# How long tilla film or album becomes a classic?/ **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-tilla-film-or-album-becomes-a-classic/832565 "2019-04-15T03:02:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bionic\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/49beb7/32.png) [@bionic\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bionic_man)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-tilla-film-or-album-becomes-a-classic/832565/1 "2019-04-15T03:02:43Z")
Pardon me if this has been asked but how many years usually pass till film t.v. show etc. is known as a classic?? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-tilla-film-or-album-becomes-a-classic/832565/2 "2019-04-15T03:09:05Z")
It depends greatly. Very rarely, a movie or album will come along and claim that immediately. I felt like **Fellowship of the Ring** was not only a classic, but immediately part of our culture. A month after it hit theaters, it was iconic. I think Sgt. Pepper was a total classic very quickly after release. Some things take a lot longer. There is no set time. Citizen Kane took awhile, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-tilla-film-or-album-becomes-a-classic/832565/3 "2019-04-15T03:09:50Z")
Song: 3 to 5 years Album: 8 years Movie: 25 years TV show: Day it airs Note: Before anything can be a classic, it has to spend time as a “gem”. That’s like purgatory, where only a few unimportant people insist it’s a classic. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-tilla-film-or-album-becomes-a-classic/832565/4 "2019-04-15T17:16:42Z")
Let’s just say that, despite what Disney would have us believe, there is no such thing as an “instant classic”. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-tilla-film-or-album-becomes-a-classic/832565/5 "2019-04-15T17:32:40Z")
Lots of films certainly were classics, in the sense of “an all time great that is a touchstone of popular culture” long before Hatchie’s cutoff of 25 years. It certainly did not take 25 years for people to consider The Godfather a classic. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-tilla-film-or-album-becomes-a-classic/832565/6 "2019-04-15T18:58:50Z")
well it depends because something becomes a “classic” sometimes because its shown/seen so much that it gets associated with a time period or event like a christmas story the first 10 years it was out it wasnt seen much then all of a sudden it was on 30 channels a day from thanksgiving to new years … and now its part of a lot of peoples christmas experience (also helps that its shown for 24 hours on xmas so everyone sees it at least once ) same thing for hocus pocus possibly the worst movie to be a halloween classic … i seen it when it was released …and the critics trashed it … history has been great to it … but its only a classic because disney shows it more than turner did a christmas story … ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-tilla-film-or-album-becomes-a-classic/832565/7 "2019-04-15T20:06:36Z")
I always thought a “classic” by definition had to be appreciated by at least one succeeding generation.