This week in our film class, we learned about  and discussed fandoms in our reading of “The Cultural Economy” by John Fiske. We learned about the importance of the support of fans and how fans make up necessary communities in the world of cult films. Our Screening of the week, The warriors, is a 1979 American action film directed by Walter Hill, based on Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel of the same name. This movie is one that flourished through its fandom, from the late night showings to the success of video games and things of the like, the fans of this film allowed it to gain its cult movie title. 

     The Warriors is a unique film with an intriguing aesthetic and dialogue throughout the entire movie. The film stars Michael Beck, James Remar, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Marcelino Sanchez, David Harris, Tom McKitterick,rian Tyler, Dorsey Wright, Terry Michos, David Patrick Kelly, Roger Hill, Edward Sewer, and Lynn Thigpen.  The plot of the film: Cyrus,played by Roger Hill, leader of the Gramercy Riffs, the most powerful gang in New York City, calls a midnight summit of all the city’s gangs, requesting them to send nine unarmed delegates to Van Cortlandt Park. The Warriors, from Coney Island, attend the summit. Cyrus proposes to the assembled crowd a permanent citywide truce and alliance that would allow the gangs to control the city since they outnumber the police by three to one. Most of the gangs applaud his idea, but hidden in the crowd, Luther, played by David Patrick Kelly, leader of the Rogues, shoots Cyrus dead just as the police arrive and raid the summit. In the  chaos, Luther frames the Warriors’ leader Cleon, played by Dorsey Wright, for the murder, and Cleon is beaten down and apparently killed by the Riffs. Meanwhile, the other Warriors escape, unaware that they have been implicated in Cyrus’ murder. The Riffs put out a hit on the Warriors through a radio DJ. Swan, the Warriors’ “war chief”, takes charge of the group as they try to make it back home. The rest of the film watches the gang and their encounters on their journey home. They come in contact with several gangs who are targeting them as they think the Warriors are responsible for the death of Cyrus. They fight off gangs and policemen throughout the film making it action packed and exciting. They meet a girl along the way, (because-of course there has to be a girl dressed in skimpy pink clothes following around a gang of muscly men through New York City in the middle of the night, begging for one of them to pursue her) Mercy, Played by Deborah Van Valkenburgh, who becomes a sort of sidekick in for the rush. She often just puts herself in dangerous situations getting involved in the violent gang fights. A part that I found insanely intriguing was the scenes with the radio broadcaster. Played by Lynne Thigpen, this character broadcasts reports to the gangs of the city. The only part  that can be seen of her is her mouth talking into the microphone which highly reminded me of the opening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show where there is just a mouth pasted onto a black screen singing a song. 

    The release of the film in 1979 caused a bit of a violent breakout among the fans of The Warriors. The film had linked to vandalism and three separate killings following the weekend of its release. This prompted Paramount to remove advertisements from radio and television completely and display ads in the press were reduced to the film’s title, rating and participating theaters. In reaction, 200 theaters across the country added security personnel. Due to safety concerns, theater owners were relieved of their contractual obligations if they did not want to show the film, and Paramount offered to pay costs for additional security and damages due to vandalism. In the case of this film, the fandom got out of hand, attempting to role play what had happened in the film. This makes sense as it was the first film of its kind and has a violent rhetoric towards police officers. However, this is just a film, but this kind of reaction shows how influential a film can become to its fans, and how fandoms are a huge part of the film industry, both positively and negatively.