AICE Media Studies: Genre Research

Musical Comedy

Genre Conventions (Content):

-Diversity in characters

-Catchy choreography

-Comedic timing

-Stereotypes

Genre Conventions (Production Technique):

-Colorful costume design

-Bright lighting

-Voiceovers

Institutional Conventions:

-Celebrity cameos

-Touring productions

-Covers of popular songs

-Can be geared toward any age group

Film Sample #1: Pitch Perfect

Pitch Perfect portrays musical comedy through acapella performances and comedic content. The acapella groups featured in the film have iconic costume designs that portray each group appropriately. The Barden Bellas wear matching flight attendant-like outfits, while the Treblemakers wear matching suits. There is diversity in the characters, each character has a distinct personality that uses stereotypes to create comedy. For example, "Fat Amy" is depicted as having a bold personality and often uses her weight as a punchline in her jokes. The movie series features various celebrity cameos including Snoop Dogg, Jimmy Kimmel, DJ Khaled, and Ruby Rose. Overall, Pitch Perfect embodies the musical comedy genre because of its character diversity, costume design, song covers, and celebrity cameos.

Film Sample #2: Glee

Glee is another great example of the musical comedy genre. It has amazing representation and diversity in race, gender, sexuality, age, etc. The show features various people of color, disabled individuals, and LGBT characters whose backgrounds are often used as comedic opportunities. Glee plays into high school stereotypes, the jocks and cheerleaders, and how they perceive musical theatre kids. Many pop culture references are featured in Glee as well as hundreds of cover performances throughout the show. Several costume choices have also been made in Glee, the cheerleaders wear an iconic red and white uniform, and other protagonists have interesting outfit choices that become a part of their character. The characters tell stories through their musical performances, and lighting choices are also made to better portray what the characters are going through. Glee is well-known for having iconic celebrities make cameos on the show. Celebrities that appear on the show include Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, Kate Hudson, John Stamos, and many more.