At The Late Night, Double-Feature, Picture Show. by Glenn Kurtzrock GRK2237@ACFcluster.nyu.edu "Don't dream it. Be it." Originally a line from a Frederick's of Hollywood lingerie catalog, it now means something totally different to thousands of people in a very odd subculture. To them it is their motto. Every Friday and Saturday night at midnight all across the country, they live the dream. The dream of Rocky Horror. What is Rocky Horror? Well, let's go back to the beginning. In 1973, a New Zealand-born Londoner named Richard O'Brien wrote The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a play which opened at London's Royal Court Theater the same year. It was an immediate success, named the best musical of 1973. Everybody loved it. Then, producer Lou Adler bought it and moved it to the Roxy in Los Angeles where it also did very well. Based on this success, he decided to produce The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the movie, and hired Jim Sharman to direct it. It took eight weeks and cost $1 million. Before it was released however, the play was moved to Broadway where it flopped completely and closed within weeks. Because of this, very little money was spent on publicity for the film and it played almost nowhere. It looked like The Rocky Horror Picture Show would just fade away into the realm of trivia and the local video rack. So how is it now playing in 210 theaters across the nation and grossing $70 million (as of 1985)? What is Rocky Horror about, anyway? According to it's creator O'Brien, "the movie is really an excuse for dressing up and having a party." (Corliss, Richard) Well, that doesn't tell us much. It's actually a very complicated movie. The basic plot centers around ultra-geek Brad Majors (played by Barry Bostwick) and his ultra-prissy fiance Janet Weiss (played by Susan Sarandon). They're going off to meet their science professor Dr. Everett Scott when their car breaks down. They find a castle and try to get some help. What they get is a lot of strange characters, such as a hunch-backed handyman named Riff-Raff (played by O'Brien) and his sister Magenta the domestic. There's also a groupie named Columbia. Then they meet the man (sort of) of the house, Dr. Frank-n-Furter (played by Tim Curry), a scientist who also happens to be a transvestite from another planet (the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania). Frank shows them his latest creation, a blond muscleman named Rocky (hence the name of the movie). Then we meet Eddie (played by Meat Loaf), Rocky's father, who escapes from deep freeze and is promptly killed by Frank. Later on, Frank seduces both Brad and Janet (separately, of course) and then Janet finds Rocky and seduces him. As if matters weren't confusing enough, Dr.Scott shows up (remember him?) and they all sit down to dinner (which turns out to be Eddie). Frank then traps Brad, Janet, Dr. Scott, Columbia and Rocky and turns them to stone, dresses them up in garter belts and lace and puts them on stage. They all do a little song and dance number (minus Dr. Scott, he's in a wheelchair) after which they all go swimming. Enter Riff-Raff and Magenta, tired of working for Frank, they kill him, Rocky and Columbia with some weird anti-matter beam and take off with the house, leaving a very confused Brad, Janet, and Dr. Scott. The entire movie is narrated by a guy with no name (and no neck), who is simply identified as The Criminologist (an expert). So what's the big deal? Take that insane story and add the fact that people dress up like the actors and perform in front of the screen while audience members yell and throw things and there you have it. Rocky Horror. You're still confused? Let me explain a little bit. People just don't throw random things, everything has a specific meaning. There's a wedding scene in the movie and everyone in the audience throws rice. When Frank proposes a toast, people throw toast. In one of the songs is a line that goes, "There's a light over at the Frankenstein place," and everyone lights matches. During the rain scene, people shoot squirt guns at each other. When Dr. Scott arrives, Brad yells, "Great Scott!" and toilet paper goes flying through the aisles. In one of Frank's songs is a line, "cards for sorrow, cards for pain," and people throw (what else?) playing cards. But that's not all. In the epitome of audience participation, people have it down to a science where what they yell at the screen makes it look like they are having a conversation with the actors. For example, Brad sees Frank for the first time. Everyone yells, "Hey Brad! How do you spell Uranus?" Brad says, "You - are?" Everyone yells, "Close enough!" Another instance is when Frank is calling out to Magenta and Columbia. Before he says Magenta, the audience asks, "What's your favorite color?" Before he says Columbia, everyone asks, "Where do you get your drugs?" (After he 'answers', they yell "Good choice!") And these aren't just isolated incidents. People do this for the WHOLE movie! Of course, to know the lines to a movie so well, you have to watch it several times, but after a while you'd get sick of it, right? Wrong. Many people have seen Rocky Horror hundreds, even thousands of times. Fan club president Sal Piro has seen it 873 times (as of the tenth anniversary show in 1985) and he keeps coming back for more. 17 year old fan Danny Ingram sums it up the best when he says, "It's like a religion." (Foote, Jennifer) So you still don't understand how the popularity of this film has endured throughout the years? Take a look at the audience and the performers for the answer. Not the average audience member who's seen maybe a dozen or so times (like Your Humble Narrator), but the hard-core Rocky fan who's in the triple digits already and goes every single weekend without fail. Most of these people are outcasts, social misfits who couldn't cope with the real world so they immerse themselves in the fantastic world of Rocky Horror. A perfect example of a typical hard-core fan is Ron Maxwell, a 22-year old Citibank computer operator who also plays Brad every Friday and Saturday night at the 8th Street Playhouse. "At school I was a nerd, a dork, a social outcast. So of course I identified with Brad. Now I'm still a dork, but it's O.K. Rocky Horror says, 'You're weird, but you belong somewhere. Let's all be weird together.'" (Corliss) He certainly found his niche in the Rocky world, and it sure changed his life. He met one of the Janet's at the Playhouse and they are now engaged to be married. Another fan who organizes the performers dance routines tells how "the movie changed my life. My whole social life is built around the movie. My old friends will say, 'Hey, let's do something Saturday night,' and I tell them I haven't missed a Rocky show in a year. If I did, it would be like the stage manager not showing up for the performance." (Segell, Michael) Rocky Horror gives all of these people who have been rejected by society something in common that links them together. According to one fan, "there's a message there, and it's deep. Part of it obviously says that it's O.K. to be crazy." (Foote) This movie affects different people in different ways. It caused Cilia Newman to leave her husband and go to law school. "I'm enjoying doing exactly what I want to do. That's what Rocky Horror is all about." However, she confesses that "if I don't come to see it I fell guilty." (Ibid.) Every fan feels very deeply about this movie, and tries to read into it what it means. "It's a fantasy film that preaches total decadence," says Adam Sargis, co-publisher of Transylvania, the national fan club's newsletter. "It gets laid-back people to let go, to forget their peer pressures." (Segell) As for Richard O'Briens opinion, "it's very hard to separate fantasy from reality. Let's keep it that way!" (Corliss) Unfortunately, even the purest dreams can be corrupted, and so over-popularity may be hurting Rocky. With so many people yelling so many things, you can't ever hear the movie anymore. Even Sal Piro is getting frustrated. "in the early years, people yelled the best lines at the best moments. The real regulars - the ones who've seen it 200, 300 times - leave the yelling to everyone else. I myself haven't yelled a line in years." (Lagace, Martha) Another sad fact is that in trying to escape society's prejudice and rejection, a lot of people end up doing the same thing they wanted to escape. According to Joe McLaughlin, who's seen Rocky over a thousand times and still isn't part of the stage show, "they have a clique and if you're not in it you just don't count." (Dawkins, David) So what does the future hold for Rocky Horror? Who knows. Popularity is growing all over the country. Lou Adler claims that he has no plans to make a sequel, and that's just as well, because it's impossible to purposely create a cult film, and nothing could compare to the king of the cults, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. And let O'Brien's words guide you through your life. Don't dream it. Be it. Works Cited: Corliss, Richard. _"Across the Land: The Voice of Rocky Horror."_ Time. pp.22+ Dec. 9, 1985 Dawkins, David. _"'Rocky X,' Penny, and the Nylons."_ Film Comment. p.42 Jan. 1986 Foote, Jennifer. _"Horror Show."_ Newsweek. p.93 July 17, 1978 Lagace, Martha. _"Horrow Show."_ New York. p.32 Oct. 28, 1985 Segell, Michael. _"'Rocky Horror': the case of the rampant audience."_ Rolling Stone. p.20 April 5, 1979 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry for some of the out-of-date stats, I wrote this 2 1/2 years ago. Feel free to pass this around, whatever, just leave my name on it. Thanks. Enjoy!