Fantasy Sub-Genres


  Welcome to #FantasyJune. For those that have been with me for a bit you will remember that January was #SciFiJanuary. I wrote a bit about what SciFi actually is and essentially the big takeaway was that SciFi and Fantasy are opposite sides of a very similar coin. Whereas SciFi is all about science including the softer sciences. Fantasy is all about magic and what is not explained. What makes a film fantasy or SciFi hinges on what drives the story. Using a computer in a fantasy film does not make it SciFi and talking about religion in a SciFi does not make it fantasy. I submit that these two genres can’t mix. It’s like oil and water. When I see platforms such as Amazon or Netflix classify a film ScFi/Fantasy I get annoyed. It’s one or the other. So here are the subgenres that I will be discussing.

Religion

This is a tricky one and will ultimately lead to arguments. For many, religion is explained so it’s not magic. For others, just having an element of religion makes it fantasy. Dune and Star Wars are the two top franchises creating controversy. I have learned my lesson and won’t comment on these two. All I want to say is that unless you are writing an essay for your Masters degree it does not matter. Just enjoy the movie. Other more straightforward examples of this sub-genre is Drive Angry where a man escapes hell to get his granddaughter back from some bad dudes. Other examples are Heaven Can Wait, What Dreams May Come or Along With The Gods from Korea. There are a lot of films in this sub-genre from around the world and many are quite good.


Mythology and Fairy Tales

There is so much material to draw from in this sub-genre but I have to stress that the entities presented are perceived as real. For Example, The Mummy which presents an ancient curse brought to life. Stargate presents Egyptian gods as real but they are advanced aliens so that’s SciFi. The Little Mermaid is clear cut fantasy. There are a few films that have made up mythology and that counts too. You will often find myth and fairy tales cross over to horror a lot. I love this sub-genre. It’s so much fun.


Fantasy/Horror

Any supernatural horror flick is going to be in the fantasy bucket. Ghosts and demons are super popular in this sub-genre. There are a few mermaid horror flicks that are on my watch-list and will likely be featured. I try my best to feature horror but I’m terrible at it. If it leans to the horror side more than fantasy I find it hard to watch.


Super Heroes

I will not be featuring Super Heroes for two reason. First they are an exception to the rule that fantasy and SciFi can’t mix. So Thor is featured right alongside Iron Man. I feel they should be in their own genre and I’m starting to see that shaking out. Second, the internet is flooded with write-ups about Marvel and DC I don’t feel like I have anything new to add. It’s all been said.


Sword and Sorcery

I think that Lord of the Rings is the undisputed champion of sword and sorcery. I love LOTR but like Superheroes I have nothing new to add. Sword and sorcery in general is one of my favorites. Even a bad one is still good. Other examples are the recent Dungeons and Dragons or Labyrinth. A lot of Fantasy is from the 80’s. It really died off unfortunately in the 90’s. It’s all about SciFi now.


Fondue Sunday

In January I did Fondue Sunday for SciFi and it was very popular so I going to give Fantasy the same treatment. What’s Fondue? Gooey, Satisfying Cheese.

Enjoy

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