REDIRECTED: Genre Definition: LIFESTYLE

Here are some helpful comments from the original 'New Genres' thread:

Moz79: None of the current genres cover the following types of shows - Cookery/Food & Drink, DIY/Property Development, Property buying, Fashion, Health, Beauty, Gardening, Antiques etc. I keep submitting shows without genres for these types of shows, so some sort of catch all term like Lifestyle would be useful to cover them. The BBC uses the term lifestyle for such shows -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/lifestyle/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lifestyle/tv_and_radio/

As does ITV and Channel 4.
http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/tags/lifestyle

A quick list of a few of the types of shows that I would expect to come under a lifestyle genre.

Cooking
"The F Word" (2005)
"Masterchef Goes Large" (2005)
"The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook" (2006)

Food & Drink
"Oz & James's Big Wine Adventure" (2006)
"Food and Drink" (1982)

Fashion
"What Not to Wear" (2002)
"Gok's Fashion Fix" (2008)
"The Clothes Show" (1986)

DIY
"DIY SOS" (1999)
"Changing Rooms" (1997)
"60 Minute Makeover" (2004)

Property Development
"Grand Designs" (1999)
"Homes Under the Hammer" (2003)
"Property Ladder" (2001)

Property Buying
"To Buy or Not to Buy" (2003)
"A Place in the Sun" (2000)
"Location, Location, Location" (2001)

Health
"Embarrassing Illnesses" (2007)
"You Are What You Eat" (2004)
"Honey We're Killing the Kids!" (2005)

Beauty
"How to Look Good Naked" (2006)
"10 Years Younger" (2004/I)

Gardening
"Ground Force" (1998/I)
"Wild About Your Garden" (2008)
"Gardener's World" (1969)

Antiques/Auction
"Antiques Roadshow" (1979)
"Cash in the Attic" (2002)
"Flog It!" (2002)

Consumer
"Watchdog" (1985)
"The Gadget Show" (2004)
"Don't Get Done, Get Dom" (2006)

Motoring
"Top Gear" (2002)
"5th Gear" (2002)

Parenting
"Supernanny" (2004)
"The House of Tiny Tearaways with Dr Tanya Byron" (2005

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BradleyKent: The "possible new genre" that really boggles my mind is: Lifestyle. Isn't any film, with or about people, past, present or future, expressive of a "lifestyle" -- probably of even several "lifestyles"? And isn't one's "lifestyle" always changing? Perhaps it seems constant if one is caught in a "timewarp rut" -- but even then, one's feelings and thoughts about a "lifestyle" are changing -- unless one is dead.

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RichWannen: I can see a fairly large potential overlap between Lifestyle and Educational...It seems to me there is a problem in focussing on the "instructional" aspect of the Lifestyle titles, if the intent is to define them as something different from Educational programming. I don't watch these sort of shows but from the occasional minute here and there, the biggest difference from classroom-type films seems to me to be the informality of the teaching setting.

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Gromit82: Regarding Lifestyle, there must be lots of made-for-video titles that fit into that category. We could probably find a hundred titles just among exercise videos. Also for Lifestyle, I believe some theatrical shorts (such as Penny Wisdom (1937) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029385/) would qualify too.

The intention of the Lifestyle genre is not to define what a normal lifestyle is, but to classify certain titles in terms of their function. Basically, such titles are intended for providing advice about improving one's life in the culture where the title was made and to which it was directed. This refers to shows that give advice and instruction with regard to cooking, fashion, exercise, home decoration, and other topics along these lines.

People in some other cultures may eat different foods, wear different clothes, and have different standards of beauty compared to people in the United States. Americans might consider those aspects of their cultures weird, and people from those cultures might consider those aspects of American culture weird. But if those other cultures make television shows for their own people advising them on cooking food, selecting clothing to wear, or making themselves look good, they would fit into the Lifestyle genre just as comparable American programs would.

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Steve Crook: They were the "Food Flash" shorts shown in cinemas in the UK during WWII - when all food was heavily rationed. They gave people advise about how to make the best use of the small amount of food that they had. This was also a time when just about everyone went to the cinema 2 or 3 times a week. It was a Lifestyle at the time - but it wouldn't be recognised as a lifestyle by most people nowadays

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Jon Reeves: Yes, there is probably a somewhat fuzzy line between Educational/Instructional and Lifestyle; I think the key difference may be that the typical Lifestyle program, while usually instructional, has more entertainment value than a typical Educational/Instructional program and also tends to be more about domestic or personal matters than typical school subjects.

I think the most American term might be "How-to" -- but not all Lifestyle programs would fit that. For example, maybe 10% of What Not to Wear would really qualify as "how-to" with the rest being more about the specific subject's journey (at least the American version; haven't seen the UK version, but I'm assuming it's comparable). Then again, that show verges more into Reality-TV than some others in the Lifestyle category, though there's a lot of crossover. Most cooking shows, though, would not really be Reality-TV; certainly not those of the "plop and stir" variety.

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"Are you hungry? I haven't eaten since later this afternoon".

As I pointed out in the previous thread (quoted elsewhere in this thread), the hundreds of exercise videos that have been released would be a reason not to limit the Lifestyle genre to television shows. Made for video titles need to be included too.

Furthermore, such theatrical shorts as Menu (1933) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fokp0KERDho) and Penny Wisdom (1937) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3_hbPJ2B5I), while having a thin veneer of plot, are devoted primarily to cooking advice. No doubt there are other theatrical titles which would fit into the Lifetstyle genre besides these two Oscar-nominated ones (in fact, Penny Wisdom won the Oscar for Best Short Subject, Color).

I don't see the advantage of using keywords to distinguish theatrical titles if they fit into the Lifestyle genre. If the film clearly is of similar content to the television shows that are included in the Lifestyle genre, it should be just as eligible for inclusion in the genre.

Nothing in the definition ought to limit this genre to TV shows. Other than that, I think the proposed definition is generally on the right track, although I will probably have some more suggestions to edit it as the week goes on.

Totally agree with Gramit's "Nothing in the definition ought to limit this genre to TV shows."

Otherwise, in addition to such films as "Penny Wisdom" and many others, there are scores of "sponsored films" on site---shorts, cartoons (
Pete-Roleum and His Cousins (1939)) and features--- that had theatrical bookings (primarily because they were free) and were about some form of lifestyle...religion, insurance, education, etc.

Okay, that's it for me on Lifestyles. Wouldn't even have had that if I hadn't read Gromit's post.

Meanwhile, what happened to CDPG 4 (II) Cast Order same-week discussion?

Les

The most obvious TV show for the Lifestyle genre is, of course, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."

The use of the words "advice" and "instruction" make it seem more like an Educational or Instructional title, which does not seem applicable to a title like "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" except, perhaps, by example.

I take it that the idea of "Lifestyle" as a genre comes from a Section title in a British Newspaper, but, to an American audience, the word "lifestyle" means something different from a cooking show, or a film on how to arrange flowers or plan a menu, or a video on proper attire when attending William and Kate's wedding. It is a whole defined manner of living,

And then, of course, there is that troublesome keyword "alternate lifestyle," which, I guess, means ANY lifestyle other than the one any specific person is living.

I understand the need for this genre, I think, but too bad that it cannot have a name that will not add to confusion and will not lead to many incorrect submissions if not given a more exacting definition.

A key might be the use of words like "description" and "representation" and perhaps "demonstration" rather than "advice" and "instruction."

An offered revision (subject to further revision):

Non-fiction TV shows, film or video focused on describing and/or demonstrating life-skills, hobbies, and leisure activities other than sports and music. Examples of topics covered include: cooking, fashion, exercise, home decoration, DIY and other topics along these lines.

WTF constitutes "Experimental", something like Mythbusters?

No, not scientific experiments.

They haven't started a thread trying to work out a definition to that one yet, which will have its challenges. Experimental like avant-garde, like the kind of film Man Ray, Andy Warhol, or Yoko Ono would make.

"Ba-chomp, ba-chewy-chomp."

Newly revised suggestion:

Non-fiction TV show, film or video primarily focused on describing and/or demonstrating life-skills, hobbies, and leisure activities other than sports and music. Examples of topics covered include: cooking; fashion; exercise; home decoration and improvement; travel, wedding and party planning; and other topics along these lines.

"Non-fiction" seems necessary to exclude fictional creations. "TV show, film or video" was added to show that the genre is not limited to TV shows. And "travel" has been specified to "travel planning" to distinguish it from all those correctly identified Documentaries ABOUT a travel destination, i.e. all those color Travelogues from the 1940s and 1950s, etc.

I like the adding of "non fiction" to the description, otherwise, you will have a multitude of submissions regarding fiction movies that may deal with the homosexual experience, hookers, drug addicts, etc, because their focus is on a lifestyle different than what is deemed acceptable by society. I can see someone adding "Lifestyle" to the show or movie "Sex and the City" because it is about the lifestyles of a group of single women in NYC. In a way it is instructional, gives helpful suggestions, and insight into life in NYC. Actually, it is based on reality, too, a book on someone's experiences.