The Geek Beat: Junk Food Films
Filed under: The Geek Beat
I love to study fandom as much as I love to participate in it. The culture of obsession is a fascinating one, and as a college student I harbored delusions of grandeur that I'd be able to crack it -- and not only would I solve it, but I'd do it with a single project in American Culture I. Oh, how easy everything seems when you're 19! Obviously, I failed to plumb the depths of fandom in a single semester, and after years of trying to figure it out, the only thing I'm sure of is that everyone is obsessed with something. It might be anime, it might be the reenacting the Battle of Borodino, but everyone's got their quirk. While you may be able to make a strong case that one is a little more relevant than the other (historical reenactors do have a useful place in terms of education), but I'm not sure you can argue that one is healthier than the other. When you're obsessed, you're intense. It's ok. We all are.
One aspect of film fandom has been nagging me for some time, though, and that's the widespread devotion to bad films. I've been itching to explore it, but have found myself unable to really get the heart of it. However, the heady combination of Best Worst Movie and Troll 2 has given me a little more bravery and inspiration to try and understand just why we watch what we do.
That's a dumb question, right? We watch what we enjoy. We want to have fun when we go to the movies. But I think I speak for everyone when I say that a really good film -- a Martin Scorsese, a Darren Aronofsky, a Peter Weir -- is just as satisfying as a bit of pulpy popcorn. When I've seen something really solid and original, I walk out feeling like that was the best money I've ever spent. So why on earth do we revel in bad movies?
Let me amend that a little, and say that not everyone revels in bad films. I have a good friend who loved to seek out drivel like Surf Nazis Must Die, and I used to just roll my eyes at him. Life was too short to watch bad movies when there were so many good ones waiting to be watched. While it was fun to laugh at a Frogs once in your life, you shouldn't make a habit of it -- not when there was 1001 Films To See Before You Die. I just didn't see the fun in it unless it was Mystery Science Theater 3000.
But something happened my last year or so of college. It started with literature first. I was so worn out by deciphering medieval texts and trying to track down reliable Anglo-Saxon translations that I jumped into comics, graphic novels, and pulp fiction in a very embarrassing way. I won't lie -- I needed the pictures, the easy language, and the simple denouements. I reverted to a 12 year old, and while I've since struck a balance between meaty biographies, classic literature, and Invincible Iron Man, I've never really looked back.
The same thing has happened with film the more I write about it, and study it. I make an concentrated effort to get through those 1001 Films, and I love a brilliant film or documentary. I love to learn and see something new, I like to be shook up in ways I didn't expect. But it's gotten to a point where if you offered me a choice between Precious and Punisher: War Zone, I'd pick the latter. I know which film I should watch, and which would make me feel something other than mild entertainment, but I'd still pick Frank Castle. Lest you think my bias has to do with my enjoyment of violence, comics, or Ray Stevenson, you can replace War Zone with any "bad" movie (not that I think War Zone is in the league of Ed Wood) and I'm ashamed to say my answer would be the same. And oh, the shame! I really do feel a Puritanical guilt about the pleasure of bad movies and bad books, so much so that if a critic put a scarlet T on me (for Tasteless, naturally) for choosing to watch Van Helsing over Frost / Nixon*, I wouldn't protest. I'd embellish it with embroidery to draw more attention to it and be punished further.
I know I'm not the only one. Watching the fandom that flocks around Troll 2 (and being among those really, really thrilled to finally see that slopfest) is comforting and horrifying all at once. Why do we do it? Why does obsession and fandom swirl around so many horrendously bad movies? I wish I could understand why we do it. I know it's because it's fun, but it isn't as easy as that because plenty of good films are also entertaining ones. You would hardly inspire a mass of people to attend any showing of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. But you'd probably get a geek army to attend Tarantula. Why? It's like choosing Doritos over a plate of home made pasta. One is definitely more tasty and filling, but there's just something so luridly appealing about the trashy stuff, and I just can't put my finger on why, particularly when we beg Hollywood to produce good, original films.
Naturally, I know that true film lovers will watch anything from the downright dumb to the gloriously good with equal enthusiasm. But there's something very strange about what truly excites people, and I find that it's the cannibal monks and the killer fandom that can wind up fandom faster than an Oscar contender. I wish I knew why, but as someone who guilty partakes in the culture, I can't even begin to analyze it.
*For the record, I haven't actually done this.
Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams Reunite for 'Mission Impossible 4'
'Big Top Pee-Wee': The Original Benicio Del Toro Wolfman
Spin-ematical: New on DVD and Blu-ray for 2/9
Watch This: Brilliant Oscar-Nominated Short 'Logorama'
Chris Nolan to Lead 'Superman' Reboot!?
_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-17-2009 @ 10:56PM
Caitlin said...
This is very well written and enjoyable to read. I have definitely asked myself this same question before, more than one time. 'Why do I want to watch Kung Fu Hustle instead of Raging Bull?'
Reply
11-17-2009 @ 11:57PM
vegimorph said...
yeah, this is a good article. I just finished watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen for the first time (an ultimate junk food movie if I've ever seen one). I have a theory or two about why people see junky movies.
One theory is that a lot of people want to escape when they go to the movies, myself included, but there aren't that many quality films out there any more. I think when people want to see a movie, most of the time they want a film that's a combination of fun and action packed with a strong story and characters like Casablanca, The Great Escape, Jaws, The French Connection, Star Wars, that kind of stuff. These are the well made escapist movies I'm talking about. People like to see serious great movies like Raging Bull or Taxi Driver as well but most of the time they want something less serious.
Unforuntely there aren't too many films like that any more so audiences are willing to go to films that look fun but are usually sub-par. My second theory is that the studio heads are cowards and are only sticking to pre-sold products and fans of those pre-sold products come in large droves because they love to see their favorite stories and characters on screen. My last theory is that a lot of people out there are boneheads that just like to see bad movies.
Reply
11-18-2009 @ 10:52AM
justin said...
i'm not sure the mystery is all that perplexing, and Elisabeth i think you answered a large part of your own question: the easily "consumable" nature of pulp/genre/junk films, combined with their appeal to our childish sensibilities, is really at the heart of what makes fanboys and fangirls tick.
the excellence of a Requiem for a Dream or a Raging Bull or a There Will Be Blood might demand your admiration, but films like that don't necessarily lend themselves to repeat viewings, for a variety of reasons. they tend to require a lot of attention and effort to appreciate, and do i even need to say that not everyone wants to wear their thinking cap to the theater? just look at the films that rake in the big cheese at the box office. 'nuff said.
there's a reason escapism goes hand in hand with movie going: it's the ultimate reason people do it in the first place.
Reply
11-18-2009 @ 10:58AM
Pudge said...
As a man who proudly boasts about owning the entire body of work of one Mr. Steven Seagal, as well as watching the MST3K version of Manos: The Hands of Fate a dozen times, I think that watching truly bad movies keeps you on your toes as a movie lover. I don't go into Troll 2 wanting to like it, it's lazy and stupid. I go into Troll 2 ready to tear it apart, laughing at inconsistency, thrown for a loop by absurdities, trying to find sense in a land of nonsense. It's always a rewarding experience, especially with like minded friends who laugh at the failure on the screen. In essence, bad movies are comedies, and the only truly bad movies are bad comedies, because they don't take themselves serriously enough for you to enjoy ripping it apart.
Reply
11-18-2009 @ 1:19PM
John Muth said...
I think everyone's on the right track, to as Elisabeth says, "figuring out why" geeks love shitty movies.
Pudge, especially hit on it, when he/she mentions the "like-minded" masses that enjoy this. As it wasn't mentioned, but was part of the header image, the perfect reflection of geek culture is in Snakes On A Plane. A movie made especially for, and altered to more adequately please, us. But, then we see how big of an impact geeks actually make - the movie (essentially) flopped, for those not paying attention. Like it or not, we're still the minority. For a proper metaphor, we're like the kids that like a band because it's theirs; then when that band is signed and on a channel, like MTV (but one that actually plays music), they hate it.
Movies like The Dark Knight, Iron Man and District 9 aren't hits because of the geeks. They're hits because more conventional people went to see them too. But, there's no way those people are going to go see Troll 2, or the documentary about it.
Take my circle of friends - which much like the Breakfast Club, contains a large mix of characters, and even some personality stereotypes - in which, there's a lot of geeks too. But, if we sit down to watch a bad movie (or sometimes, even a good - if not well known movie), it's usually at my behest, and through some compromise or bribing. They like comics, or bad movies on Comedy Central, or even crappy indie-fare about gay/race rights; but if we're going to see My Name is Bruce, well, I have to convince them.
And in that way, it's sort of how we (geeks) are mini-marketing machines for bad movies. We tell enough people to enjoy it with, and spread that little bit of knowledge; like a personally made mixed tape, but we don't want everyone to see them, because then everyone will be watching The Wicker Man (really, you have to watch both!), and we'll just think that the movie has sold out.
Reply