by Brittany Kaelber

Created on: June 20, 2009

According to Wikipedia.com, a "cult following is a group of fans devoted to a specific area of pop culture. These dedicated followings are usually relatively small, however they can also be quite large. . . Cult followings most often develop around television shows, films, and books. . . Cult followings are often dedicated enough that many people of similar interest are familiar with one another due to convention gatherings, concerts, message boards, Internet chat rooms, word of mouth, or shops featuring related items."

I believe that when television shows or films gain cult followings, they create "cult celebrities." The analogy to cults comes from the fans becoming engrossed and even obsessed with these films, the actors, and the need to connect with others "suffering" from the same condition of fandom that they are. According to Webster.com, a cult is simply a " great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work." The word "cult" can be looked at in a negative or positive manner depending on who you're talking to. Cult-followings are often smaller groups of people that are devoted to shows and films that are not in the "most popular" category but are somewhat more obscure.

To give you a better idea of what consitutes a cult following and the cult celebrities that have come out of such followings, I will give you a couple examples.

#1. Veronica Mars/Kristen Bell: If you Google the show "Veronica Mars" you will come up with many articles that refer to the show as a "cult-fave" or as having a "cult following." The show survived four seasons, but it was a struggle; two seasons in the show switched networks from UPN to the CW. Veronica Mars was not a huge "rating's success" but attracted a "loyal and dedicated fan base" (wikipedia). When it was announced that the show was to be cancelled its "cult" of loyal fans rebelled; starting petitions and sending over 10,000 Mars Bars to the CW were among their attempts at saving the cult phenomenon that was Veronica Mars. However, the show did bring Hollywood the cult celebrity Kristen Bell. Kristen played the main character, Veronica Mars. This sassy and witty blond gained a dedicated cult following and then worked her way to big-screen Hollywood. However, no matter how popular she gets in mainstream Hollywood, she will always be known not just as Kristen Bell, but also as "Veronica Mars." You can check Kristen out on Veronica Mars DVDs or in her new film opposite Hollywood hunk Josh Duhamel in When in Rome.

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