Hey everybody! I have an announcement to make!

My name is Munchie and I’d like to make an argument for Tommy Wiseau’s 2003 masterpiece, The Room, as the most important, culturally significant movie of all time. 

Never heard of it? Oh hai, neophyte. 

Seasoned vet? “You’re my favorite customer.”

The Room is about as otherworldly and bizarre as a feature film can be - disconnected dialogue, lack of a true story line, poorly dubbed audio… I could go on and on. The cult of The Room is one steeped in mystery, intrigue, and fanaticism. Conspiracy theories about the financing of the movie circulate throughout the Internet. Money laundering? A Korean leather jacket empire? Lead actor, Greg Sestero, allowed us to peek behind the terrible green screens with his tell-all book turned A24 movie - The Disaster Artist. Throughout it all, it seems as if no one really knows what The Room is. An awful movie? A front for criminal activity? Comedic triumph? So bad it’s actually good?

But I know exactly what it is. Granted, it’s taken me years to discover it. I met Mark’s best friend for the first time in college. As a Room rookie, the first theatrical experience can be a little weird. People are yelling words at the screen. Plastic cutlery is thrown. Whole bits of dialogue are recited in unison by members of the audience. I even saw a football being thrown over my head. When I left the theater, I was stunned. 

What did I just experience? 

Is the computer business that competitive?

Why is this happening to me?

Why, Lisa!? Why?!

I was hooked. 

Any chance I could, I would proselytize the good word of Tommy. I learned all the memorable quotes, interactive games, and developed my own traditions (like the “I already ordered a pizza” mid-movie pizza break). When tickets for an upcoming screening went on sale, I found myself texting an ever-expanding list of Roomies. Friends would come, bringing their own prospective converts for their inaugural viewing. 

When the Prospector hosted its first screening of The Room in 2014, I knew that this marked a monumental milestone. More Tommy, more stupid comments in your pocket, more cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep, and more friends… “good thinking!” 

We screened The Room every year, like clockwork.

Until 2020. 

When the Theater closed for the pandemic, our organization faced an existential crisis. Streaming became the preferred method of content distribution. First-run movies were delayed or diverted from their theatrical release. We felt like we were sitting on an atomic bomb, waiting for it to go off…

Would this be the end of moviegoing as we know it?

I watched The Room at home during the pandemic with just my wife; “I’m so happy I have you as my best friend.” It wasn’t as funny. The spoons were less spoony. The usually tantalizing lyrics of “You’re My Rose” didn’t hit the same. It was the same Johnny. But it wasn’t the same experience.

As the dust settles from the last two years, we’re starting to see signs of recovery - signs of hope. And for me, that hope isn’t box office numbers and release calendars. It is Tommy Wiseau and his timeless classic. 

No movie better epitomizes the importance of the moviegoing tradition quite like The Room. It is a shared experience. One that begs you to participate, to have the time of your life. It’s a culture with its own vernacular, accent, and traditions. It’s a community filled with the most unassuming, kind, and welcoming people - best friends. 

We laugh together.

We laugh so much, we cry together.

For 99 minutes, we are not fed up with this world.

All is right.  

I stand here now, on the precipice of moviegoing recovery, with a screening of The Room on the horizon, to tell you all this:

For as long as there are movies like The Room in the world, moviegoing will remain as an important economic powerhouse, cultural tradition, and democratizer. What has long been lauded as “the worst movie ever,” is in fact, Hollywood’s greatest hope. 

Here’s to seeing The Room, once again, in the same room. 

See you at the movies.

-M