Genre theory provides a framework for categorizing texts like films and music into types based on common elements. While genres were traditionally seen as fixed forms, scholars now recognize genres as dynamic and always changing in response to society. Genres survive through a process of hybridization, borrowing conventions from one another. Genres are recognizable through repeated use of codes and conventions within their narratives, representations, ideologies, and iconography. However, genre theory is not without weaknesses, as rigid adherence to genres may reduce creativity.