Genre

* This film belongs to the comedy genre, and the reason as to why is because of the multiple comedy scenes seen within the film. This leads onto the generic conventions within the text where full-on comedy is shown; mainly during the scene where Evan is shown trying to shave off his beard, but seeing that it is continues to grow back, even seconds after he has shaved.

* Many of the iconographic features of the text are the links between stories from the Bible and the actors. For example, seen early on within the film is a billboard saying that the cinema is now screening the film "The 40 Year Old Virgin Mary"; this can be used as an iconographic feature due to Steve Carell having been the protagonist within the film "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and clearly the Biblical figure of the Virgin Mary.

* Many of the characters are based upon the personalities of which they must portray. For example, Evan Baxter portrays a kind, intelligent man who has everything he could possibly want therefore making him a likable character, whereas Congressman Long portrays different. Congressman Long is portrayed as being a dislikable character due to his disgruntled behaviour shown close to the end of the film. Having a variety of characters may allow the film to gain a large audience in order for them to see whether any conflict takes place between these characters which is possibly the reason as to why the writers may have created these characters.

* The audience's generic expectations of the text have been fulfilled to a good extent due to the multiple comedy scenes. As an audience, we expect a comedy film to be full of comedy scenes, which further leads to the result that the text does infact conform to the characteristics of the genre as it is shown to be funny and entertaining.

* Steve Carell (who plays the role of Evan Baxter) is known for his roles in other comedy films such as "The 40 Year Old Virgin", "Little Miss Sunshine", "Get Smart" as well as being known for playing Michael Scott in the American sitcom "The Office". As a result of being either the lead character or second lead character in many comedy films and shows it would be easy for him alone to being in an audience for the film due to him having gained a large amount of fans as a result of portraying these multiple roles.