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The History of Rocky Horror: ---------------------- HOME

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

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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!

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