Screenwriting : Is "Magical Realism" used as a name of genre in the industry, or some other term. by Bill Bittner

Magical Realism is used as a genre, but it's also often used as an excuse for poorly plotted stuff or things that just don't make any sense. So it can be a two edged sword.

It's often used in magic set in urban locations to differentiate from fantasies that are more often thought of as lord of the rings type stories.

It's both a genre and a description that can be added... Defintion from Mirriam Webster dictionary - a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction —called also magical realism. — magic realist noun. So I've heard Beasts of the Southern Wild described as a Drama with elements of magical realism, also heard it called magical realism in totality,

And not to be confused with the "magical realism" of the great novelist Gabriel García Márquez and his Latin American contemporaries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Garc%C3%ADa_M%C3%A1rquez#Realism_an...

Hi Bill, in my experience, magical realism is typically discussed as a subgenre within a larger overall genre(s), and it can be an element utilized within a screenplay.