History Main / MainstreamObscurity

* TheWire

** Partly because of the overall dullness of the parts leaving and actually seeing the whale.

* This might happen with acclaimed games that received a highly limited print run when released and have yet to be rereleased. For example, every gamer knows about ''{{Earthbound}}'' due to its status as one of the best 16-bit RPGs and Ness' appearance in SuperSmashBros. However, if you want to play it, your only options are to purchase an extremely expensive used copy (upwards of $80 just for the cartridge), or acquire it using [[{{Emulation}} certain other means]]. As a result, everyone has heard of Earthbound and is familiar with the game's main character, but far fewer have played it.

* ''TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'' by Robert Louis Stevenson. Most people know the names and the basic premise, and [[JekyllAndHyde the expression for dramatic personality shift that it spawned]]. There have been over a hundred full adaptations made, and countless references in popular culture, usually involving people quaffing potions and becoming monsters. Now, who can name the narrator in the book?

* TheWire

* On an individual level, James Dean's career. He's one of the most iconic images of America, but you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who's watched ''Rebel Without a Cause.''

* Niccolò Machiavelli. Everyone has heard of him, or at least the adjective that he spawned. Few have actually read the treatise that earned him his reputation. Come to that, not that many could ''name'' it. It's called ''Il Principe'' (The Prince), and is presented as advice to a young monarch on how to rule.
** Well, that and Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy (more often known as TheDiscourses), which probably presents his personal views on how things should be done as opposed to how they are done in practice as detailed in ''The Prince'', which was probably written with Pope Alexander VI's son Caesar in mind.

* There's also the fact that many gamers have played little of the console generations before the era in which they first started playing games. Among younger gamers, for example, MainstreamObscurity may apply to even something like the original ''TheLegendOfZelda'' or ''{{Metroid}}'', or even to something as recent as ''FinalFantasyVII''. This arguably crosses into FanMyopia territory, though.

* {{Ico}} is considered ''the'' seminal example of how video games can be art (perhaps trailing only behind its SpiritualSuccessor, ''ShadowOfTheColossus''), but only sold 700,000 copies worldwide. Far more people have heard of it than played it.

[[AC:LiveActionTelevision]]
* BuffyTheVampireSlayer: Because of its attractive star and support from critics, it's not exactly ignored by the press. The name also makes it very memorable. Finally, there's generally a lack of A) Canonical vampire slayers, and 2) Female leads in genre programs, so Buffy the character usually finds a niche in the pop-culture conversation. However, the show ''itself'' was never highly watched in its prime.

* Richard Wagner. You definitely know ''Ride of the Valkyries'' from ''Die Walküre'' and the ''Bridal Chorus'' from ''Lohengrin'' (though probably without the words), and you might know ''The Pilgrims' Chorus'' from ''Tannhauser'' (though it isn't performed in one chunk like that in the opera) but that will be about it. He wrote 113 compositions, including 13 operas (most of which were rather too long, making their MainstreamObscurity understandable).

* CharlesDickens - With the possible exception of ''AChristmasCarol'', which can be read in an afternoon, more people know the more vivid details than have actually read any of the books, which tend to be lengthy and not exactly easy going.

* The works of Alexandre Dumas. People may be familiar with ''TheCountOfMonteCristo'', but few will have read it. They will almost certainly be familiar with ''TheThreeMusketeers'', but they won't have read it either, and quite likely aren't aware that it has sequels. (Extreme cases may even be unaware that it was a book to begin with, and not just general folklore a la RobinHood).

The reverse of FanMyopia. Often happens when a CultClassic becomes so well known for being a Cult Classic (due to PopculturalOsmosis) that the Cult Classic becomes mainstream. This can of course lead to AdaptationDisplacement and BeamMeUpScotty. The opposite is [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch]], where people, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin do exactly that]].

***Ancillary merchandise actually helps in this matter greatly, keeping these properties that rarely make the best-seller lists of books in the public eye. Go into a discount store, Wal-Mart, etc. and look for the tie-in items such as coloring books, plastic cups, ice cream, etc. In the case of Superman and perhaps Dick Tracy and a few others, cut rate DVD copies of public domain films and shorts from the 1930's and 1940's also help.

*Kurosawa's ''SevenSamurai'' is an interesting example, in that more people have seen ''The Magnificent Seven'' than the film upon which it is based.

* On that subject, [[hottip:*:especially as it was partly inspired the The Count of Monte Cristo, ]] ''BenHur: A Tale of the Christ'' by Lew Wallace. Yes, the [[AdaptationDisplacement films were based on a book]]. No, the book is a well-researched but original work of historical fiction and title character Judah Ben-Hur was not based on a real person of that era. [[PopculturalOsmosis Everyone knows]] there was a rather brutal chariot race near the end, but that's often as far as it goes. As for actually ''reading'' the book or even ''knowing'' about it... that's rather less common. And the classic films themselves possess a similar MainstreamObscurity to ''{{Casablanca}}'' or ''CitizenKane''.

* ''The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' by Robert Louis Stevenson. Most people know the names and the basic premise, and the expression for dramatic personality shift that it spawned. There have been over a hundred full adaptations made, and countless references in popular culture, usually involving people quaffing potions and becoming monsters. Now, who can name the narrator in the book?

* Many of the most critically hailed rock albums of all time suffer from this. Most people recognize ''The Velvet Underground and Nico'' for its AndyWarhol banana cover, but only hardcore rock fans can name any of its tracks. Radiohead's ''OK Computer'' was named the best album of the '90s in a recent poll, but, again, few people can name a single track from it. And Richard (with or without Linda) Thompson always has several albums on best-of lists, but few people can name any of his songs.

* Stephen Hawking's ''ABriefHistoryOfTime'' has sold more than 9 million copies and is probably the first thing people think of when anyone mentions Stephen Hawking (aside from his voice), but is often cited as an example of an "unread bestseller".