The Offbeat Allure of Cult Films 9/17/2012

Throughout this essay, the author continuously quotes people she talked to about cult films. Mansaray uses many different cult films in order to illustrate the idea of a cult film. She also gets many quotes pertaining to each movie that emphasize why they can be considered a "cult film." I think limiting herself to only mentioning 5 cult movies aids in her definition because there is less room for any other interpretations. I don't necessarily agree with her idea that teens are the seekers of cult films, but I can see why she believes that. In my interpretation of this essay, I think she is making a case for cult films by showing who seeks them out and why they like them. I believe her overall point of this essay is to show that teens look for things that aren't mainstream, and the idea of a cult film is surging through the youth in order to find their own place in the world. Does it matter? Who is to say whether someone's writing matters or not? I'm sure there are people out there who will read this and really connect with it in some way, so yes, I would say this essay matters solely because it mattered as some point to someone.

For me, a cult film is something that is "under the Hollywood radar." I tend to gravitate toward cult films like Donnie Darko, Fight Club, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Napoleon Dynamite because I grew up watching them. I don't agree with thew author's idea of teens and cult films because teens usually only like what is new/unknown. For me, its like when you know a really obscure band and nobody else knows who they are, and then when they start catching on, you get pissed because everybody starts to like them. I don't think that teens are the ones who keep these cult films alive, its the people who have stuck with the films throughout, not the ones who jump on and off the bandwagon.