Film Studies Glossary

adjective exaggerated or overacted in a theatrical way

• The actor's hammy performance in the play received mixed reviews from the critics.
• I can't believe how hammy that actor was in the movie, it was so over the top!
• She always hams it up whenever she's on stage, it's so entertaining to watch.
• His hammy attempts at flirting were not well received by the girl at the bar.

adjective relating to or characterized by a sexual desire for those of the same sex

• The artist explored themes of homoeroticism in his latest collection.
• Some people find homoerotic movies to be really interesting.
• That TV show has a lot of homoerotic tension between the main characters.
• The intense rivalry between the two soccer players had a homoerotic undertone.

noun a literary device in which virtue is ultimately rewarded or vice punished, often in a manner that is ironic or fitting

• The concept of poetic justice is often explored in literature and philosophy.
• It was like poetic justice when the bully got a taste of his own medicine.
• That was some serious poetic justice when the cheater got caught red-handed.
• The way things turned out felt like poetic justice, as if fate was balancing the scales.