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Category:Cult Classic: Difference between revisions
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{{IndexTrope}}
[[File:zardoz worship 1689.jpg|link=Zardoz|frame|[[Public Service Announcement|Zardoz explains:]] ''"The cult is good. [[It's Popular, Now It Sucks|The popular is evil]]. Go forth...and kill!"'']]
{{quote|''[[You Keep Using That Word|"Cult" is a word]] that people were saying... a cult is popular as well, of course. You can't have a show that's just weird, that no-one watches. That's not cult, that's just... maybe a bad show that no-one wants to watch.''
|'''Chris Barrie''', ''[[Red Dwarf]] A to Z''}}
The air that every [[Geek]] breathes, a Cult Classic is a film or other work which has a devoted, even if sometimes small, fanbase. Some Cult Classics are obscure commercial failures at the time of their premiere which have [[Vindicated by History|since then]] successfully attracted a fanbase, even to the extent of becoming moneyspinners. Although this is the common public perception to a Cult Classic, some Cult movies were in fact box-office successes at the time but maintained a cult following long after public interest has moved onto the next flavour of the month. It's probably for this reason that some films with a strong cult following (eg ''[[The Blues Brothers]]'') are sometimes wrongly assumed to have been unsuccessful at their time of release.
Cult classics have an unusual shelf life, and seemingly avert the [[Popularity Polynomial]] completely. Rather than receiving a short but large burst of popularity before ultimately fading completely into obscurity, cult classics receive a marginal amount of attention almost indefinitely. It's a good bet that a show or movie considered a cult classic 30 years ago will still be such today.
Though some movie studios have intentionally tried to position releases as Cult-Classics-To-Be (like ''[[Mirror Mask]]'' and ''[[Snakes on a Plane]]''), perhaps hiring a bunch of [[Cult Actor]]s and [[Cult Soundtrack|funky music]], it is not usually successful. A true Cult Classic is as rare as capturing lightning in a bottle.
Note that not all cult classics are actually ''good''. Although many of them are, or at least, are [[Nostalgia Filter|remembered as such]]. In fact, many cult classics are [[So Bad It's Good|hilariously bad]]—which is ''why'' their fans [[Guilty Pleasure|adore them]]. These are sometimes called [[Camp|"Camp Classics"]].
See also [[Too Good to Last]], though this extends to every medium. See also [[Critical Dissonance]] when the critics hate it, and [[Critic Proof]] when...the critics hate it, also. If it's a critical darling on the art-house circuit, but has no following beyond that, that's the ''other'' kind of [[Critical Dissonance]]. Contrast [[Quality by Popular Vote]], which is the inverse trope. Compare [[Stoner Flick]] and/or [[B-Movie]].<ref>Not all [[B-Movie|B Movies]] have a cult following; see page quote. [[Stoner Flick]]s are usually considered cult, however</ref>
Often the term [[You Keep Using That Word|"cult"]] is (perhaps) [[Evolving Trope|inaccurately]] applied to anything that is both old and has a devoted fan following, even if it was popular ''at the time''. If the devoted fan following is rooted in it being both old and critically-acclaimed, and thus popular with fans of classic works in general (e.g. [[The Marx Brothers]]), it probably doesn't count.
Also note that "cult classic" is an affectionate English expression for a work of this type, and does not mean that it's a "classic" in the same sense of, say, a "classic novel" or "essential work". Unless the fandom are surrounded by a sea of indifference, such usage is too broad to be meaningful, so works such as ''[[Star Wars]]'' don't count. Otherwise, the phrase would be meaningless, as [[Roger Ebert]] has noted in lamenting [[You Keep Using That Word|its misuse]], since it does carry certain genre-specific connotations.
The word "classic" may also be seen as an intensifier of sorts, implying works that have become seen as cult over the years, similar to a [[Sleeper Hit]]—due to factors such as [[Audience Participation]], [[Notable Quotables]], or other engrossing aspects that attract a select audience who [[Watch It for the Meme|proselytize fervently]] and disdain non-believers.
One good measurement to use when in doubt, is critical consensus. If a work is commonly described by critics as quirky, fringe, bizarre or off-putting to newcomers, and therefore "cult", then that meets the definition of the trope. If this is actually used as a selling point, then that is a good sign. An even better sign is if critics debate [[It's Popular, Now It Sucks|whether or not it's still cult]].
On [[The Other Wiki]], "something of a cult classic" (exact words, always; see for yourself) is a well-worn [[Justifying Edit]].
Note that most of these cult classics have their own pages already.
When a cult classic actually does become popular, expect geeks to complain [[It's Popular, Now It Sucks]].
A standard guide in the cult film genre is [[Danny Peary Cult Movies List]].
<small>''When listing works by the same author, please don't list, say, the '''entire filmography''' of a director with a cult reputation. A cult classic should have a '''small but devout following in the absence of widespread current popular acclaim,''' in addition to the work itself meeting the definition of the trope. Only list those works by a given author for which the label is justified.'' Of course, with "Cult Classic" being (turned into) a category, it is impossible to do this any more.</small>
[[Category:Index Index]]
[[Category:Audience Reactions]]
[[Category:Older Than Steam]]
[[Category:Show Business]]
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