If you saw a bunch of college kids in lingerie and boas heading toward the Askew Student Life Center, chances are they were heading to the cinematic experience known as The Rocky Horror Picture Show put on by Cheap Thrills Tallahassee. I went for my first time as a spur of the moment thing with some friends. I thought I was just going to watch a simple movie and hum along to the Time Warp. That is not what happened.
As soon as I walked in, I noticed how incredibly overdressed I was. I was wearing a sweater with a bralette and a corduroy skirt. Basically, I looked like I could fit into society. Everyone here looked out of this world, with bedazzled bras to fishnets to the tallest silhouette high heels. It was like I had walked into some underground Victoria Secret Fashion Show. One of the performers was walking around with a bright red lipstick and putting it on the foreheads of the audience members. She came up to my friends and I and wrote a V for virgin on our heads because we had never seen the movie or the live action. My friend Tatum got an “S” for “slut” because she has seen both the live-action and the movie. I have never felt so confused about why that was necessary and what show was awaiting me.
Courtesy: Local Wiki
I soon figured out the reason why they marked us. They would call up people with “V”s and make them perform something in front of a 100+ crowd. The Virgins would have to either say a pickup line, do an evil laugh and end it in an organismic sound or make out with the random person next to them. Since my parents read all my articles, I will leave out which one I did for their peace of mind (hi mom and dad!). After that, one of the performers went over the rules about our props which included a rubber glove, confetti, a birthday hat, a newspaper and a single card. When something happened on the screen, we were supposed to react to it in a certain way with our props. An example of this would be the audience covering their head with the newspaper in response to a character doing the same to protect herself from the rain. This was when I knew it was not going to be a typical movie experience.
There were performers who would reenact the scenes that were going on in the movie above them. They also had their own little script, which they would yell over the movie. Usually, the script they were going by was hilarious, raunchy and would often point out cinematic flaws. Their commentary/script made it impossible for you to really focus on what was going on on-screen, which didn’t fare well with some of the people who were sitting next to me at first or even me. As the show progressed, I realized that it was less about the movie and more about celebrating the creativity of a show that had nothing (but still everything) to do with the original show.
Courtesy: Savannah Tindall
Overall, this was an unforgettable experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who can find more show times. Make sure when you go to not be so close-minded about the entire process but rather embrace it and throw yourself into it. Also, don’t be like me and stand out like a sore thumb for wearing actual clothes; when you go see Rocky Horror Picture Show go all in and let yourself be engulfed in this quirky show.