Cult classic
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Cult classic is not necessarily a geographically biased term, as cultural artifacts differ from country to country.
What establishes a cult classic
Cult classics are generally works that capture the imagination, defining a new world or reflecting events in society, and are often in the science fiction or horror genre.
Most cult favorites are obscure. They are often short-lived television series, or films that might have initially bombed at the box office, only to take off with extreme popularity in syndication or upon video release. Often, groups or clubs that follow one particular cult favorite even take pride in their classic's obscurity.
A popular joke to summarize cult classics is as follows: "A mainstream film is seen 1 time by 1000 people; a cult film is seen 1000 times by 1 person."
A cult classic might also be a song that appears in many all-time lists conducted by radio stations or music magazines (meaning the listeners are all dedicated to the song), but never appears in lists voted for by the general public.
Another example could be a music video that is viewed or "favourited" many times by a small group of people on YouTube, but has had very little success in the mainstream.
Types of cult classics
