Thoughts from someone who grew up with the Backrooms

[Null]

As many people know, recently the Backrooms movie came out, and (from what I've heard) it's a genuinely good movie. Recently I was looking into it and I found myself irrationally upset with it, which led me to wonder, why would a movie that people love (and I've never watched) upset me so much? Logically I find it really interesting with amazing concepts and visuals! After some reflection, I think my emotional reaction comes from being a fan of the Backrooms before kane pixels was a big thing. I remember when the "fun wars" were a thing online (the fight between Partygoers and Partypoopers) At the time, I was a preteen going though a rough period, and I feel like the Backrooms (and weirdcore/dreamcore) really got me through those times.

I suppose the Backrooms movie gives me a feeling of uncanny valley (on theme I suppose ) I don't mean this post as any hate to the movie, I just feel like I needed to get out my love for the backrooms wiki somewhere. I suppose another part of this all is how the newer fans don't really know much about the wiki, but that's just the age old idea of "posers" and I'm doing my best to separate the movie and the wiki mentally (like with Marble Hornets and Creepypasta (seriously, so many people who know slendeman don't know about the series that basically created all his lore (not that people should all know about where things come from, I was just connecting ideas)))

Anyway, anyone want to learn more about the wiki? I'd really like to talk about it with someone and spread the knowledge I have :) (please please please don't take this post as me hating on the backrooms movie and its fans, it's perfectly fine to like the movie and not know anything about the wiki, I'm just yapping because it's late  )

[arz]

i think it's a pretty standard reaction towards seeing media that you've loved since its conception being thrown into the eyes of pop culture and be consumed in varying degrees of depth. it's such a familiar feeling that we've given it so much terms: fake fans, posers, performative folks, larpers, etc. we've all been there, either as the newcomer or the wise and all-knowing.

internet culture is becoming pop culture if it hasn't already, the gap is closing for better or worse as modern work culture, private equities, and mega-corporations are desperately forcing unethical consumption and digital tech on us! ...sorry, but just as more niches are becoming not-niches, more niches are forming! you just have to look for it.

last thing, and i'm just speaking for myself here, but there *is* a real sense of novelty and charm in being in-the-know about certain things that are hidden from everyone you know (...it's some form of escapism, i guess).

[lakes]

As someone who liked the Backrooms movie, I can sympathize with the overall feeling that pop culture waters down a lot of concepts and stories. I think a lot of fans of anime and cartoons get a similar feeling with badly done live action remakes. Like it's taking something that's already somewhat popular and making it more consumable to the wider public who might not be into that thing. But it usually happens at the cost of what made that animated property special.

[Asterisk]

I liked the backrooms movie. It was kind of boring, and I don't think it did enough with liminal space, but I liked it.    I think what you're feeling might be the nature of the backrooms being watered down for general audiences. At least that's my guess.    It's so close to the backrooms you rememeber, but not enough because it can't be taken too far otherwise it might alienate audiences.

[Mezzaluna]

I really enjoyed the movie for what it was. The implications are terrifying the more I think about it.

The context that's missing about people being disappointed in the movie is they are thinking about the community-written wiki backrooms, which legally would not be able to be turned into a movie because of the creative commons license it has. It's like people wanting an SCP movie. Legally it would be a mess.

I do like Kane's interapation for what it is. It does peeve me when people say he invented the backrooms (he didn't ). Its just one of many interpretations that got popular. (Also researching a bit more I forgot American Horror Story did a backrooms themed epsiode back in 2024?)

Although that did open the flood gates for other analog horror series to get the Hollywood treatment. Not sure how well it will translate on the screen.