The most divisive bad movie ever made, according to science
Is it all a question of subjectivity when deciding what makes a movie good or bad?
When you criticise someone’s favourite movie, you’re usually going to hear an impassioned defence that includes ‘well, opinions are subjective’ and sure, maybe they are, but perhaps, you’d also be inclined to agree with me when I say that 2001: A Space Odyssey is objectively better than Battlefield Earth? You can’t argue subjectivity there.
Of course, there are going to be those films that you enjoy even though they’re pretty bad; I know I enjoy watching cheesy horror movies and low-budget bawdy 1960s British comedies, and I have no shame in confessing that. You have to embrace your interests, but simultaneously be self-aware enough to know when a film is actually worth its merits. You might strongly argue that a movie hailed as one of the worst is actually an underrated masterpiece, and maybe you’d be right, but there are some movies that are just incomparable. You can’t put Scary Movie on the same level as A Woman Under the Influence: that’s just indefensible.
Movies will always polarise people, though, because humans can’t agree on anything, and you only have to look at the state of the world to know that. The tendency for people to argue with one another will extend to any possible avenue, even cinema, because at its core, cinema is one of the deepest reflections of humanity. I bet you’ve had some intense discussions, perhaps even arguments, about a film before, for we tend to get real defensive, perhaps even a little too judgmental at times, all in the name of cinema.
Hence, if you’ve ever wondered what the most divisive film of all time is, then you’re in luck, because Stat Significant recently carried out a scientific study in the hopes of discovering what movie most accurately fits this title. Taking into account the ‘largest variance in online ratings’, only one film could emerge the victor: The Room.
It’s hardly surprising if you know a thing or two about bad movies, because The Room is so terrible that it has inspired a dedicated fanbase who love the camp charm of the terribly written, terribly filmed, and terribly acted movie. The passion project of Tommy Wiseau, who undertook many of the production roles, evidently far too many for him to handle, was widely panned by everyone who saw it. With its strange narrative and editing choices, paired with Wiseau’s unmistakable presence, weird, to say the least, it was at least impressive that such a film could actually get made and screened.
The Room is loathed by many, although you’ll certainly find enough people willing to flock to a midnight screening of the cult classic shown every so often across indie theatres, in a bizarre celebration of Wiseau’s tragically bad yet utterly entertaining attempt to make a film. You’ve got to give him some credit for the movie was so notorious that a film about the film, The Disaster Artist, emerged in 2017 starring James Franco, who also directed the movie, as Wiseau.
The fact that the movie was inspired by a book titled The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made really says it all about the movie’s reputation as a polarising work of art, if you can call it that.
