Are men in fishnet tights, high heeled shoes and corsets the kind you hang around with? If not, going to see “Rocky Horror Picture Show’ might not be for you.
In going to see it for the first time Saturday, I was a little shocked by the provocative outfits worn proudly by both men and women. Being a Rocky Horror “virgin,” I didn’t quite know what to expect, but soon after seeing a full grown man in shimmery gold spandex lounging outside the State Theater, I was given a new perspective on the whole show before even entering. My parents were quite the Rocky Horror fans in their teenage years and never thought they would be warning me about all the raunchy jokes and references in the movie and the fans.
The ambiance of the whole show is just fantastic. The way people are so excited for something that’s been going on for almost 30 years really shows how “Rocky Horror Picture Show” has really created this culture of it’s own, free of judgement and allowing fans to attend dressed in nothing but tights and a bodice. Being able to be a part of all the anticipation and excitement is something really wonderful.
I can’t really imagine what the producers of this movie were thinking when they made this to be a serious movie. “Rocky Horror Picture Show” is quite hard to summarize.
Basically the whole movie is a parody of Frankenstein. A transvestite creates a perfect man, representing Frankenstein’s monster, to be his companion. Throughout the movie there are random suggestive shenanigans, without much of a solid storyline. In the end everyone in the castle besides our unsuspecting visitors turn out to be aliens, and teleport the entire castle back to their home planet, Transexual. Eventually people started to realize that it’s so stupid, it can be made funny.
This movie itself is really strange and rather pointless, but the fans and the interaction of the audience really sets Rocky Horror apart from any other movie I’ve ever seen. I brought along uncooked rice, a lighter, toast, a roll of toilet paper, a noise-maker, a party hat, rubber gloves, a deck of playing cards, a squirt gun and a newspaper. Many of these things were also being sold outside the entrance to the movie. Yes, typically people buy popcorn and a soda when they go to the movies, but this isn’t any average movie. Like I said, audience interaction is key.
Throughout the entire movie you use your props to go with the lines and events going on. During the wedding scene, anyone who brought rice flings it at the entire audience. When Janet and Brad are running from their car to the castle it’s pouring rain, and you take your squirt gun and shoot anyone in the audience, while trying to shield yourself with your newspaper.
Normally people who yell at the movies are shamed and silenced, but at Rocky Horror it’s encouraged! Not only the use of props but the loud commentary added by the super-fans throughout the whole show is absolutely hilarious. I was laughing the entire time, being lucky enough to have sat in front of the loudest man in the whole theater.
Going to see “Rocky Horror Picture Show” was a totally new experience for me, and I loved every minute of it, besides leaving.
