The melodramatic legacy

Authors

Keywords:

Melodrama, Television series, Antihero

Abstract

Despite clichés, melodrama is one of the major cultural and stylistic influences on contemporary fiction. It’s a veritable legacy, present today in numerous successful products across a variety of media. Melodrama’s characteristics are particularly popular in serial drama and the crime genre, with the archetype of the antihero becoming a vehicle for complex narratives and the expression of profound moral conflicts.

Author Biography

  • Carlo Frigenti, Naples Academy of Fine Arts

    Carlo Frigenti (Naples, 1996) is a screenwriter, director, and film producer, and co-founder of Alchemia Pictures. A PhD candidate in Film, Audiovisual Arts, Sound, and Media Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, he has developed a solid background in film and audiovisual arts, combining his writing and production with a strong interest in new audiovisual languages, combining practice, research, and training. His works have received national recognition.

References

M. Lyons, How TV fell back in love with soaps, in “New York Magazine”, Vulture (29 ottobre 2015), https://www.vulture.com/2015/10/primetime-soap-operas-are-back.html.

M. B. Vaage, Fictional Reliefs and Reality Checks, in “Screen”, Vol. 54, No. 2 (2013).

C. Platinga, I Followed the Rules, and they all Loved You More: Moral Judgment and Attitudes Toward Fictional Characters in Film, in “Midwest Studies in Philosophy”, No. 34 (2010).

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Published

31-05-2026

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 00 (2026): The new frontiers of cinema and audiovisuals

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Carlo Frigenti (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

The melodramatic legacy. (2026). BLACKOUT. Cinema and Other Visions, 1(00). https://blackout.abana.it/index.php/blackout/article/view/17

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