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Cult Movie History

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Humans have the tendency to become obsessed, regardless of how strange the person or thing may seem. From sporting teams to musicians or restaurants to films, people love having something to call “theirs.” It comes as no surprise that moviegoers attach themselves to movies and invest their time and money into supporting it. The term, cult-following, has changed from a negative connotation of drinking the Kool-Aid to an aspiration for film-makers. Without knowing it, Ethan and Joel Coen created a foundation on which fans could build and expand upon their experience with The Big Lebowski (Coen, 1998). Fans have been around as long as written history has been around to document them. Deriving from the word “fanatic,” its original use was …show more content…

Sometimes the films are ignored by society, however; if the movie is quirky enough it may develop a very specific group of fans that love it for the reasons that the majority didn’t. These movies are known as “cult films.” Though many believe they have recently become a phenomenon thanks to the internet, cult movies have been around since the beginning of motion pictures. The first major cult film was Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922) (Hoffman). Today it is widely known the film is a retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Unfortunately, so did Stocker’s widow. She sued and bankrupted the production company. All copies of the film were seized and destroyed. However, the reason we are able to see the film and study it in Film and Media classes today is because it was kept alive by its cult following. Its fans kept copies of the original film and produced and shared their own bootlegged versions. The internet has helped more obscure films reach a wider audience with discussion forums and online communities of likeminded individuals. The Big Lebowski has been called the first cult film of the internet era (Chung, “The Achievers”). In 1998, Joel and Ethan Coen were coming down from the success of their critically acclaimed homespun murder story, Fargo. They decided to revive a screenplay from the shelf they had written around the same time as Barton Fink (1991). Inspired by real stories, The Big Lebowski is the story of the Dude and his misadventures in his quest to replace his soiled rug. Fargo was a popular and critical hit, winning 71 awards and nominated for 52 (Awards). Lebowski opened with an extremely underwhelming $5.5 million. Over time it grossed $46 million worldwide. It’s an easy movie to pass

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