As I said, this came out of the mystery genre, which is subdivided into cozy and hardboiled. Someone at a Malice Domestic once pointed out that although there are certain expected features of each (cozy = amateur detective, hardboiled = usually a pro) what REALLY distinguishes them is the underlying worldview:
Cozy - The world has a fundamental order; people as a whole are generally good. Something has happened to breach the order and it is up to the hero/ine to re-establish balance so everyone can live in peace.
Hardboiled - The world is uncaring and tends to chaos; people are at best self-interested and usually out for what they can get. The hero/ine is staving off entropy and the predation of the weak by the strong until s/he inevitably falls in battle.
Superman, cozy; Batman hardboiled. Buffy, cozy; Angel, hardboiled. Doctor Who, cozy; Torchwood, hardboiled.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-06-08 10:42 am (UTC)Cozy - The world has a fundamental order; people as a whole are generally good. Something has happened to breach the order and it is up to the hero/ine to re-establish balance so everyone can live in peace.
Hardboiled - The world is uncaring and tends to chaos; people are at best self-interested and usually out for what they can get. The hero/ine is staving off entropy and the predation of the weak by the strong until s/he inevitably falls in battle.
Superman, cozy; Batman hardboiled. Buffy, cozy; Angel, hardboiled. Doctor Who, cozy; Torchwood, hardboiled.