191 lines
8.9 KiB
Plaintext
191 lines
8.9 KiB
Plaintext
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What's Cult
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release 1
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by Burnin' of UNKNOWN Prez
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November 25th, 2001
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Introduction
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Today we're going to talk about cult. Not about *a cult* or *cults* like in
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"I joined this cult which worshippes the Devil", but *what's* cult, like in
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"this movie is simply cult". The reason I'm writing this little article is
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because this word has been shamelessly overused in the past few years and
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this makes me a little angry. What pushed me over the edge was a Sprite (I
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think it was Sprite, but it might have been some potato chips) commercial. I
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*truly* hope that this was the (mis)work of our Estonian translators, but as
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I haven't seen this clip in it's original language then I can't know.
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Anyway, this commercial advertised a "cult-bear" which comes along with the
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drink (or can be won or something). What the hell! A fuckin'
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"cult-bear"!?!?! So, in this textfile I'm giving some basic knowledge about
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the use of the word "cult" to all you youngsters out there who plan to work
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one day in a position (as director, copywriter, designer) where you can say a
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word or two about what advertising slogan will be used for some particular
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product. Why exactly youngsters? Because those shitty suits who *currently*
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do have the power don't read textfiles. And as everyone will stop reading
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such non-pyrochratic material as this text the second thdy become suits then
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I can just *try* to tell you the things *before* this tragedy happens.
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So, the rules of "cult"
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The FIRST and most important rule of "cult"
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NOT EVERYTHING CAN BE CULT! A "cult" thing has to have some "cult
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characteristics" before you can use the C word on it. The most
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noticeable point is that the product is *different*. That can be like
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"there's never been anything like it" or "yeah, it resembles to the other
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thing, but still..." or "it's so bad that it's already good". Actually
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the last is the best.
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The SECOND rule of "cult"
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Producers/directors/writers, ie MAKERS CAN NOT DECLARE THAT THEIR PRODUCT
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IS CULT! Readers/buyers/viewers, ie users must say that. So, to give
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you an example [* side note: don't you just love dear ol' uncle Burnin'
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who so eagerly submits examples every time he can? :) *]: HBO (for the
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non-US citizens: it's a US TV-company) produces a new show they can't
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say: "It's cult". At most they can say: "It's going to be cult". But if
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now Pro7 (*for* the US-residents: probably the best channel German
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television has to offer) buys, translates/synchronizes (I don't know why
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but Germans synchronize *everything*) and sends the show they *can* say
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that it's cult. That's because they're the users, even if the product is
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given forward.
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The THIRD rule of "cult"
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IT'S NOT POSSIBLE TO SAY RIGHT AFTER THE PRODUCT HAS COME OUT THAT IT'S
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CULT! This means that time has to show that the thing really becomes
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cult.
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The FOURTH rule of "cult"
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THE PRODUCT HAS TO HAVE DEDICATED FANS! That's the reason behind the
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word "cult": exactly as by "religious cults" fans are almost obsessed
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with the product, it becomes their religion. The fans also gather into
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groups and perhaps even develop connections to other groups, thus forming
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a global fan group. And like real religious relics (like the Bible) a
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"cult" thing will be studied, mimicked, analyzed, it will inspire fans
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and countless essays/articles about it will be written. But there's one
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other thing: something can't be cult if the fandom ain't right. That's
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the biggest reason for 1st rule. "Cult" is a Generation X thing. The
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main reason for it is that older people don't have the passion nor enough
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fantasy and often not even the time to mess with some x thing or find
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something religious about it.
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As you see the above mentioned cult-bear without question doesn't meet the
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requirements of being cult. It was distributed as cult (fails rule 3) by the
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creators (fails rule 2). It doesn't clearly fail rule 1 (a teddybear ain't as
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"never ever can be cult" thing as for example dish-washing fluids) but it
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doesn't show any signs of fulfiling rule 4.
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-=-=-=-
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Notes
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-=-=-=-
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While technically quite some things can be cult (but *not* everything, rule
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1) the main target for the C word are movies and books. Writer's or actors
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usually can't be cult, but characters can. That's because what people mainly
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admire are the characters/stories, not those who played/wrote it. OK, they
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do admire the writers too, but what do you think a real fan would like to be,
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the writer or the character?
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The best analogy I've found for "cult" is "classic", like in "Hemingway's
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books are classics" (are they?) Because you can't say "It's classic", you
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can't even say "It's going to be classic" (2nd rule), the writer can only
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wait (3rd rule) and hope that *others* say that his/her creation's a classic
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(2nd rule), classic things are being analyzed and often inspire people (4th
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rule). The 1st rule ain't so constant by classical things, but I guess many
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are also somehow different from the rest.
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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A few things that are cult
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"X-Files"
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It was different, it started the whole X-series (see below) boom, there are
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countless websites and fan groups. And after 6 (or is it 8?) years it's
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still running.
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"South Park"
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Awful drawings, in every episode atleast one person gets killed, dirty
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language, lot's and lot's of sick jokes. Basically everything you need for a
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cult show :)
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Monty Python
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To be specific: everything they've produced. "The Flying Circus" is old, but
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full of nonsense and jokes most people don't get. And has been an
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inspiration to whole generations. Simply put: probably the best parody ever
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made.
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Tolkien
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I think...Haven't like read anything from him, but it seems that his
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creations (or atleast some of them) are cult.
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"Star Trek"
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It's old, but has created a universe of it's own (about 10 movies (counting
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the "Next Generation" ones) and 3 follow up series). There are many fans,
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conventions. It has even produced the term "trekkie". So, I guess it's
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cult.
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"Hitchhiker's Guide To Galaxy"
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This is a personal opinion, but this book (and it's 4 sequels) has all
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characteristics of cult: it's funny, *way* different from any other sci-fi
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book I've ever read, a whole way of living can be designed after this book.
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I don't know how's it with the fans, but atleast I'm one.
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Stephen King
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The king of horror. That's another personal opinion of mine. He's written
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many books, which are humorous and scary. Many of his texts have been used
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as a basis to movies. And he shows no signs of stopping. He's creations do
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have the basic characteristics: existed for a while, different (or atleast
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good :) , there are many fans and several studies about his works. I might
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be wrong but I guess that's cult.
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"Neuromancer"
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Often considered to be the first cyberpunk book. Has inspired many.
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Probably can be called cult.
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[* X-series: a 90's not-completely-sci-fi series
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More precisely a criminal series which deals with supernatural
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or alien things and/or government conspiracies.
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Examples: "X-Files", "Millennium", "The Profiler"
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Also a 90's realization of the old "innocent but on the run"
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story with (almost) supernatural things and/or conspiracies
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Examples: "Dark Skies", "The Pretender", "1st Wave",
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"Visitor"
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*]
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Conclusion
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You should avoid labeling things. Especially if you're using a label like
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"cult". Well, atleast about this one you have concrete rules which to
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follow. Don't you just wish that this statement would apply to
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everything?
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= (G)reetware by Burnin' , 2001 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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-=-=-=-=-=-=- UNKNOWN Prez - "dedicated fans of Textfiles.Com" -=-=-=-=-=-=-
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-=-=-=-=-=-=- more or less reachable through cyberrax@yahoo.com -=-=-=-=-=-=-
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