Although reenactments of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, such as the one pictured above, are often viewed as LGBT+ friendly, certain elements of the plot are homophobic. The views portrayed in the movie reflect those of the 1970s, therefore they are outdated for the current audience (Charleslmims/ creative commons).
Every year I find myself re-watching the same movies over and over again. It’s a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve, Roman Holiday on Valentine’s Day and Rocky Horror Picture Show on Halloween, just to name a few. But this year while I watched Rocky Horror I came to the realization that the movie’s themes did not age well, constructing a predatory image of LGBT+ characters.
For those who do not know, Rocky Horror is anything but a regular viewing experience. Traditionally, the movie plays as a cast of “shadow actors” performing the action in front of the screen. Meanwhile, the audience’s role is to perform call outs and use props to help set the scene such as throwing rice during the wedding scene or using squirt guns during the “Over at the Frankenstein Place” sequence.
The movie follows the night when Brad Majors and Janet Weiss’s car breaks down and they are forced to spend the night in the castle of the eccentric and unhinged Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his colorful cast of guests and servants. It just so happens that this night holds a very special celebration—Frank-N-Furter plans to bring to life the “perfect man” he has been constructing.
Premiering in 1975, the film was a complete flop. However, when theaters across the U.S. started midnight showings of the movie, it became a cult classic, unlike anyone had ever seen before. Leandra Lynn, a member of a professional cast of shadow performers called the “Sonic Oscillators,” says, “I didn’t have anybody that I really thought understood me. And then I joined Rocky and it clicked: All of us were freaks, but we were all accepting of our different freakitude.”
With Rocky Horror taking the public by storm, it seemed as if a new chapter was beginning in the story of the fight for gay rights. There was finally a movie with a main character that was in the LGBT+ community. Frank-N-Furter became the symbol of the LGBT+ community, but when you watch the movie now it seems to hold a lot more negative representation than positive.
Throughout the movie, this fan-favorite antihero’s actions can be seen as more and more troubling as he continuously mistreats those around him, forces himself on characters such as Janet, Brad and Rocky, commits homicide and then proceeds to feed his guests the remains only to reveal the mutilated body at the dinner table. In the words of the criminologist, “It was clear that their host was a man of little morals.”
So, why is this movie still a cult classic with such damaging rhetoric against the LGBT+ community?
When discussing this movie, one must keep the timeframe of when it was produced in mind. Opening in movie houses across America, Rocky Horror was a symbol for the gay rights movement. The themes of sexual liberation, finding identity and the simple principle that love is stronger than hatred resonated with people across the country who felt as if they were not enough just because of who they loved. Saying that we refuse to watch this movie is saying that we refuse to understand where we were, where we are and where we strive to be one day as a society.
So, this Halloween, when you sit down to watch this beloved classic, try looking at it with different eyes. Look past the campy conventions and cringey moments to see something truly special. All it takes is one “jump to the left.”
Grace Piscani is an English major freshman whose bucket list includes playing Rocky in a shadow cast of Rocky Horror.