"This is something that nobody has ever heard about or seen before."
--Ben,
Night of the Living Dead (1990 movie)
"I can't believe he didn't suspect a trap. See what happens when you don't watch enough television?"
A condition afflicting many television characters, seen when one demonstrates by their behavior that they have never in their life ever seen the kind of show they're in, and thus have none of the reactions a typical audience member would have in the same situation. Worse, they are unable to learn from any experiences related to their genre.
Genre Blindness is what keeps the cast of
Threes Company leaping to outrageous conclusions even after the hundredth stupid misunderstanding, instead of sitting down and talking things out. It makes young girls go for walks in the woods after midnight without a flashlight when there's an axe murderer or a vampire around. It makes the supergenius supervillains in
James Bond movies stuff the hero into an elaborate melodramatic
Death Trap from which he inevitably escapes instead of
just shooting him. It's why a
Professional Wrestling referee always holds
faces to the strictest letter of the rules, even as the
heels break every rule in the book behind his back. It is one of the engines that drive the classic 1960s-70s sitcom.
Although genre blindness is a legitimate flaw, it should be noted that it can be difficult for writers to create characters who are not genre blind without hanging a lampshade on it by saying something like "This is just like in the movies!", especially in the horror genre which requires suspense that can easily be undone by such comedic relief.
Related:
Examples:
Western Animation
- The characters in Kim Possible seem to have wide swings of genre blindness within the same episode. Normally in the form of an "I should have seen this coming" moment after the fact.
- You'd think after the first dozen or so times, Timmy of The Fairly OddParents would think for more than a few seconds before saying "I wish..."
- While still Genre Savvy, Sokka from Avatar The Last Airbender has had one or two moments of Genre Blindness. Most notable was in The Boiling Rock, where he tries to talk to Suki while still wearing his guard disguise. Later, he does the same thing when he tries to talk to his father.
Live Action TV
- Professional Wrestlers (and their referees!) all suffer from complete Genre Blindness. Subverted by WWE wrestler Batista, whose defining character trait for some time after his Heel Face Turn was being Genre Savvy. More recently, John Cena has been conquering his genre blindness:
Jonathan Coachman: "I've decided to give Umaga a very well-deserved night off."
John Cena: "A night off? Like I haven't heard that one before. What does that mean, that he's showing up in five minutes? That he's gonna show up when I go to my car tonight? That he's gonna show up when I'm in the sho-- You know what, just don't let him show up when I'm in the shower. I don't think any of us want that."
- Doctor Who has plenty of these characters. Of notable example is the Doctor's tenth incarnation, who says "That's impossible" far too many times for someone who's seen what he has.
Film
- In Galaxy Quest, the main characters initially suffer Genre Blindness despite being actors in the genre; this is underscored by Guy's outraged query, "Did you guys ever watch the show?".
- Pretty much every zombie film ever made relies on Genre Blindness.
- When this contributor saw Premonition, literally every person in the theater was screaming, "Get out of the car, you moron!" as Jim sat continuing to turn the key in his stalled car right in the path of a semi!
- The first Scary Movie parodies this when a character being chased by a killer is confronted with two signs pointing towards "Safety" and "Death" respectively. In classic horror movie fashion she chooses the wrong one and, unsurprisingly, is the first casualty of the film.
- the characters in the film Stay Alive. The tagline went "If you die in the game, you die for real". How hard is it to not play the damn game?!
- The overwhelming majority of every Zombie Apocalypse film ever made.
- Averted in pretty much every vampire film, which are guaranteed to include some form of the phrase "Forget everything you've seen in the movies."
Literature
- In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the narrator observes that Eustace "had read none of the right books," and as a result does not recognize a dragon when he sees one and is generally poorly equipped for his first visit to the world of Narnia.
Other
- The unwashed heathens in Jack Chick's tracts seem to exist in a world where no one who isn't already a Christian has heard about Christianity.
