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A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A Cult film, book, musical artist, television series, or video game, among other things, is said to have a cult following when it has a very passionate fandom.
A common component of cult followings is the emotional attachment the fans have to the object of the cult following, often identifying themselves and other fans as members of a community. Cult followings are also commonly associated with . Cult media are often associated with Subculture, and are considered too eccentric or anti-establishment to be appreciated by the Public or to be widely commercially successful.
Many cult fans express their devotion with a level of irony when describing such entertainment. Fans may become involved in a subculture of fandom, either via Fan convention, online communities or through activities such as writing Fan fiction, costume creation, replica prop and model building, or creating their own audio or video productions from the formats and characters.
Some cults are only popular within a certain subculture. The film Woodstock (1970) is especially loved within the hippie subculture, while Hocus Pocus (1993) holds cult status among American women born in the 1980s and early 1990s. (1999). 094118871X, Michael Wiese Film Productions. 094118871X Certain mainstream icons can become cult icons in a different context for certain people. Reefer Madness (1936) was originally intended to warn youth against the use of marijuana, but because of its ridiculous plot, overwhelming number of factual errors and cheap look, it became watched by audiences of cannabis smoking and has gained a cult following.
Quentin Tarantino's films borrow stylistically from classic cult films, but are appreciated by a large audience; therefore, Tarantino's filmography is noted worldwide as lying somewhere between cult and mainstream cinema. Also, certain cult phenomena can grow to such proportions that they become mainstream, such as the filmography of cult directors like John Waters, John Sayles, John Cassavetes, Armando Bó, Eliseo Subiela, Ruggero Deodato, Takeshi Kitano, Abbas Kiarostami or Jesús Franco.
David Lynch's Twin Peaks ran on ABC for two seasons from 1990 to 1991, initially garnering high ratings and critical acclaim. Ratings and reception declined following ABC's demand that the show reveal the core mystery of Laura Palmer's murderer, the revelation of which was not ever intended to be revealed in the show by Lynch and co-creator Mark Frost. Eventually, the show was canceled, ending on a cliffhanger. It was not until 2017 that Twin Peaks returned as a limited series on Showtime, ending one of the longest hiatuses in television history.
Series often considered cult classics include the long-running BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, the ITV sci-fi thriller series The Prisoner, the Australian soap opera , the Indian soap opera that ran for eight years Kasautii Zindagii Kay the mock animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast aired on Cartoon Network (which then spawned many spin-offs and other shows that had a similar sense of humor as Coast to Coast when Adult Swim became a block on the network), and the animated television show (which spawned a large fanbase of adult viewers called bronies). A large proportion of the titles aforementioned within this article might not be considered cult classics due to their wide saturation within contemporary audiences, though the term cult classics may have loose classifications such as an initially unsuccessful release or large number of cliches (intentional or otherwise) leading to such a broad range of classification relative to personal experiences of its assigner.
Punk rock has produced several albums with cult followings. The Ramones' 1976 self-titled debut album sold poorly, but was hugely influential on the then-young punk movement, and eventually sold well enough to earn a gold sales certification in 2014. The British post-punk band Magazine also released their debut, Real Life (1978), to little popular success, reaching only number 29 in the UK. Its subsequent acclaim as an innovative and influential work in the burgeoning post-punk genre earned it a reputation as a cult classic. In 1982, the American hardcore punk band Bad Brains released their self-titled debut exclusively on cassette, struggling to gain an audience in the vinyl-dominated marketplace. The appearance of the single "Pay to Cum" on the compilation album Let Them Eat Jellybeans! (1981) helped Bad Brains develop a following in the UK, while the album's musical innovation and growing influence later ensured it a cult-classic status among followers of hardcore punk.
Some alternative albums have also developed cult followings. The American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails released their 1989 debut Pretty Hate Machine to modest success on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 75. It developed an underground popularity in subsequent years and sold enough to receive a platinum RIAA certification in 1995, becoming one of the first independently released albums to accomplish the feat. Also in 1989, Nirvana's debut album Bleach was released to some positive notice from critics, but failed to impact record charts, until the band's massively successful 1991 album Nevermind drew further interest to it.
The R&B singer Bilal's second album, Love for Sale, became a cult classic after Music leak in 2006 and being notoriously shelved by Interscope Records. The musically experimental album quickly developed a following and acclaim online, becoming what The Village Voice writer Craig D. Lindsey called "the black-music equivalent of Fiona Apple's once-shelved (and also notoriously bootlegged) album Extraordinary Machine".
Japanese dub and dream pop band Fishmans gained a dedicated online cult following after the death of frontman Shinji Sato via word-of-mouth spread on imageboard and music forum sites throughout the 2000s and 2010s.
In September 2021, AMC Theatres began airing a commercial starring actress Nicole Kidman in its theaters and on television. The commercial became a surprise hit among audiences, who came to appreciate the unintentional campiness of its earnestly rhapsodic style and script, particularly the line "Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this." It has inspired internet memes, parodies, and in-theatre audience participation rituals.
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