Phoenixville’s Cult Science-Fiction Movie Initiated Spread of the Term ‘Blob’

2/28/2024

bunch of people running out of theater 1958

By Leah Mikulich

From Vista Today

Image via The Blob, IMDB.

The Blob, a 1958 cult science-fiction movie filmed in Phoenixville, has initiated the spread of the word “blob” into many new contexts. Here is the iconic run-out scene from the film.

The Blob, a 1958 cult science-fiction movie filmed in Phoenixville, initiated the spread of the word “blob” into many new contexts, including in science and politics, writes Ben Zimmer for The Wall Street Journal.

The movie, which is rumored to be getting another re-imagining (previous remakes were made in 1972 and 1988), focuses on a continuously growing amoeba-like alien that lands in a small town and consumes everything in its path.

The cultural impact of the Steve McQueen-led movie catapulted the word “blob” into regular conversation meaning a massive, amorphous force. Before the movie, the term was usually applied when referring to little globules.

In the 1980s, database software architect Jim Starkey used the term “blob” to describe a massive unstructured collection of data in binary code. He specifically stated that it was inspired by the movie.

Meanwhile, biologists have used the term to describe a giant creeping slime mold and a large agglomeration of black algae found off the coast of Alaska.

And in 2016, Obama adviser Ben Rhodes used the word in reference to the hawkish foreign-policy establishment — a label used ever since.

Read more about The Blob being used in many different ways and contexts today in The Wall Street Journal.

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