MovieChat Forums > The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Discussion > Let me try and explain "it" for those th...

Let me try and explain "it" for those that don't get it.

posted 9 years ago by jgrayson_au
18 replies | jump to latest

I've seen a lot of people that don't get it, it being Rocky Horror Picture Show. It's a tricky thing to try and explain to people. It's not a thing where you can point to and say "it's the music" or "it's the characters". Keep in mind this is very much my opinion, but I think my feelings are somewhat universal.

I think the reason it's so famous has got to do with the timeframe this movie came out. This was in 1975. This was pre internet. This was a movie that was talking directly to the 'weirdos'. These days they'd probably be the goths or the nerds or the geeks or whatever. Also, these days it's not so terrible to be a nerd. We've got Big Bang Theory and zillions of comic book movies and TV shows. But in 1975 "Rocky" not only embraced the weird; it also spoofed it and added sexuality to it.

To get an idea of Rocky you really need to see it with an audience. You need to see it with people dressed up. There will be people of all shapes and sizes, who often would feel not comfortable being in these sort of clothing or social situations now in revealing clothes. In a video I saw of one event a large man dressed as Frankenfurter attended and was having the time of his life.

This is all part of "Rocky". It's more than just the movie or the songs. It's the entire culture that surrounds it. It's the 'freak mecca'. People like me; who instead of playing basketball I was reading physics books or learning QBasic; could feel safe by watching "Rocky".

It was a secret club too You could met someone and you could say "Who's hotter Columbia Janet or Magenta?" If they could answer it told you a lot about the person. If they said "Actually probably Frankenfurter!" it probably told you even more! Tim Curry and his stupid sexy legs. :-)

The point is it's hard to try and judge this movie with modern day hindsight and try and "get it". We simply don't exist in that time now. We have instant communication on tap. Want to talk to 100 geeks about physics? Jump on reddit. Want a sense of belonging? Join a MMO.

We don't need RHPS like we used to. The need for a secret password to identify yourself as a member of the weird guys has gone. Now we're just part of the normal people. "Rocky" was a secret handshake between the oddballs, who now are partially the norm and can find other oddballs at the click of a mouse.

I still like Magenta though. She's delicious. Or Tim's sexy legs.

[–] JosephASpadaro 9 years ago

Excellent points. I agree.

And, exactly as you state: you cannot really "judge" (or even appreciate and understand) a 1975 film, using a 2015 framework or perspective. It's impossible. It's apples and oranges. With Rocky Horror, you "had to be there". And, in fact, you "had to be there" back in its day.

[–] harryrstevens 9 years ago

Told from the viewpoint of a straight boy. For us gays it was a revelation and a celebration. We could be out, indulge, act out our fantasies, take dates to without hiding. Took my first boyfriend on our first date to Rocky Horror, which lasted 9 months. Even now I can recall every minute of that evening/night. So many gay boys each Halloween acted out various characters. It was before AIDS, the middle of 70's, a wonderful, magical time.

[–] neverthereever 9 years ago

The Movie was an adaption of a stage musical, from an era when theater was challenging the boundaries of sexual censorship.

A number of controversial theater productions were adapted for the screen to further break the mold of media censorship.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show merely brought the stage production to a wider audience. The Movies, being the Internet of the time.

The timing is interesting. 1975 was something of a cultural cusp. The idealism of the Sixties had faded away, The world was entering a period of recession and high inflation. Living standards were falling, America had been humiliatingly withdrawn from Vietnam. Music was increasingly commercialized, "Super groups" performing Stadium shows but with a nascent Disco and Punk scene about to emerge.

It was a time for a new freak scene to break out. The movie was probably a good vehicle for that, however it wasn't inspired by that need, it was simply feeding the flames.

[–] toycoon-too 9 years ago

While I was in high school in 1976, I remember having to tell my mom I was going to bed early on Saturday night, then sneaking out of my bedroom window and running down the block to meet my friends waiting in the car to see the film. I'd asked my mom if I could go see Rocky Horror Picture Show earlier in the week and she said, "No way! What kind of a movie starts at midnight!?" I was scared that someone might see me at the theater and think I was a freak, queer, weird or all three. After that first night, I was hooked! My best friend and I started the First Annual Transylvanian Convention in Hollywood.

One year, I went to Florida to see my dad and I was so lonely. I didn't know anyone there who was my age except my 'square' cousin so I decided to go by myself to the Coconut Grove to see Rocky. Immediately people started to talk to me as though we'd known each other for years. They offered me herbal preparations, libations and a great sense of camaraderie. After that, I looked forward to visiting my dad in Florida so I could see my RHPS friends. Rocky Horror gave us outsiders, a fabulously freaky and loving family that welcomed you with open arms.

Rocky Rocky, yeah, yeah, yeah!

The most important thing is being sincere, even if you have to fake it. - Cesar Romero

[–] pizza_cheese 9 years ago

Thanks for sharing :)

[–] rosiedeene 9 years ago

That is a perfect example of why this movie is awesome and endearing.

[–] Picnic10 8 years ago

I like all your comments, particularly the OP and nevertherever. I also think that , if Brad and Janet are symbolic of the idealism of the 1950s going through to the early 60s, then the slightly pre-punk, glam rock, retro nostalgia conditions of the time helped - created cinematically by such films as diverse as American Graffiti and Tommy and, after Rocky, there was Grease.

[–] OldFriendOfTheChristys 9 years ago

To get an idea of Rocky you really need to see it with an audience. You need to see it with people dressed up. There will be people of all shapes and sizes, who often would feel not comfortable being in these sort of clothing or social situations now in revealing clothes. In a video I saw of one event a large man dressed as Frankenfurter attended and was having the time of his life!

For years it played at one theater in my hometown, but I never went. Finally, at age 15, I decided it was time to go, but before I could check it out, the theater pulled it. I had no choice but to watch it on TV, which I did - many, many times over. Today, more theaters are showing it - usually around Halloween - but I still haven't gone as, now, I don't want to watch it with people who talk through it, etc. I've come to love the film as a standalone effort.

[–] rosiedeene 9 years ago

If you ever get the chance, do go. It's quite an experience.

[–] rdpepper210 8 years ago

There is nothing like being in the theater, getting pelted with rice, water, toilet paper, toast,mustard packets, watching people act out the movie, and yelling the lines, and doing the time warp in the aisles. Then going to a diner and coming home at three in the morning.

My mother always knew when I went because there would be rice on the bathroom floor!

I don't think there will ever be another experience like Rocky Horror, I'm just glad I got to see it thirty something times in the theater.

[–] jkholman 8 years ago

To OldFriendOfTheChristys:

In its heyday, watching the RockyHorrorPictureShow by oneself was considered nerdy. And back then, anything that was labeled nerd was social death. Watching the RHPS with a participating audience was considered the only way to see the show.
Could it be your inhibitions deter you from attending? The nature of RHPS and the norms it contested are the basis for this question which the average first time attendee (referred to as virgins at the show's start) has to face.
OldFriendOfTheChristys, you are missing out.

[–] oprlvr33 8 years ago

Oh....I do completely "get it"
Speaking as a professional Thespian, I got it all from the get-go.

Rocky Horror is eclectic, sexualized theater at its purist finest. Few other musical shows of the time, offered such transient sensuality. And I am speaking in dated terms, not modern. For the 1970s, it was the epitome of transitional sexuality by crossing homosexuality with transvestites or transexuals with overtones of complete sexualization (if you would)

Only those brave and bold enough to absorb its outer inhibitions of sexuality, fully appreciated its overall artistic value. Some scoffed it as "transexuals finally having an 'outlet' to engage their heinous, sinful behavior". However, it is purely ART. Theatrical, perfectionist art at its finest. Look at Burlesque and/or complete voyeurism. One simply cannot watch this film without completely baring an open mind.

Peanutlee33

[–] Picnic10 8 years ago

Also, in Britain at least, we are already familiar, at an early age, with men dressing as women in pantomimes. And gothic environments had been seen in the Hammer Horror films. Rocky was new but it also a last gasp of old school upper class gothicness before the examination of the terror of the American suburbs, with the likes of Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street, dominated cinema in the horror genre. The capitalism of the 80s seemed to make the upper class something to take as a serious force again, something to make comedy or satire about but not so much horror.

[–] starfreak25hp 8 years ago

A someone who doesn't 'get it', I think you guys might be right.

It was maybe 5 years ago that I met someone (besides my parents) who even mentioned that they'd seen it before. I had always just thought of it as one of my Mom's weird college stories. "They played this movie at the student center, and we would throw toast at the screen!" Okay, Mom, that's enough 1970s wackiness for one day.

It's all over the place right now, with the televised musical coming up this week, and that got me thinking about it again, and poking around these boards for more insight. I watched the beginning of the movie on TV the other night and ended up changing the channel. I was never really sure what was going on or what the point was; probably because I think of it as a retro musical and not an edgy cultural phenomenon to get swept up in. I suppose that ship has sailed.

Not to say that it's bad or anything; I just think the whole thing is going over my head. But whether I understand it or not, I'm glad that it's brought so many people joy ☺

[–] cadeduelg-59371 8 years ago

Age 42 straight tomboy 🙂 watching original for first time, I gotta say, Tim Curry had a very Freddie Mercury thing going on, really enjoying this. 👍

[–] activista 8 years ago

@startfreak25hp

Definitely check out the original. Basically,it's a spoof of 1950s/60s horror movies updated to the 1970a, and since its a '70s film, it's got transvestites, bisexuality,and homosexuality, which were just becoming less taboo subjects at the time. Yeah, you could call it a period piece, but the fact that it's remained popular for at least two generations shows that it's clearly still relevant to those who have embraced it as an expression of their own unique weirdness, or just feeling like an oddball or outsider (having been a young girl nerd and thinking I was weird because I liked stuff out of the mainstream---I can relate,lol.) Also, back in the '70s, films that featured people that were outsiders/on the fringe of society/or just anyone who felt like they didn't fit in because of their gender,color, or whatever else had because the norm----think of now classic films like ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS, FIVE EASY PIECES, SCARECROW and others.

Anyway, the movie's genuinely weird, crazy and cheerfully whacked out, and it's fun (it's also got a major gay sensibility, which is another major reason it's popular, I believe) plus the songs are cool and equally fun as heck. I'd grown up hearing about the film, and I'd only seen a clip of "The Time Warp" musical sequence a couple of times on TV (like on USA'S NIGHT FLIGHT show) but I didn't actually see the film until I was in college in '89, on a screen in an auditorium with an eager audience. No one warned me not to sit in the front near the screen, which meant I got lots of cereal thrown across my head,hitting me in the back and water squirted at my neck during certain parts of the film by the two girls sitting behind me. I'd brought my own box of cereal to toss at the screen. Taped it off TV (probably off A&E) a couple of years later in the early '90s, and started to really appreciate it more.) Plus Tim Curry gave a show-stealing performance as Frank-n-Furter, so there's that,too. The film, as I looked at it, is basically about a couple that becomes open to their sexuality by being around Frank-N-Furter and his gang. The real message of the film, IMHO, is that a person doesn't become truly free once they let go of their hang-ups and embrace their sexuality, whatever type it may be. At least that's what I got out of it---other people have their own particular interpretations of it, I'm sure.

[–] starfreak25hp 8 years ago

Wow, thanks for the well thought out comments, guys! Not all boards are that welcoming to people who aren't up to speed, so thanks for walking me through what the show means to you.

I think not being familiar with old horror movies also kept me from understanding and appreciating what's going on. But I've seen the new TV musical, and some clips of Tim Curry (who is awesome in everything), and I have to say what I like the most is the music. Somewhere near the end, I suddenly realized that the musical style reminded me of Little Shop of Horrors, with its upbeat, rock 'n' roll sound, and I found myself liking it more. And if I can enjoy songs about a deranged dentist and man-eating plants, I can make an attempt at Rocky Horror, right?

I mentioned the musical to my parents today, since it premiered tonight, and said I was still having trouble understanding it. They both immediately had an explanation: Dad said, "It's about aliens!" and Mom said, "It's about nothing!" For all I know, they're both right. Maybe it's just about having fun? I think I can live with that.

[–] TheArgentinian (6440) 3 years ago

Great post.