In a study published this summer in the interdisciplinary arts and culture journal Poetics, researchers found that people with “bad” movie preferences tend to be, well, smart.
Participants described “trash films” as cheaply or poorly made films that feature embarrassing or disturbing content. In an unsurprising twist, “Sharknado” (and its sequels) were among the films most often mentioned by trashy cinema intellects.
The study concluded that one’s enjoyment of trashy cinema indicates “a positive, transgressive deviance from the cinematic mainstream.” Trashy movie-lovers tend to watch such films ironically ― solely for humor or entertainment value. Nothing like a good hate-watch, right?
One of the study’s central findings was that participants appreciated trash films as well as art cinema. “We are dealing here with an audience with above-average education, which one could describe as ‘cultural omnivores."
If you’re wondering how educated the study participants were, here’s the breakdown Sarkhosh gave HuffPost:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...0b6a430342450?
- 148 (43.3 percent) held a university degree
- 110 (32.2 percent) had a higher education entrance qualification
- 61 (17.8 percent) had a general certificate of secondary education
- 15 (4.4 percent) had only completed mandatory basic secondary schooling
- 4 (1.2 percent) had no educational diplomas
- 4 (1.2 percent) reported having a degree which was not included in the list given