Definition of Cult Cinema
The Short Definition: A cult film is characterized by its active and lively communal following.
The Somewhat Longer But More Precise Definition With Examples:A cult film is defined through a variety of combinations that include four major elements:
EXAMPLE: Mystery Science Theater 3000I Accuse My Parentshttp://www.hulu.com/watch/485365
RESPONSE WRITING: How does this show display a cultural status: the way in which a cult film fits a time or region? In other words, how does it comment on its surroundings, by complying, exploiting, critiquing, or offending.
The Short Definition: A cult film is characterized by its active and lively communal following.
- Highly committed and rebellious in their appreciation, cult audiences are frequently at odds with cultural conventions – they prefer strange topics and allegorical themes that rub against cultural sensitivities and resist dominant politics.
- Cult films transgress common notions of good and bad taste, and they challenge genre conventions and coherent storytelling.
- Among the techniques cult films use are intertextual references, gore, loose ends in storylines, or the creation of a sense of nostalgia.
- Often, cult films have troublesome production histories, coloured by accidents, failures, legends and mysteries that involve their stars and directors.
- In spite of often-limited accessibility, they have a continuous market value and a long-lasting public presence.
The Somewhat Longer But More Precise Definition With Examples:A cult film is defined through a variety of combinations that include four major elements:
- Anatomy: the film itself – its features: content, style, format, and generic modes.
- Consumption: the ways in which it is received – the audience reactions, fan celebrations, and critical receptions.
- Political Economy: the financial and physical conditions of presence of the film – its ownerships, intentions, promotions, channels of presentation, and the spaces and times of its exhibition.
- Cultural status: the way in which a cult film fits a time or region – how it comments on its surroundings, by complying, exploiting, critiquing, or offending.
EXAMPLE: Mystery Science Theater 3000I Accuse My Parentshttp://www.hulu.com/watch/485365
RESPONSE WRITING: How does this show display a cultural status: the way in which a cult film fits a time or region? In other words, how does it comment on its surroundings, by complying, exploiting, critiquing, or offending.