“At the late-night… double feature… picture show”
Too often in life we get caught up in people’s opinions and avoid going outside of our comfort zone in fear of what people would say, or worse, think. We shuffle around at the bar too scared to embarrass ourselves dancing or we hum along to our favorite song too scared of people thinking we’re off key or we wear what everyone else wears too worried about others’ opinions. While the cliché ‘be yourself’ might be all fine and dandy, it’s true that people do judge and people do talk and the pressures of society to either do something well or not at all are too real. The pressure to fit in especially now is real, so having a night to just let loose and be whatever you want without fear of judgement is a blessing. Enter The Rocky Horror Picture Show!The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a movie musical, centers on Brad and Janet, a clean cut and newly engaged couple, who seek refuge during a storm at an old mansion where they get thrown into the horrifying, overtly sexual, violent and bizarre world of Dr Frank N. Furter. While this movie is famed for being the “longest running release in film history” as it’s still playing today, it was released in 1975 to little critical success until it began being shown as a midnight movie where it went on to achieve its cult classic status.
For a movie that features gratuitous sex, murderous aliens, cannibalism, incest and an illogical plot, and is considered by its own screenplay writer to be sloppy, rushed, too long and too slow, its fame may be surprising. It was even called “tasteless, plotless and pointless” by Newsweek and a “low-budget freak show/cult classic/cultural institution” by The New York Times. The secret to the madness is the audience participation. Richard O’Brien, the screenplay writer, believes people grew bored of the movie and began to answer back. Now midnight showings often involve the audience shouting back retorts to lines and interacting with props such as water guns and toast.
Recently, I attended the Cedar Lee Theater in Cleveland which has a famous shadow casting production of Rocky Horror, featuring Simply His Servants. They have performed the shadow casting for 31 years, and they perform the first Saturday of every month at midnight. In a shadow casting, actors dress up as the characters and perform in front of the screen as the audience participates. Sometimes, the audience is even interacted with by the performers. It’s truly a once in a lifetime (or a once a month experience).
Attending Rocky Horror is a mind-blowing event. It’s incredible to be able to go out at night in leather and lace with all your friends and feel safe and confident while doing so and to be able to explore your feminine or masculine side, whatever it maybe. I loved being able to get outside of my comfort zone and dance around to the Time Warp, scream the Virgin Pledge and watch people moan out their best fake orgasm. This movie is an unconventional yet fascinating exploration of sexuality and a celebration of people outside the strict male or female/masculine or feminine dichotomy of our society. In fact, the shadow cast itself is often gender bent, and the movie features a character who refers to himself as a “sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania” and engages in multiple relationships with men and women. Seeing this openness about the spectrum of gender and sexuality on stage and on the screen was a really important moment for many people and continues to impact people to this day.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a wild ride with a bizarre, hallucinatory-esque plot and a breakdown of societal taboos and all in all it’s an amazing experience that I would recommend everyone experience at least once in their lives. So come one, come all!
“I’m lucky, he’s lucky, we’re all lucky!” (For Rocky Horror).