WEEK 4: The Weird Genre & Its Multiple Facets

The “Weird” genre is definitely a captivating one. It rides along the line of horror and fantasy, perhaps being some form of a strange hybrid for me. I’m not quite sure what exactly the genre is yet, and this is purely due to my lack exposure of it, but I get the sense that the “weird” genre’s purpose is to confuse the reader in an artistic manner.

The in-class movie Under the Skin gave a good depiction of the weird style. Everything about the film, from the music and the art direction, helped further enhance the senses of the bizarre. Glazer (director) even filmed this movie in a unique way (kind of off-script and spontaneous), and that definitely supported the vision of this rogue alien driving around Scotland. I also really like how the weird genre doesn’t give into the classic stereotypes/ tropes. I think that this is the defining factor of the genre and what makes it stand out on its own. If Scarlett Johansson were to put on a morph suit or wear special effects makeup, the movie would be classified as sci-fi. It almost seems like the weird genre is an amalgamation of different, unique perspectives that don’t follow a set of rules and guidelines of a genre. Horror needs these specific aspects to make it “horror,” and the same goes for comedy and romance. But the “weird” can be anything you want.

For my reading I decided to read a couple of the short stories, one of them being “The Art of Dying” by K.D. Bishop. Honestly, the reading was quite confusing at first for many reasons, one of them definitely being the language. You don’t typically see words like “monomachia” or “auto-da-fe” sprinkled in text, but it did help to establish the setting a little more. There wasn’t a clear exposition to the characters or the setting so it took a bit to catch up with what was really happening. It seemed like the story was starting from the climax, not the beginning. I guess in the weird genre there doesn’t have to be an obvious plot, which is interesting in itself but can also be quite dangerous when being handled by the public. But what I really want to discuss regarding this story is the concept of death. It took on a whole new perspective that I did not foresee, mainly because they described death as an oxymoron. Mona was seen to be more beautiful while being closer to death, while Siegfried’s death was gruesome and bleak. It was quite a turn of events when Siegfried ended up being the dead one because we were all so concentrated on Mona’s possible passing, but she ended up staying alive even though she wanted to die. And poor Siegfried wanted nothing to do with it, but unfortunately met his untimely end.

All in all, the weird genre is labeled weird for a reason. It brings a new perspective on topics that make us uncomfortable already and explores the different facets within them. Though I don’t quite grasp the basis of the “weird” genre, I’m starting to see things with a more peculiar eye.

- ☽Stacy Moon☾