Wordsmith collection

Culture, Media & Critique

by Wordsmith @wordsmith

87 words for reviewing and analysing film, books and media — trope, auteur, diegetic, gravitas and the critic's toolkit.

• absurdist Connected with writing and ideas that treat the world as senseless.
• adaptation The process of changing something, or being changed, to suit a new situation.
• allegorical Telling a story whose characters and events stand for something else.
• antagonist Someone who is against you, an opponent or enemy.
• antihero A main character who acts in unheroic ways, like through crime, cowardice or greed.
• archetype The ideal example of something, or the original model that others copy.
• atmospheric Coming from or having to do with the air around the earth.
• audience surrogate A character who serves to express the questions and confusion of the audience, such as a detective's assistant who asks for clarification regarding how a case was solved.
• auteur A film director with a strong personal style and full creative control.
• avant-garde Innovative and pioneering, especially when extremely or obviously so.
• bleak Cheerless and miserable, with nothing good to look forward to.
• breaking the fourth wall present participle and gerund of break the fourth wall
• camp An outdoor place where people stay for a short time in tents or simple shelters.
• campy Showy and kitschy in an over the top way, often on purpose.
• censorious Always ready to blame or find fault with other people.
• cerebral Using thought and intellect rather than feeling or the body.
• characterization The act of describing what someone or something is like.
• cinematography The art and work of filming movies.
• cliché Clichéd; having the characteristics of a cliché.
• cliffhanger An ending that leaves a story unresolved to create suspense.
• controversial Likely to make people argue or strongly disagree.
• convention A practice or way of doing things that people in a group widely follow.
• cut To divide something with a knife, scissors or another sharp tool.
• derivative Imitating the work of someone else instead of being original.
• didactic Meant to teach something, often a moral lesson, sometimes too preachy.
• diegetic Happening inside the story world, where the characters can hear or see it.
• diversity The quality of being varied, or a range of different kinds.
• dystopian As bad as can be, full of human suffering and misery.
• edgy Nervous and uneasy about what might happen.
• editing The work of checking and improving a piece of writing.
• ensemble A group of musicians, dancers or actors who perform together.
• escapist Giving a way to avoid or forget real life through fantasy.
• experimental Made or done as a trial to see what happens.
• formulaic Closely following a set formula or a predictable pattern.
• franchise Permission from a company to sell its goods or services in a certain area.
• genre A kind or style of book, film, music or other art.
• genre-bending Characterized by subversion of generic tropes or fusion of disparate genres.
• gravitas Seriousness and dignity in a person's bearing and manner.
• gritty Full of sand or small hard bits.
• groundbreaking New and different, doing something that has never been done before.
• haunting Staying in your mind and hard to forget.
• homage Something you do or say to show great respect for someone.
• iconic Famous and distinctive, a classic example of its type.
• immersive Making you feel fully surrounded by an experience, as if you are inside it.
• inclusive Taking in everything within its range, from one end to the other.
• innovative Bringing in new ideas, or thinking ahead of others.
• insightful Showing a clear and deep understanding of something.
• melodramatic Showing far more emotion than a situation really calls for.
• moralistic Narrowly concerned with judging how other people behave, in a self-righteous way.
• motif A recurring or dominant element in a work of art, an artistic theme.
• narration The telling of a story, or spoken words that explain what is happening.
• narrative An account that tells an event or a series of events.
• narrator The person or voice that tells the story.
• nuanced Having many small layers of detail or meaning.
• original Existing from the beginning, or coming before all the others.
• over-the-top Alternative form of over the top (see usage notes).
• pacing Walking in steps, or the way those steps are timed and spaced.
• parody A work that copies another in a mocking or ironic way.
• pastiche A work of art, writing or music that imitates the style of an earlier artist.
• plot The series of events that make up a story.
• poignant Stirring strong emotion, even distress, and deeply moving.
• polarizing Making people take strongly opposed sides, loved by some and hated by others.
• portrayal A picture or description of someone or something.
• pretentious Trying too hard to seem important or impressive, more than is deserved.
• protagonist The main character, or one of the main characters, in a story, play or film.
• provocative Meant or likely to make people angry or cause a strong reaction.
• reboot To restart a computer so that its operating system loads again.
• representation Something that shows or stands for something else, such as a figure or image.
• resonate To connect with people's feelings or ideas and have an effect on them.
• satire Humour, irony and exaggeration used to mock faults and push for change.
• score The number of points someone has earned in a game.
• sentimental Guided by tender feelings rather than by reason.
• spoof A light, funny imitation that gently makes fun of something.
• stereotype A fixed, oversimplified idea of what a person or group is like.
• storyline The plot of a story, or one of several plots woven together.
• subplot A smaller story that runs alongside the main story.
• supporting Holding up or helping something else.
• surreal Like a dream, strange and full of things that do not fit together.
• symbolism The use of images or objects to stand for ideas.
• theme The subject of a talk or an artistic piece, or a recurring idea.
• titular Being the person or thing that the title of a story or work names.
• tongue-in-cheek Not intended seriously; jocular or humorous.
• trope A theme that keeps coming back in a type of art or writing.
• understated Restrained and not showy.
• utopian Imagining a perfect world or plan that is often not practical.
• visceral Felt deep in the body as a strong feeling, rather than thought through.
• whimsical Acting on sudden fancies rather than reason, playful and hard to predict.

Definitions from Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0) and Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).