In 1975, a groundbreaking horror-comedy-musical film, “Rocky Horror Picture Show”, was first released in Los Angeles. Just days after a successful box-office, the movie’s ticket sales went downhill. The well-known poster was definitely a head turner and sparked several controversies. Despite its rocky beginnings, the movie has had a significant cultural impact and has been setting fashion and music trends even 40 years after its release.
The film begins with ruby red lips, dubbed over with a male voice, establishing an androgynous theme that is repeated throughout the film. The narrator introduces the newly engaged couple, Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, lost in the middle of a dark, rainy night. They soon stumble upon a castle belonging to a transvestite, Dr. Frank N. Furter, a mad scientist who claims to come from a different dimension. After being invited inside, they find themselves crashing an Annual Transylvanian Convention.
Songs in the soundtrack are ‘50s rock “n” roll, which was uncommon because musicals during that time featured Broadway-type music. Costumes from the film include but are not limited to shiny rhinestones, sequins, spiked leather jackets, and bedazzled leotards. The costumes and hairstyles in the film influenced much of punk music and was a trendsetter for later rock and pop cult films.
“Rocky Horror” is the first and one of the only audience participation movies. Audience participation began as early as the film’s first release and was later re-released as a midnight movie where audience participation really flourished. People would dress up in costumes, yell back lines during extended pauses between dialogue and throw props throughout the film. To this day, the film continues to have midnight showings in theaters during the weekends where fans dress up to watch a live production or a rerun of the movie.
The film is focused on the empowering vision of self-creation and its queer agenda. It isn’t about how the characters discover they are gay and come out to their families; it is about how slippery the boundaries of what we call ‘identity’ are, and how confusing it can get. The film was shocking to many people four decades ago but nowadays, society has slowly begun to accept gays, lesbians and bisexuals. In many ways, “Rocky Horror”’s futuristic view is finally becoming a reality. Sadly, that does not mean the world is now a safe place for less traditional gender expression, especially those whose class and/or race puts them at further disadvantage. But culturally, this decade has brought forth the greatest society evolution on sexuality and gender since the 1970s.
From same-sex marriages to Emmy-Award winning TV shows based on sexual and gender differences, it is not hard to find role models that have lived through what many are going through right now.
I expected it to be a horror movie. After watching it, I noticed that it wasn’t scary at all but was instead a jawdropper. Though this was a new type of movie for me, I enjoyed it. This movie is for anyone that loves 1950s Rock “n” Roll, bedazzling costumes and tons of drag.
From being a film that was dismissed as a write-off to becoming a cultural phenomenon, the film has continued to leave its legacy in many fans’ hearts.
TCHS School Newspaper