I would like to dedicate my blogpost this week entirely to The Warriors (1979) because I haven’t felt this way about a film in a very long time. Although I was excited about the screening, considering the fact that I had never watched it, The Warriors exceeded all of my expectations. From the very first opening scene, I was completely engrossed in the film. It was an orgy of violence, vinyl and anarchy, and I loved it.

With its stylin’ opening image, artful and highly-stylized shots, staggering costumes and a KILLER soundtrack to accompany it, the opening scene of The Warriors set the tone for what was both a powerful and extremely satisfying film. Not to mention the eccentric costumes of all the gangs.

The film already had a strong comic book feel to it–the characters looked perfectly picked from comics, and the fight scenes were perfectly choreographed. The DJ scenes had a very familiar comic book feel to them, and the lighting of those shots complimented that style perfectly. The comic book style transitions added to feel of it all, the cherry on top of the cake. Here are two of my favorite scenes from the film, accompanied by great songs I’ve been bumping all week.

The film was shot almost entirely on location in the streets, subway stations and trains of New York City–except for the iconic fight scene. Upon release, the film had already gained a fanbase, and some controversy surrounding the marketing of the film. Posters that were plastered over the city read, “These are the armies of the night. They are 100,000 strong. They outnumber the cops five to one. They could run New York City. Tonight they’re all out to get the Warriors,” caused some unease amongst citizens of New York were soon removed.

The Warriors, although set in the near-future (I love it when films are set in the near-future), portrayed something very true about Coney Island, and the five boroughs. In the ’70s, when Coney Island’s first low-income housing complex was built (Carey Gardens), there were gangs that ruled nearly every neighborhood in New York. When The Warriors was released in 1979, an atmosphere of danger was already hanging over the city.

Since its initial release in 1979, The Warriors‘s cult following has grown largely, and keeps growing. It was a film that, with a budget of $4,000,000, relied on the quality of the story (loosely based on Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel of the same name), the power of the images, and the audience that watched it to gain notoriety. To this day, fans still organize meetups and events, the cast even met up a few years ago for a “last subway ride.”

It remains and extremely quotable film, with lines like:

“Can you dig it?”

Cyrus

“I’ll shove that bat up your ass and turn you into a popsicle.”

Ajax (My favorite Warrior, I’m a fan of James Remar.)

“Fuckin’ A!”

Ajax

“Warriooooors! Come out to play-ay!”

Luther

As you can probably tell, this has been my favorite screening in class thus far. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack all week, won’t stop quoting it, and have already rewatched it. A great film, that will stick with me for a while.

The Warriors

I really enjoyed watching the Warriors. The movie was filled with suspense and action. The film took place in New york city and it was really nice to see how new york city looked at that time period. The warriors going to a gang meet up and the top gang leader was shot and killed. They were accused of killing the leader. So now the Warriors are on a mission to make it home to Coney Island from the Bronx by taking the train while many gangs are looking for them. That is a long train ride home and to have gangs ready to fight you makes it 10 times harder. The skinheads were the first gang encountered and all they did was chase the warriors to the train station. The orphans were the second gang that they encountered. They were not at the meeting and were very lowkey. They were confused about not being invited to the gang meet up and they had a newspaper to prove how bad they are which is funny. That is when we also meet Mercy who just wants to witness action happening so she tags along. Next gang encountered was the baseball group who were ready to ball. Half the gang fought them while the other half encountered an all women gang who played them harder. All member of the wanted to stop to have sex once during the whole movie like they werent in a rush to get home safe. Then there was this epic bathroom fight scene that had me on the edge of my seat. One of my favorite scenes was when Mercy and Swan were on the train and two couples walked on the train and you can tell that they were of another class and they were just staring at Mercy and Swan and mercy tried to fix her hair and Swan stopped her. Swan didn’t want Mercy to feel less than or insecure while he was with her. Enough of my over analysis. 

In the reading The Cultural Economy of fandom By Fiske we learn about the importance of fan and how the support of fans makes a strong community. Fans are an important aspect of the release of films and more. People have to want to go out to watch films and want to buy and support industries after something is put out. There is an accumulation of fan art, art collectors. Fans go as far as making their own content just to put another idea of how the story can go. The part that stood out to me in the Jancovich and Snelson reading what the part about the women becoming more dominant. The women had to go out into the workforce to provide for themselves because their husbands were at sea. In the reading of the Warrior, we learn that The Warriors was based on a novel but the film is different from the novel. New York is portrayed as being grimmy. People wanted to ban the movie because there was a violence outbreak. 

This film reminds me of the show The Get Down. They both take place in New York City and their different groups of people fight to prove they are the best at something. The Get Down just involves music but both the Warrior and The get Down have teens looking for love and fight for what they believe in.

The Warriors is aboslutily unlike any other movie I have ever seen. While not my favorite movie we have seen so far, I see why it was hailed an instint cult classic. However, what I found most interesting about the film was the social context which it was based off of, and its reception when first released.

In March 1979, Peoples magazine did an article about The Warriors reception by audiences, stating “Critical response to The Warriors, a new $4 million movie about New York City street gangs, has ranged from mild disdain to modest praise. Audience reaction, on the other hand, has been far less restrained: Within a week of its release, three youngsters were dead and numerous incidents of violence had apparently been triggered by the film.”

Insane as it sounds, teenagers took the most influence from the film, and not in the best way.  David Holden, editor of The Warriors, responded to this by stating that the film its self was not at fault for these incidences, stating “If someone comes to a movie with a gun, who’s at fault?” While The Warriors was in not way at fault for the criminal behavior of these sick minded individuals, that did not stop the back lash Warriors faced in the eyes of the media and government. Looking back, its kinda of hilarious (in a twisted, dark humor sort of way) that the film was almost banned in Boston Massachusetts. Yet at that time, gang violence was a very real, very present danger in not just New York City, but many other urban areas.

While I agree with must of what is stated in The Warriors paper, I disagree with one key statement on the first page—that many of the characters have heroic traits similar to that of Greek heroes. In my own opinion, while I respected the loyalty the members shared with each other, I didn’t find anyone besides the first leader (who is killed in the start of the film) and the young kid who could read the subway lines likeable. Swan may have been a good leader, but I didn’t find his relationship with Mercy to be very…encouraging. The whole time I was watching the film, I was both entertained but constantly wanting to role my eyes. Even when the Warrios survive the gang fights, their victories were…empty. What were they even fighting for? Their ‘tuft of land’? The Warriors doesn’t praise the gang life style, it reflects the mindset of those in it—no outside world except the one they live in, full of violence, sex, and comradery.

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The Warriors gained a wonderful cult following since its first release, which brings us to our second reading–“The Cult Economy of Fandom” by John Fiske. Now, I for one LIVE in the world of fandoms, so this was by far my favorite paper that we read so far. To me fandoms is just a term for fans to love a paritcule form of entertainment—books, movies, podcasts, webtoons, video games, etc. So I was a bit surprised to see that someone wrote an accidemic paper studying the meaning and celebration of fandoms. The line that stuck with me the most was “Fandom is a peculair mix of cultural determinations. On one hand it is an intensification of popular culture which is formed outside and often against official culture, on the other it expropriates and reworks certain values and characteristics of that official culture to which it is opposed,”. There is very much an ‘us vs. them’ within the mentality of fandoms. For example lets use the Avatar the Last Airbender series. Originally released in 2005, I grew up with this show and many of my classmates did as well. Those of use who were ‘in’ on having watched Avatar had shared an experience that others did not. Some fandoms, like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars are embraced by pop culture with open arms and hungry wallets. These fandoms could even be considered ‘main stream’ in their popularity. But some fandoms, like The Warriors, Rocky Horror, or even Back to the Future are a bit more exclusive. What does it take to be considered a true Rocky Horror fan? After you’ve seen the film once, or after you first live participation viewing? Can you really call yourself a Back to the Future fan is you own at least one t-shirt that says “Great Scott”! Each fandom is as unique and diverse as the stories they are formed around. And, without fandoms, where would be cult films?

https://people.com/archive/a-street-gang-movie-called-the-warriors-triggers-a-puzzling-tragic-wave-of-audience-violence-and-death-vol-11-no-10/

This week’s screening was the Warriors, a film about a street gang from Coney Island. We follow them as they leave the island and head deeper into the city for a meeting with other street gangs from all over the city. Here we follow them as they struggle to make it home with a hit from one of the gangs out on them. A rival group kills the leader of this meeting, Cyrus, and then blames it on our Warriors. With all the dangers they face, we leave them looking off at the ocean wondering what is next for them.

My favorite part of this movie is the use of the radio host and how the focus is all on her lips. We don’t get a chance to see what she looks like, but that it not the point. The point is for us to focus on her words and how she uses different lingo to tell other gangs where they are.  “The Baseball Furies have dropped the ball – made an error. Our friends are on second base and are trying to make it all the way home. Remember, boppers… be lookin’ good.” She uses clues like the baseball furies have dropped the ball, to tell others that they are on the move. This is also mixed in well with the different music she would play. In the opening scene she plays “Nowhere to Run” by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and then it pans to every gang getting ready to claim this bounty. This helps to show that there is no hope for our Warriors and that nowhere will be safe. Her last song was “In the City” by the Eagles and this just wraps up the film so well.  The song talks about how it is survival in the City and that what these boy just went through. It also mentions the horizon as Swan looks out to the ocean not knowing what is next. This film did a great job with both the narrating of events and music selection.

Let’s talk about Space Jam, this is a film that I hold near and dear to my heart. This is one that I think every kid has grown up watching. I can remember so many different times watching this film whether it was in my buddy’s basement or on family trips. This is just a film that every kid should have seen and falls into the category of not a real childhood without watching this film. I know that Michael Jordan’s acting was nonexistent, but even after that point the film had everything kid needs from basketball legends to the Looney Toons and then even Bill Murray. This is a film that I will hold on to as part of my own childhood and many others will to. I have a few friends who have the toon squad jerseys.

Then we take a trip Back to the Future, I know this is a cult film because it its so many different groups of people. You get the movie goers, the car enthusiast, and the sneaker heads all involved in the trilogy. I know the film mainly for the use of the DMC DeLorean and all the cool stuff around this company. From the owner who was a car designer to his plans of using the drug market to fun his production. Then you move into the second movie where everyone could wait for the hoover board and the automatic tying shoes. All of these products have hit the market and have a range of cost. You can buy the Nike shoes for about $15,000 and a DeLorean for about $50,000. The only down fall is that it will cost a little extra for all the Back to the Future gear.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-z-delorean-is-arrested-in-24-million-cocaine-deal

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This week we watched the classic cult film The Warriors, a 1979 film directed by Walter Hill. The Warriors was based on the novel by Sol Yurick. This amazing film is a must watch. The congregation of gangs in the park, all lead by Cyrus, is a cacophony of noise and mania. Cyrus presented a gang utopia, where everyone ruled New York City, and claimed it from the cops, something progressive yet terrifying to some. This results in him being shot by Luther, the Warlord of the Rogues, played by David Patrick Kelly. In an interesting twist Luther claims the gang, the Warriors, killed Cyrus, starting the massive hunt for the nine representatives that came to the rally. The Warriors’s Warlord, Cleon, played by Dorsey Wright, is killed immediately, leaving only eight members to make it home to Coney Island. The wild ride of watching the gang escape the 100,000s of gang soldiers in a desolate New York City atmosphere isn’t what you would expect. The action and comedy keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering what curve ball is about to come around the corner. It is not surprising that this film has gained such a following, to the point where a video game was developed.

While studying this film we also studied fandoms, as they are a very large part of cult culture. It is important to understand the many layers of fandom and its impact on not only the economy, but on cult culture. One of our readings was “The Cultural Economy of Fandom” by John Fiske. Fiske claims there are three main characteristics of Fandom and they are: discrimination and distinction, productivity and participation, and capital accumulation.

Discrimination and Distinction: Discrimination is the lines clearly drawn to decide what is fandom and what is not. Fan discrimination has two affinities the socially relevant pop culture and “aesthetic discrimination of the dominant” (448). The key difference is that the subordinate has to be for something, making it functional. The aesthetic discrimination talks about hierarchical power and categorizing things, such as canonization, deciding between who and what is canon and what should be excluded. Nothing that doesn’t make the mark gets let in. Its a cut throat nature, yet also very inclusive. It becomes its own community.

Productivity and Participation: The three types of productivity are semiotic, textual, and enunciative. “Fan productivity is not limited to the production of new texts.” It includes the original texts construction, pop culture performance, and the commercial narrative. (451) Without the fans participation and their own production of content in regards to their fandom the stars and work would be lost. Stars owe their stardom to their fans. This productive nature for the fandoms only further the fame and fortune of the culture.

“Semiotic productivity is characteristic of popular culture as a whole rather than a fan culture specifically. […] An enunciation is the use of a semiotic system (typically, but not exclusively, verbal language) which is specific to its speaker and its social and temporal context. […] Fans produce and circulate among themselves texts which are often crafted with production values as high as any in official culture. [Textual production is when] fan texts are not produced for profit, they do not need to be mass-marketed, so unlike official culture, fan culture makes no attempt to circulate its texts outside its own community. They are ‘narrowcast,’ not broadcast, texts.” (450)

Capital Accumulation: In fan culture they accumulate knowledge, collections, and cultural and economic capital. As fandoms are a widespread network system that shares and collects data, whether it be canon information, new discoveries, or memorabilia. This wide range of people and ideas makes this capital accumulation endless. By having a massive fandom it brings in a massive amount of money. Producing something people love and thrive on will accumulate massive amounts of money for stars and those who produce it. There is a mass market in fandoms and making money will always be a major motivator in society. Any time corporations and companies can make the big dollar they will.