Rocky Horror: I Didn't Like It ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
INTERIOR. JACKSON'S FRESHMAN DORM - 2018, NIGHT
JACKSON, a late teens social studies major, sits at a desk staring dead eyed at a laptop's screen. The soft blue light glows upon his sullen and confused face as he holds his head in his hands. His friends, happily sit across from him on the other side of the room, admiring their handiwork. As the credits of The Rocky Horror Picture Show roll, the gears turning in Jackson's head snag and tear into one another, attempting to process the last hour and forty one minutes. Jackson's ROOMATE, sits on his bed, smiling as the credits roll across his TV.
ROOMATE
(Awestruck)
That was incredible!
FRIEND #1
I'm glad you liked it. It's really something else, huh?
ROOMATE
Yeah man, those songs slapped. Total bops.
The attention shifts to Jackson, as his hands slide up his head, nearly failing to keep his head from slamming onto the desk, ending it all.
FRIEND #2
(Smirking)
So Jackson, what did you think?
Silently, Jackson continues to stare at the names as they appear, not noticing the attempted invitation to the conversation. His friends share a good laugh and continue to discuss the movie, and Jackson slowly spirals into oblivion, questioning what he is doing with his life.
FADE OUT.
I hope you enjoyed that dramatic recreation of my first time watching Rocky Horror. It's a true story, and that is a real picture. Lovingly taken by one of my friends who wanted me to watch the movie all those years ago, it perfectly encapsulates my feelings toward the film. Unfortunately, my opinion hasn't changed on the movie too much since that first viewing. I just can't get into the film, it's characters, and it's traditions. I'll briefly outline my opinion before getting into it's clear connection to queerness.
In terms of the story, it starts pretty basic. Marriage that leads to the protagonists getting engaged, their car breaking down in a storm, and then stopping at a looming castle in hopes for help. Pretty similar to The Old Dark House, the film we watched earlier in the semester, but it takes a sharp turn here. The protagonists meet the strange house hands, then witness a cult ritual called "The Time Warp" (which I don't think actually warps time, contrary to it's name), and then meet the man of the house, Dr. Frank N. Furter. He's a wacky transvestite scientist that's trying to create life in a sculpted man that he wants to use for "releasing tension." The protagonists are forcibly stripped, witness the animation of this tension reliving muscle guy, and then see a separate guy come out of a freezer on a motorcycle for a few minutes before the Doc murders him out of jealousy. The plot continues with more bizarre events, including sexual assault(?), incest(?), and a stage show that ends with Doc's murder by his assistants who were actually aliens. You can see how laying it out like this really sucks any sort of charm or charisma out of the film, but that's how I watched it. This ties into the characters, who were also all over the place.
Brad and Janet were incredibly trusting and easily manipulated, so it was difficult to like or relate to them, despite that being their purpose. Dr. Frank, played by the incredible Tim Curry, had his moments, but was also largely unlikable. His introduction is pretty great, his direct looks to the audience, and some of his clever lines are what I appreciated. However, his actions left me stunned often. Not like, "Wow, this guy is so cool! What a rockstar!" stunned. More like, "Wait, what? Why?" I understand he's a megalomaniac master manipulator, but aren't we supposed to like him? Isn't he supposed to be redeemable? The first moment that stood out to me was when he brutally murders Eddie with an icepick or something out of jealously. Something that's been time and time again in many stories, but what he continued to do is what really made me dislike him. The scenes with him and the protagonists in their bedrooms were strange, and were clearly predatory. People like this guy? Why am I supposed to be sad that he dies at the end? Am I? I don't really get how I'm supposed to feel toward him, and the protagonists for that matter. After that bedroom scene they also fly off the rails. They both cheat on each other, and are both upset that the other did? I guess the film is trying to play up that hypocrisy, but it feels less like a gag to me and more upsetting. The other characters were alright I guess? I wasn't a fan of Columbia, Eddie, Magenta, or Dr. Scott. I kinda liked Riff Raff, at least his performance. He had a few moments in songs where'd go a bit rockstar that were good. His creepy demeanor and relationships were not great. I'm a big fan of interesting plots and complex characters in my movies and shows, which is largely what I was missing from this.
Clearly, this film is not for me. It's quite literally not made for me or others like me, which is what makes it remarkable. Despite not enjoying the film, I do appreciate the audience it's grown and what it means to many people. I've heard of the midnight showings before, and I know Tommy Wiseau's masterpiece The Room has a similar type of spectacle. The difference between the two films and their following lies squarely with representation. The Room is about a very successful and not at all strange human man named Johnny, his future wife Lisa, his best friend Mark, and their neighbor/pseudo son Denny. A classic American life and love story about betrayal and drama. Rocky Horror is a whole nother can of worms. Characters are blatant and unapologetic about their sexualities through their actions and attire, which often contrast societal norms. Not to mention, there's plenty of actual talent and quality in RH, compared to The Room's infamous lack of it.
I will be one hundred percent honest with you, this movie was very unusual for a first time viewer in several ways but we have to know that this was a movie that was meant to help or not to help inspire queers and cross dressers. I all honesty I felt like this was one of the most important movies we have watched yet since it really gave us the true taste of what it meant and how it felt to be queer and the song do be banging so I really liked that. I would like to comment on how you thought it was very hard to relate to Brad and Janet since that is very true. We really can't compare to them since we don't know exactly how they feel during that whole time, not to mention we do know that Brad was some what gay too. I really liked your post especially with the fist photo Lol.
ReplyDeleteJackson, I really enjoyed reading your take on Rocky Horror. The script formatting at the beginning really intrigued me. As a first time viewer myself I also felt similarly to how you did that first time viewing the movie. I definitely agree that the film had parts that were very out there. To attract a large audience then just the queer community Rock Horror needed to be less of a campy movie. I think that in itself is what makes this movie so appealing to the queer community though. This is like we talked about in a class, a sort of safe place for queer people to go to.
ReplyDeleteI can understand where you are coming from with how you may not like the movie. I was the same way when I first watched it as well. Going off of your point about not being able to relate to Brad and Janet though, I think that is totally fair. I don't think they are meant to represent "the straight couple" like in the Old Dark House. I think they are there to more represent questioning people if anything. I think the person who is there to represent the more straight audience is Dr.Scott and I think one of the readings went more into that. He was just kind of there and more of an onlooker than he was a participant like Brad and Janet were. I don't know, it is kind of hard to explain why Rocky Horror is enjoying to some so I understand where you are coming from there. Also whoever took that picture must be a master photographer lol.
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