Cult Behaviors
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23577945 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock (0000-0002-9251-7087, English, Central Michigan University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Pages | 206-219 |
| Publication date | 2023-03-22 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Oxford Handbook of New Science Fiction Cinemas (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197557723.013.13 |
| OpenAlex | W4353092344 |
| ISBN | 9780197557723 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
The cult science fiction (sf) film is one that, in various ways, is excessive in relation to common understandings of the genre. It is typically weirder, stranger, quirkier, and/or of lesser quality than other sf films. This chapter defines that difference and focuses specifically on a cult subcategory—the quirky dystopian film. With particular attention to Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, Alex Cox’s Repo Man, Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster, and Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, the chapter explores how these black comedies use absurdity to offset the bleakness of their dystopian settings and to amplify their critiques of contemporary life. Their particular quirkiness becomes a marker of and for their cult audience who find in this character a reflection of themselves and their desire for individuality.
Absurdity · Aesthetics · Ancient history · Art · Character (mathematics) · Cult · Dystopia · Literature · Relation (database) · Sociology · Computer Science · Crime and Detective Fiction Studies · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · History · Mathematics · Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction
| Highly cited | No |
|---|