The Cultstream

I’ve recently started a new podcast called CULTISM (available soon, link to follow) with @iantodd82 in which we hook up via the internets and discuss culty TV, music, film and the like. We had our first conversation last night, which was a bit of an overview of CULT – and it quickly became apparent that our ideas of what made something cult differed quite a bit.

This led me to wonder what exactly pushes something into 'the cultstream'. Doctor Who is a great example; it’s always been on a mainstream channel at a mainstream time but – during its 15 or 16 year “rest” it achieved cult status. Was this just because it wasn’t there anymore? Was it down to the (not really) wobbly sets? Was it down to the fantastic ideas it presented, budget be damned? Could Doctor Who, now it’s a worldwide phenomena and the BBCs biggest property, still be called cult viewing?

I’m going to dip my toe into untested waters here and try to be intelligent and informative for a moment: the word cult comes from the Latin cultus and French culte which mean ‘worship, inhabited, cultivated’ and the verb colere which means ‘care, cultivated’ – now as a proud geek that really resonates with me: I do care about and cultivate, some might say worship, these unimportant things that I love.

Wow. That was weird. I didn’t mention bodily functions, or crack a joke that was in bad taste.

In the 1930s the word cult started to be used in conjunction with the study of religious behaviour but it wasn’t until the 1970s that it took on a new life – thanks, Family Manson! From this point it was synonymous with deviant religious groups, brainwashing and the more modern connotations that we now associate with suicide guzzling alien chasers. I’m pretty jealous of anyone that has that much belief in something, such unswerving faith (more on that another time) but they are nutters. Aren’t they?

From this time though cults were seen as highly devoted groups of people; so when you think about it there’s not much difference between the more mental end of the scale and the throngs about to head off to the SFX Weekender (except in Mansons' house you probably got more amenities – have you ever been to a Pontins?).

Since then though cult has expanded into what we now know as the world of Geek. Bands, films, TV etc with a small but passionate following – people who have an emotional attachment to the things they love and a sense of community. That’s the positive we can take from it – and with the advent of the internet, and podcasts, and Twitter and conventions becoming ever more popular people have brilliant and loving communities to embrace everything that they love about the world called Earth. That’s brilliant, isn’t it?

Ian started talking about things like Sherlock and brand new bands that I’d never heard of and I wondered if a cult following had to be earned over time: @gareth_uk spoke to me about the original (nee good) The Prisoner – his Dad worked on it – and that’s another good example of what in my eyes makes something that falls well into the cult category. I don’t know what viewing figures were like when it originally aired but it’s definitely now got a ‘Do Not Tamper’ sticker stuck on its bumper. But could it be called popular, even now? Is a new video that's gone viral on YouTube cult viewing? It's been seen by lots of people but is the effort there? Does that even matter now?

Traditionally, cult has generally meant "too bizarre, controversial, eccentric or anti-establishment to be appreciated by the general public". It's something that did Ed Wood a definite service, as many young hipsters - with their clever irony - have shot his terrible films into the stratosphere of the post-modern. Does cult apply to anything that's 'so bad it's good'? How do we qualify bad and good? And badgood? Who decides? THE WIZARDS?

Well, for bad or good, you can can pretty much get what you want when you want it, how you want it now. That's great. It's bringing people together (whether that's to worship an alien god and drink the "special head juice" or just tweet each other viewing suggestions) and it's brilliant. So big one up the subbaculture!

Or maybe it's just the mainstream that's changed.



Tweet me your thoughts (and any cult stuff for us to experience): @HarryMedium



Harry Medium enjoyed/was scared by/was scared by and enjoyed the following cults:

• Eraserhead
  


• The films of George A. Romero



• Blade Runner (with and without voiceover)



• Transformers The Movie (the cartoon one)



• A Very Peculiar Practice



• They Live



• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre



• The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou



• Evil Dead 1,2,3



• Akira



• This Is Spinal Tap



• The Shawshank Redemption



• Twin Peaks



• Quadrophenia



• Firefly



• Streethawk



• Farscape



• Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)



• Pavement



• Swervedriver



• Diesel Park West

Harry Medium doesn't know in which camp to place Doctor Who and Star Wars.