I owe an apology to everyone since I haven't posted here in some time; it's been a hectic month at work, volunteering for the federal election (Vote Green!) and it wasn't until I needed to take a three hour bus trip down to Calgary that there was some sort of dedicated writing time. After Monday I'll be a able to treat you to more and longer posts. With that said, here we go!
A few weeks ago, the local alternative cinema here in Edmonton held a
screening of The Room; supposedly the worst film ever made but one
that has built up an intense and very dedicated cult following.
Prior
to walking into the theatre, I had honestly not heard anything at all
about the film and from the moment I saw a box of plastic spoons for
sale at the box office, I could tell that I was about to take part in
a unique cultural experience. From the opening credits onwards, not
only were we treated to a poorly plotted, badly acted,
unintentionally hilarious piece of film; the actions of fellow
audience members were as entertaining as the movie. Just as in Rocky
Horror, everyone knew exactly when to throw piles of plastic spoons
at the screen (for your information; whenever one of the many framed pictures of a spoon is shown in the film), which corrections
to shout whenever a plot hole is in evidence or exactly how to make
fun of the movie's odd choice of music. I felt like I was being
initiated into a new religion, as opposed to just laughing at a bad
movie.
I
won't bore you with the overall plot details, which are mostly
irrelevant at any rate. The movie is supposed to be an epic romantic
drama; which it utterly fails at achieving. If you want a synopsis,
there are a number of clips up on Youtube which do a far better job
of this than I could do on a blog page. When thinking of The Room,
I'm far more interested in why such a 'bad' film continues to gain a
cult following; especially given that most of the audience on the
night I attended would have been children when it was released in
2003.
Personally,
while I still watch and greatly enjoy much of what "mainstream
Hollywood" produces and am not claiming to be some sort of film
hipster; the formulaic storytelling that we are increasingly subjected to at the
local multiplex can get tiresome. Really think hard about Furious 7
and why on earth such a movie needed to be released in the first
place. Seven of them? Really? How many times can street racing save
the world anyway?
The
endless parade of mindless sequels (with their months of hype and
ubiquitous merchandise) can be quite depressing and the chance to
break the mold, watch something completely different and take part in
a group ritual activity so separate from what you experience when
going to a 'normal' movie theatre goes a long way to explaining why
screenings of cult movies such as The Room are frequently sold out.
These
reasons, especially the chance to take part in a group ritual, also
ring true to me as explanations for the popularity of other cult
films, such as the Rocky Horror Picture Show. When attending a public
showing of one of these movies you feel as if you are part of a
larger community, as opposed to sitting in silence absorbing whatever
Hollywood wants us to see.
What's
more, the only cinemas likely to even consider showing a cult film
are likely to be small, independent picture houses and the
willingness of young people to support these businesses can also be
linked to the Millennial generation's embrace of city life as opposed
to cookie cutter, big box corporate experiences. (more on this in a
future post)
With
all of these things in mind, I feel that the popularity of The Room
and similar cult films will only grow in popularity, especially as
people desire increasingly to build new sources of community, support
independent business and expand their film tastes. Instead of dismissing the cult film phenomenon as just another form of 'ironic' humour enjoyed by modern young people; instead we can see it as the very modest beginnings of a major cultural movement.
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