Carolyn Miller is a genre theorist who suggests that 'the number of genres in any society...depends on the complexity and diversity of society'. She also believes that new media genres develop and formalise quicker than traditional, written genres and therefore genre theory should change for more modern media as the theory no longer applies. Carolyn Miller created a piece of work on the socio-cultural approach to genre theory and argues in her 1984 book that 'rhetorical criticism has not provided firm guidance on what constitutes a genre' and exposed some of the difficulties of applying genre theory to new media.
'rhetorically sound definition of genre must be centred not on the substance or form of discourse but on the action it is used to accomplish'
Taxi Driver from 1976 shows a character who has a military past, and will therefore appear as a hero to much of the audience. This is however proved incorrect through the subsequent actions of the character, on the other hand, in The Place Beyond the Pines, the main character is depicted as someone who would fit a stereotype for a criminal. The protagonist in Taxi Driver is an honourably discharged U.S Marine so he doesn't appear as an obvious threat to the country however the climax of the film sees him trying to assassinate the President. The Place Beyond the Pines released in 2013 shows two main character, one a working class traveler turned bank robber and the other a police officer who is hailed as a hero. The similarity between the two films is that the characters who have served their country get away with their crimes, however the characters are not of the same background, Taxi Driver shows the person committing the crime go free while the opposite happens in The Place Beyond the Pines, resulting in the characters death.
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