"Before the Movie"

[M2d]

Obviously, on this website, the phrase "before the movie" indicates poker pre and post Rounders. Other passtime's/hobby's/activity's popularity were affected by "the movie" in some cases and "the (insert event)" in other cases.

a few examples:
Rounders for poker: before the movie, poker very much resembled the rock garden games that Roy West has written about in cardplayer. lots of LL grinders trying to enhance their pensions, lots sharpies looking to build a roll to take on vegas. few of eithe group actually accomplishing their goals.
After the movie, i noticed a drastic change in the cardrooms in the bay area. lots more HE games to the detriment of stud, O8, and lowball. lots more dead money in the games (that the movie coincided with the beginning of the dot com craze helped a lot in that regard around here). lots of guys stepping into the cardroom for the first time ever and looking for the big NL game and settling for the 15-30 since, back then, there were no NL games spread (except, of course, for the legendary game at AJ's).

A River Runs Through It for fly fishing:
this was where, I think, "before the movie" was coined. pre the redfordization of the sport, fly fishermen were a lot more easy going as a group, a lot more friendly on the water and a lot more willing to lend a hand to a newbie. we were kind of like a club of people who had a secret, but knew that the secret wasn't that valuable, so we were more than willing to share it with anyone who expressed an interest. After the movie, there seemed to be a shift in attitude to a more elitest one. for a while, anyone who didn't know the scientific names of the insects that were in a stream were considered a cut below. forget about bait or conventional fishermen...they were not even worthy of being on the same water as a real fly fisherman. Your gear had to be from one of the top angling houses and keeping a fish was verboten. Interestingly, the pendulum has swung a bit back to the old days, as we put some time between today and the movie. the technicians are still around, but they have much less fly-nazi in them and much more "very interested to the point of mania" fisherman in them.

this has gone on long enough, but before i end it, here's two more examples of this and a question:

Pool and The Hustler (and again with The Color of Money)
and, for a non-movie example:
Golf and Tiger.

do other activities have these seminal events that drive participation and popularity to insane heights? was there a global numismatic epiphany that sent hoards of pop culture addicts into the realm of indian head pennies? Am I crotchety old bastid for getting annoyed at the band wagon jumpers who raise my pots, muddy up my streams and run the table when i'm just trying to drink a beer and get some bets down with the bookie who's always hanging around at the pool hall (for the record, i was hanging around pool halls before color, but way after hustler; i'm not that old).