Movies That Were Revived by Memes

American Psycho

Based on Bret Easton Ellis's 1991 novel, this satirical horror film directed by Mary Harron in 2000, launched Christian Bale to stardom and was loved by both audience and critics alike.

Yet, the film couldn't establish itself in mainstream culture because of its violent nature. American Psycho later got something of a resurgence, complete with a notable cult following, on social media.

Protagonist Patrick Bateman's tantrums and egocentric delusions provided the internet with heaps of meme templates and launched American Psycho into mainstream pop culture. Bateman's deadpan stare at a colleague's business card, hilarious dance sequence with the axe, and other moments caught the eyes of many. The viewers weren't disappointed one bit with Harron's unique take on satire and horror.

Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy

Returning to the big screen after 16 years, The Phantom Menace had big expectations to fulfil, but failed miserably and was rejected by both critics and the audience. The case that would be repeated throughout the trilogy with viewers blasting George Lucas' bad writing and Hayden Christensen's portrayal of Anakin Skywalker.

The prequel trilogy was disappointing for series devotees who were introduced to the magic with the classics. That slowly changed with time, and after the movie disasters, with some help from the meme community, the prequels found their footing.

The corny dialogues and cardboard cut-out characters were gold for meme templates and were suddenly everywhere. Almost every line of dialogue was turned into bite-size humour for internet dwellers.

Due to the overall surge in the movie's popularity, Disney was prompted to take on the new Obi-Wan series. Heck, some of us just watch these films for the memes. These days the internet is scrutinising the prequels day and night to find the next big template.

Like Master Kenobi said, "Perhaps the archives are incomplete."

The Room

Ah yes, The Room. Arguably the best worst movie of all time.

This infamous film was directed, produced and written by Tommy Wiseau, who also starred in it. The Room was blasted by critics everywhere and was universally hated. On the flip side, though, the movie was so bad that people started enjoying it for all the wrong reasons.

Bad acting, bad writing and plenty of other issues made the film hilarious and people started enjoying it as a comedy. The Room eventually got a cult following with midnight screenings and a dedicated fan base and Tommy Wiseau being deemed a cult hero.

Flash forward to 2017, the film got a colossal amount of new viewers and followers with YouTubers like PewDiePie making videos about it. The meme community came together, particularly Reddit, and they saw the potential in it. They turned up the volume, finding templates and creating memes left and right. The cringe-worthy dialogues and hilarious scenes were processed into small doses of humour, bringing in a sizable new fan base and placing this movie in mainstream pop culture.   

Syed Tamjid Tazwar is too lazy to come up with an original blurb. Contact with him at syedtazwartamjid@gmail.com

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