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Toward a Sociology of Cult Films: Reading Rocky Horror
Abstract
This article provides a sociological reading of cult films, in particular, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Cult films are secular documents, celebrated as sacred texts by audiences and used as shared foci to collectively create rituals and belief systems. They differ from popular re-releases, fad films, films with cult qualities, and critical cult films in that they involve typical people in atypical situations, sympathetic deviance, challenges to traditional authority, reflections of societal strains, and paradoxical and interpretable resolutions. Examination of the Rocky Horror text and the cult activities that occur during its viewing, reveal it as a paradoxical indictment and validation of traditional societal arrangements.
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“People with disabilities are expected to cut their cloth to fit the temporarily able-bodied world, and its new media technologies.”
From Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education (2017) · cites this paper as [149]
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education
Dolmage, J. (2017) · University of Michigan Press eBooks · doi:10.3998/mpub.9708722 · Cited by 884
Metadata
- Authors
- Kinkade, P. T., & Katovich, M. A.
- Affiliations
- Texas Christian University (US)
- Venue
- The Sociological Quarterly
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 1992-06-01
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 191-209
- ISSN
- 0038-0253 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-8525
- OpenAlex
- W2031899000
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Sociological Quarterly (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Cinema History and Criticism
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime, Deviance, and Social Control
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Cinema and Media Studies
- Keywords
- cult films, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, film fandom, ritual, challenge to authority, popular culture, audience experience
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