South Seas genre

The South Seas genre is a genre spanning various expressive forms including literature, film, visual art, and entertainment that depicts the islands of the southern Pacific Ocean through an escapist narrative lens.^[1] Stories may sometimes take place in tropic settings like the Caribbean or Bermuda. Many Hollywood films were produced on studio backlots or on Santa Catalina Island. The first feature non-documentary film made on location was Lost and Found on a South Sea Island, shot in Tahiti.

The genre was known for its portrayal of tropical men as savages and cannibals, and women as shapely, innocent, exotic beauties.^[2] The genre was seen as financially lucrative by the movie studios in the 1940s, despite criticisms that the genre was unrealistic and not well-informed.^[3] Typical examples include 1941's South of Tahiti and White Savage (1943).^[4] Island themed films also served as a kind of travelogue for a middle class film going public that could not afford what was deemed the ultimate once in a lifetime romantic getaway. Those that could afford tropical island vacations had to endure a weeks long ocean liner journey. Later in the 20th century and with the advent of jet travel such lengthy treks to island paradises would be more feasible.