictional documentary, docufiction can take on two entirely different forms. On the one hand, you can have a documentary that has a fictional narrative laid on top of it. That would be the case with Disney’s African Cats, for example. On the other hand, you can have a fictional movie that is portrayed as if it were a factual documentary. Apollo 18 is a prime example of that.
Fupid – I aim to keep this blog reasonably family friendly, so let’s say that “fupid” is a shortened version of “freaking stupid.” These are typically comedies that make no outward attempt to be intelligent or insightful, relying instead on stupidity, slapstick, and other base material. You have movies like Year One, for instance. However, that’s not to say that all fupid films are without insight. Despite its crassness and immaturity, Idiocracy has a powerful message we should all consider.
Sophistifun – Offering sophisticated fun for a more sophisticated audience, movies of the sophistifun genre may otherwise be thought of as smart comedies. This lends itself to certain British comedies or ones that approach higher society. You could argue that, for some patrons, Jane Austen’s novels (and the movies based on them) could fall under this category.
Self-Aware – I realize this isn’t a portmanteau, but it is an interesting genre of entertainment to consider. These are movies, TV shows, and so on that appear to be aware they are movies, TV shows, and so on. The Office is one such example, with the characters speaking directly to the camera. A sub-genre are the movies that are aware of their own genre conventions. Scott Pilgrim made fun of its own gamer culture, just as the characters in Scream were fully aware of what happens in a “typical” horror movie or slasher flick.
Can you come up with any other unique movie genres or sub-genres? Funimation, perhaps? Mechageek? Or how about foreign hipster?
A tip of the hat to Corbin (and Deb) for the idea for this post!
Hahaha, some interesting ones here.
I would say, though, that docufiction already has two existing portmanteaus that can be used for your two definitions.
Docudrama is the term used to describe films such as Pirates of Silicon Valley, which are based on entirely true events, but presented in a dramatised way.
Mockumentaries are fictional films presented as a documentary.
I do very much like the sound of sophistifun though haha.