Observations of a socially inept geek.

Teen Fiction Movie Adaptations, Cult Films and Music References

So, after the movie adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars sold like chia seeds at a paleo festival, it would appear the film industry has finally caught on to what pop music producers have been milking off of for years, the power of naggy Tweens and their parents, who are willing to shell out money just to make them shut up. This is evident with the rapid influx of trailers for the newest money maker, Paper Towns.

And with Paper Towns just around the corner, what better a time to discuss The Neutral Milk Hotel ITAOTS level of devotion Young Adult Fiction movies have. I want to start by saying the Harry Potter movies, while achieving an incredibly similar fan base and are just as obvious a cash grab, are not going to be included, mainly because they came slightly before the boom of cliched books for Angsty teens and because they (at least for the most part) don't focus on characters a "young adult" is able to emotionally relate to.

With that out of the way, Let's talk about the similarities between the fanbase of say, the hunger games films and a cult movie like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Both have those irritating gushers who DO NOT SHUT UP about their movie of choice and why you should see it, both have in jokes that don't make a lick of sense if you haven't seen the film and both are rewatched by followers constantly.

With all these points in mind, should these movies be considered cult movies? I still don't think so. Cult movies are generally sleeper hits, I.e pitch perfect or Princess Bride, while these movies, being expensive blockbusters were picked up immediately.

Which brings me to my next point, they were immediately locked onto by a very specific demographic, while cult movies can generally appeal to anyone, outside of a film like Primer which was appealing for the sheer level of scientific understanding and devotion to plotting out one has to undertake to "get" the movie.

Finally, Young adult fiction film adaptations are all appealing to the aforementioned demographic for similar reasons, cult classics are usually appealing for different reasons, High Fidelity for its accurate music jokes balanced by its excellent writing, Scott Pilgrim for being incredibly quotable and for seamlessly turning a seven volume book into a hilarious film or The Room for being so unrealistic as a drama film, yet taking itself so seriously.

Let it be known I have nothing against teen fictions, it's more the demographic they appeal to I struggle with, similar to that of green day and eminem, both I enjoy musically (green days earlier material over their later stuff) but both I find to have among the
Most annoying fanbases.

I am also not sticking all people who enjoy these movies in a stereotypical box, but the people I refer to in the title of this article are unfortunately in the majority.

Comment with your thoughts on this discussion, do you agree, disagree? Let me know.

~ Liam