Narrative tenses review

We use a range of different tenses to talk about events in the past. Traditionally, these include the past simple and continuous, and the past perfect simple and continuous.

Past Simple
We use the past simple for finished events, sequences of events at specific times, finished time periods and past habits.
Examples:
- The prime minister informed the public of the new regulations late yesterday afternoon.
- After the long walk he showered, had something to eat and fell into bed, exhausted.
- Amira swam every day of the year and sure enough, we saw her in the water as we drove to the village.

Past Continuous
We use the past continuous to describe action in progress at a point of time in the past, to describe a setting or scene, and for temporary past situations and planned events that did not happen.
Examples:
- Paul phoned me earlier, but I was trying to start the car and I missed the call.
- My aunt was getting breakfast and the smell of buttered toast was making me hungry.
- In the summer of 2019, I was working at a local restaurant to save up some money for university.

Past Perfect
We use the past perfect for an action preceding a point of time in the past.
Examples:
- The meeting had been arranged for 9.15, but it didn’t start until 10.00.
- By the time I got to the office someone had parked in my designated space and the car park was full.

Past Perfect Continuous
We use the past perfect continuous for an action in progress over a period before and up to a past event or time.
Examples:
- It rained earlier than we had been expecting.
- I’d been thinking about going to Canada for a long time, so the invitation from my cousins who lived there was very welcome.

Present Tenses when Narrating Past Events
We use present tenses when narrating past events:
• To talk about the plots of films or books.
Example: Charlie grows up in Texas and then moves with her parents to London. There she attends a private school, run by a very strict head teacher. One morning after she’s had a particularly nasty exchange with the head, she is befriended by a group of girls. Over the course of a few weeks they get up to all kinds of mischief, and end up being chased by students from a neighbouring school. While she’s trying to escape from her pursuers, Charlie falls down an open hole into a cellar ...
• To add a sense of drama or immediacy to the account.
Example: So, it’s Sunday morning and my dad’s sitting there in the kitchen eating his Sunday fry-up as always, and suddenly my brother hurtles down the stairs and out of the front door without a word. Dad gets up quickly, fried egg and toast hit the floor and he runs after him. Ben is legging it down the road, my dad’s shouting after him and the neighbours are all watching from behind their curtains!

In the sprawling landscape of cinema, few debates ignite as much passion among film enthusiasts as the distinction between what constitutes a "classic" versus a "cult classic." This seemingly straightforward categorization opens up a Pandora's box of questions about artistic merit, cultural impact, mainstream acceptance, and the very nature of how we assign value to cinematic works. While both designations suggest a film's enduring appeal and significance, the paths they take to achieve this status—and the audiences they attract—differ dramatically.

The question of whether a film deserves the hallowed title of "classic" or the more subversive badge of "cult classic" touches on fundamental issues of taste, cultural capital, and the democratization of artistic judgment. It forces us to grapple with uncomfortable questions: Who gets to decide what constitutes great cinema? Is popular acclaim a prerequisite for classic status, or can a film achieve greatness through the devoted passion of a niche audience? And in our current era of fractured media consumption and infinite streaming options, are these traditional categories still relevant?

## Defining the Undefinable: What Makes a Classic?

The term "classic" in cinema traditionally implies universal appeal, critical consensus, and enduring relevance across generations. These are films that have weathered the test of time, maintaining their power to move, inspire, and influence long after their initial release. Think "Casablanca," "The Godfather," or "Citizen Kane"—films that film schools dissect, critics revere, and audiences continue to discover and appreciate decades after their creation.

A classic film typically demonstrates technical mastery, narrative sophistication, and thematic depth that transcends its historical moment. These works often reflect the zeitgeist of their era while simultaneously speaking to universal human experiences. They've been canonized by cultural institutions, appear on "greatest films of all time" lists compiled by respected organizations, and serve as touchstones for subsequent filmmakers.

The journey to classic status usually involves a combination of critical acclaim, box office success (though not always), and sustained cultural relevance. These films become part of the shared cultural vocabulary—referenced, quoted, and parodied across multiple media platforms. They're the movies that everyone is expected to have seen, forming part of what educators might call "cultural literacy."

## The Transgressive Appeal of Cult Classics

Cult classics, on the other hand, follow a markedly different trajectory to cinematic immortality. As researchers Ernest Mathijs and Xavier Mendik, two leading scholars of cult film, suggest, these films are unified by their shared transgression of "common notions of good and bad taste." They thrive on the margins, attracting devoted followers who celebrate precisely those qualities that mainstream audiences might reject.

The phenomenon of cult cinema arguably came of age in the 1970s, with academic coverage beginning in the 1980s. Early academic analyses were concerned with exploring the ritual nature of repeat performances in public theaters, particularly the midnight movie circuit that became the breeding ground for cult followings. Films like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" exemplify this tradition, transforming from commercial disappointments into cultural phenomena through grassroots audience enthusiasm.

What distinguishes cult classics is their ability to inspire not just admiration but active participation. Cult audiences engage in repeated viewings, dialogue-quoting, cosplay, and elaborate fan rituals that transform the viewing experience into a communal celebration. These films create subcultures, complete with their own language, traditions, and social hierarchies based on knowledge of obscure details and trivia.

## The Anatomy of Cult Appeal

Recent scholarly analysis has identified several key characteristics that contribute to a film's cult potential. Transgressive content—whether in terms of narrative structure, visual style, or thematic material—often serves as the initial catalyst for cult interest. Films that challenge conventional storytelling, push boundaries of taste, or present unconventional worldviews naturally attract audiences seeking alternatives to mainstream entertainment.

The concept of "so bad it's good" plays a significant role in cult film culture. Movies like "Plan 9 from Outer Space" or "The Room" achieve cult status precisely because their obvious flaws become sources of entertainment rather than embarrassment. These films offer viewers the pleasure of superior knowledge—the joy of recognizing and celebrating incompetence in a way that transforms failure into a form of accidental art.

Timing also proves crucial in cult development. Many films that eventually achieve cult status were initially commercial failures or received limited distribution. This initial rejection by mainstream audiences and institutions often enhances their eventual cult appeal, creating a narrative of discovery and vindication that resonates with fans who see themselves as cultural outsiders or tastemakers ahead of their time.

## The Digital Age: Democratizing Discovery

The rise of home video in the 1980s and 1990s fundamentally altered the landscape for both classic and cult films. Home video gave a second life to box-office flops, allowing positive word-of-mouth and excessive replay on cable television to develop appreciative audiences. This technological shift democratized film access, enabling niche audiences to discover and champion films that might otherwise have disappeared from cultural memory.

The digital revolution has accelerated these trends exponentially. Streaming platforms, social media, and online communities have created new pathways for films to find their audiences, while also challenging traditional gatekeeping mechanisms. A film can now develop a cult following through viral social media moments, YouTube video essays, or algorithm-driven recommendations, bypassing the traditional routes of theatrical distribution and critical validation.

This technological transformation has also complicated the classic versus cult classic distinction. Films can now simultaneously exist in both categories, appealing to mainstream audiences through traditional channels while also inspiring devoted cult followings through digital communities. The binary opposition that once seemed clear has become increasingly blurred in our hyperconnected media landscape.

## Cultural Capital and Taste Hierarchies

The debate between classic and cult classic status inevitably involves questions of cultural capital and taste hierarchies. Pierre Bourdieu's influential work on distinction suggests that cultural preferences serve as markers of social class and educational background. In this framework, appreciation for recognized classics signals cultural sophistication and legitimate taste, while cult film fandom might be seen as subcultural resistance to dominant cultural values.

However, contemporary media culture has increasingly challenged these hierarchies. The rise of film studies as an academic discipline has legitimized previously dismissed genres and movements, while popular culture has gained respectability as a subject worthy of serious analysis. Cult films are now studied in universities, written about in scholarly journals, and preserved in prestigious film archives alongside acknowledged masterpieces.

This shift reflects broader changes in how we understand cultural value. The postmodern collapse of high and low culture distinctions has created space for multiple forms of cinematic excellence to coexist. A film can be simultaneously trashy and transcendent, commercially unsuccessful and artistically significant, critically dismissed and culturally influential.

## The Economics of Cult and Classic

The commercial trajectories of classic and cult films reveal interesting patterns about audience behavior and industry marketing. Traditional classics often demonstrate sustained commercial viability across multiple revenue streams—theatrical re-releases, home video sales, licensing deals, and merchandise. Their broad appeal makes them safe investments for studios looking to capitalize on proven properties.

Cult classics, conversely, often generate intense but narrow revenue streams. While their core audiences may be smaller, they tend to be more passionate consumers, purchasing multiple versions of films, attending special screenings, and buying extensive merchandise collections. This devoted spending behavior has led studios to recognize the commercial potential of cult properties, leading to phenomena like theatrical re-releases of "The Room" or elaborate collector's editions of previously obscure films.

The rise of content streaming has further complicated these economic models. Platforms now actively court both mainstream and niche audiences, using cult classics as "long tail" content that helps differentiate their offerings while serving as conversation starters and social media fodder.

## Genre, Style, and Cult Formation

Certain genres and stylistic approaches seem naturally disposed toward cult formation. Horror films, science fiction B-movies, camp comedies, and transgressive art films appear disproportionately represented in cult film canons. These genres often deal with taboo subjects, unconventional aesthetics, or marginalized perspectives that mainstream culture might find challenging or off-putting.

The aesthetic conventions of cult films frequently emphasize excess over restraint—whether in terms of violence, sexuality, visual style, or narrative complexity. This maximalist approach creates memorable moments and quotable lines that facilitate the kind of enthusiastic engagement that characterizes cult audiences. Films that take risks, even when those risks don't pay off conventionally, often find second lives among audiences that appreciate ambition over execution.

## International Perspectives and Cultural Translation

The globalization of film culture has created interesting dynamics around classic and cult status across different cultural contexts. Films that achieve classic status in one culture may be completely unknown in another, while cult films often travel across cultural boundaries more easily, perhaps because their transgressive or unconventional qualities translate more readily than culturally specific references.

Recent research has shown how technological change affects the international circulation of cult films. Digital distribution and online communities enable global cult followings to form around films that might never have received international theatrical distribution in previous eras. This global reach has created new forms of cult fandom that transcend national and linguistic boundaries.

## The Future of Film Classification

As we move further into the digital age, the traditional boundaries between classic and cult classic status continue to evolve. Social media algorithms and recommendation systems create new pathways for film discovery, while shortened attention spans and increased content competition change how films build and maintain audiences over time.

The democratization of film criticism through blogs, vlogs, and social media has challenged the authority of traditional gatekeepers, creating multiple competing canons of significant films. In this environment, the distinction between classic and cult classic may become less relevant than the specific communities and contexts that give films meaning and significance.

Contemporary filmmakers increasingly understand and deliberately court both classic and cult audiences, creating works that function on multiple levels simultaneously. This self-aware approach to genre conventions and audience expectations suggests that future films may increasingly resist easy categorization into classic or cult classic camps.

## Conclusion: Embracing the Spectrum

Perhaps the most productive approach to the classic versus cult classic debate is to recognize it as a false binary that obscures the rich spectrum of ways films can achieve cultural significance. Rather than hierarchical categories competing for legitimacy, these designations might be better understood as different pathways through which cinema connects with human experience.

Both classics and cult classics serve essential functions in our cultural ecosystem. Classics provide shared reference points and demonstrate cinema's capacity for universal appeal and enduring relevance. Cult classics celebrate diversity, transgression, and the power of passionate communities to create meaning around seemingly marginal works.

In our current moment of unprecedented access to film history and global cinema, we have the opportunity to appreciate both mainstream masterpieces and subcultural treasures without feeling compelled to choose between them. The films that move us—whether they're universally acknowledged masterpieces or beloved oddities discovered by devoted fans—all contribute to the rich tapestry of human storytelling.

The eternal debate between classic and cult classic ultimately reflects our ongoing negotiation with questions of taste, value, and cultural meaning. As long as people continue to gather around screens to share stories and experiences, there will be room for both the films that unite us in shared admiration and those that divide us into passionate tribes of appreciation. Both have their place in the pantheon of cinema, and both deserve our continued attention and celebration.