An Introduction to the Millennial Suburban Ensemble Film

Abstract

Part III uses the hermeneutics and narrative theory established in the first half of the book to investigate a film genre that emerged at the end of the millennium: the suburban ensemble dramedy. The first chapter makes the case that suburban ensemble cinema comparatively amalgamates a number of conventions from a range of antecedent genres: infidelity dramas, family trauma dramas, the midlife crisis film and the coming-of-age film, along with works from other media, including socially conscious domestic TV sitcoms. It compares the history of suburban media depiction in American cinema with the lived realities of residentially dispersed contexts as they developed over the second half of the 20th century.