This is The Room.
Arguably the worst film ever made.
You are lying, I never hit you.
You are tearing me apart, Lisa!
Thousands of people have willingly paid money to watch this, often many times.
Which begs the question: why?
This is Tom Bissell.
He literally co-wrote the book on this movie.
The Room is about a perfect American named Johnny
who does an amazing job at his bank and is constantly saving them money.
Did you tell them how much you save them?
Of course, what do you think?
They already put my ideas into practice.
And he lives with his future wife,
After all, she’s my future wife.
Lisa’s your future wife.
and he thinks he has a great life with them together, but she’s secretly sleeping with
his best friend, Mark.
Oh, hi, Mark.
I’ve seen The Room more than 100 times and less than 150 times.
It is like a movie made by an alien who has never seen a movie
but has had movies thoroughly explained to him.
A lot of the dialogue makes no sense.
Characters say and do things that never really line up with how actual humans
behave.
-How much is it?
-That’ll be $18.
-Here you go.
Keep the change.
Hi, doggy.
-You’re my favorite customer.
-Thanks a lot, bye!
And there’s a table full of framed photographs of spoons for some reason.
There’s not often that a work of film
has every creative decision that’s made in it
on a moment-by-moment basis
seemingly be the wrong one.
It’s a famously incoherent piece of American cinema
that’s established a rabid cult following,
a celebrity fan base,
I’ve had Tommy Wiseau up here.
Tell me everything.
I remember I saw it with Jonah Hill, actually, randomly.
And then, and, like, we became obsessed with it.
And there are still sold-out monthly midnight screenings
in countries across the globe,
even 14 years after its release.
Why is a movie that’s so incoherent and so critically
panned still so popular?
The Room falls into a category that some call “paracinema,”
which comprises all forms of cinema outside of the mainstream.
Including,
The Room is more specifically referred to as a “trash film,”
a genre of films that are
It may seem like only people with bad taste would like
movies that are literally categorized as trash,
but studies show that a taste for trash cinema might actually indicate higher levels of intelligence.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical
Aesthetics asked people who regularly watch trash films
about what attracts them to the genre.
They found that one of the main factors that draws people to trash cinema
is its transgressive nature and its subversion of the standards of mainstream filmmaking.
Which are often the same reasons people are drawn to avant-garde art cinema.
If you look on Amazon the movies that people bought in addition to The Room
Is a solid mix between trash classics like Birdemic and Troll 2
and arthouse films like The Holy Mountain and
Dancer in the Dark.
One of the other reasons that people are drawn to trash cinema
is an ironic viewing stance,
which is also called “camp.”
Susan Sontag once wrote that
Ironic enjoyment of bad entertainment can be a powerful social tool
that can strengthen bonds between people.
Just look at Rebecca Black’s viral sensation “Friday.”
It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.
Despite having almost universally bad reviews, this video has a 108 million views and counting.
It’s hard to deny that many of us like to collectively
bask in the warm glow of campy entertainment.
Fun, fun, fun, fun.
Looking forward to the weekend.
Fans of cult films like The Room are no different.
They establish what sociologist Pierre Bourdieu termed “cultural capital,”
which is a form of social currency that dictates one's position within a group.
People at the screenings who know the most lines
by heart
and participate in all the inside jokes are deemed
Room veterans.
And the screenings are a sight to see.
The mood ranges from
People throw plastic spoons,
wear costumes, and yell call-and-response lines
at the screen.
Go!
The fan interaction is similar to other cult classics
like Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The Room, to me, shatters the distinction between
good and bad.
Do I think it’s a good movie?
No.
Do I think it’s a strong movie that moves me
on the level that art usually moves me?
Absolutely not.
But I can’t say it’s bad because it’s so watchable.
It’s so fun.
It’s brought me so much joy.
How can something that’s bad do those things
for me?