rocky horror picture show

[kinkyboots]

Did any one else see the that a remake is in the works for 2016? I remember seeing commercials for the original going to be broadcast on network television for the first time back when i was around 16. The commercials did show much and i thought i was supposed to be a horror flick. I knew from references in meda it was some kind of cult following, so i got excited and just had to tell my parents.
Their reaction was "oh god" as i had been alread busted crossdressing a few times at that point; and they thought i might be gay.
When i finally got to watch the movie, it stured up a lot of questions about myself, loved the move of course.
the next year when i met my future wife, i had to share the movie, was also not met with great enthusiasm; so i pushed everything down, because even if she didn't approve i knew i wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
22 years later and being out to her for the last couple; I'm finding it hard to tell her about the remake of RHPS as i don't know her reaction might be on any given day. So I'm just going to let her stumble on that one on her own.

[Katey888]

Do you ever wonder that the authors of these types of stories are concerned 'sisters' who really want to find a way for the rest of us to facilitate conversations with our friends and family? In that it makes it easier if there is more fiction and factual coverage of crossdressing to actually initiate a discussion and not just for education? Wouldn't you do that if you had the opportunity? I would... :daydreaming: I wouldn't suggest RHPS is particularly educational, although Frank-N-Furter was, at least, a very sweet transvestite... ;)

It's probably not the best role model or exemplar we could have chosen, certainly not from a wardrobe perspective... :eek: I don't think my wife's ever watched it and I'm not sure I want to ask her...

Katey x

[OCCarly]

I read about the remake, and that Laverne Cox has the lead. Since then I've been filling out the rest of the cast in my head, thinking about who would be right for what part.

So far, here is the rest of my fantasy cast:

Adam Lambert as Eddie (originally played by Meat Loaf. I really want to hear Adam Lambert sing "Hot Patootie.")

Tim Curry as Dr. Everett Scott (the guy in the wheelchair. Tim Curry has been wheelchair bound since a stroke about three years ago. It would be the ultimate tribute role.)

Lea Salonga as Columbia. (That role needs a small-statured Broadway singer with really powerful pipes. Kristen Chenoweth is also a good candidate).

Malcolm McDowell or Terrence Stamp as the narrator. (Rocky Horror was originally a British production).

Constantine Maroulis as Riff Raff. Riff Raff is a heavy weight role that requires singing, dancing and acting. His songs also open and close the whole show, unless you choose to use different singers.

I am still working on Brad and Janet. You need two kids in their twenties that have some chemistry. They sing two duets, "Dammit Janet" and "Over at the Frankenstein Place" that carry the whole production between the opening number and "Time Warp." And the roles also require a lot of emoting and reacting to the antics of Frank-N-Furter and the rest of the crew.

- - - Updated - - -

The guy that wrote the play and the movie is at the very least, a crossdresser: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21788238

[Victoria Demeanor]

Lets do the time warp again...!!!!!!!
Okay when I read this post today I had to go look it up, almost couldn't believe they would do a remake. I never got the chance to go to a mid night viewing and I really wanted to. As I reflet back I know exactly why.
Carly - good list and I am interested in seeing who they do pick. I am on the fence though with Laverne Cox as Frank-N-Furter. She is TS and a beautiful woman, but the role is for a CD (transvestite) a sweet transvestite, so I'm putting my foot down, Frank was a CD. Maybe Bi, close to TG, perhaps thoughts of TS, but a CD non the less. I'm sure she'll do a good job, but for Frank-N-Furter I would have gone with Eddie Izard.

[Tracii G]

Never seen it all the way thru because I couldn't stand it.

[Jackie7]

The stage play is better than the movie. The movie falls apart in the scone half. A remake will be a hoot whatever role Laverne plays. I just saw a terrific performance of the play at Sherman Playhouse in Sherman, CT, hilarious.

for halloween this year I'm dressing as Janet Weiss and my darling wife will be Brad Majors. dammit Janet!

[samantha rogers]

Personally, I'd rather it not be remade at all lol. The original, in all its sleazy splendor was perfect haha
Hollywood is not really in the business of making great movies. It makes money. When it does make a really good movie it is by accident and they can't wait to remake it and screw it up the way they meant to originally. The original wasn't even made by Hollywood so it galls them even more.
What made the original great was that it was a cheesy but wonderful tribute to several different original cheesy genres....b-movie horror flicks, b-movie sci fi flicks...and so on. And the fact that it, in itself, was cheesy made it perfect. A big budget remake will desecrate the original by making it big budget perfect and consequently miss the point entirely.
I can't really blame them... Producers see a way to make money, and actors, bless their hearts, want to reenact roles they loved watching.
I just wish, in this case, that they wouldn't. I may be wrong, but I suspect they will ruin something....desecrate something... that some of us held as very special.
Sigh

[Gabby6790]

I do love this show. It's funny this all made me think about how I subconsciously loved it. I actually discovered the movie through an audio cassette of the movie a friend gave me. I listened to incessantly for a while and only saw the movie a few years later.

I have watched with the SO and attended a midnight showing with her in New Hope, PA. That really is an experience.

I talked to her about going to see it this year but didn't want to push with everything else going on.

[pamela7]

i've only seen clips, even tho it's my SO's favourite movie - go figure that one - maybe that's why she's so accepting of my CD?!

[JaytoJillian]

I have a, very very fond association with the Rocky Horror Picture Show--not necessarily for the reasons you might think. When I was a kid in college, I worked at a movie theater. On weekends, one of the screens was dedicated to a midnight showing of the RHPS--I always liked people watching as the diehard fans paraded in wearing their costumes, but I HATED the mess they made each week by trashing the theater, as often times, I was the sole employee left around 2 am to clean up. Well one Saturday night, as I was sweeping up popcorn and picking up other debris, I was joined by a BEAUTIFUL young lady all decked out in fishnets, heels, short black leather skirt, black lace gloves, crop top--you get the picture. She asked me if she could help!!! Right about this time, I was thinking I was on Candid Camera, but this was no joke--she helped me clean the entire theater! And what ensued later that morning back at her apartment would have made a great Penthouse "Forum" letter. I wound up dating her pretty much all through college. Definitely have some regrets for losing touch--We got along great, and I'm guessing she would have made a pretty supportive spouse. (heavy sigh)

[AngelaYVR]

Just went out tonight to see a "live" performance. Unfortunately only about 10% of the audience dressed up but I went with five friends and had an absolute blast. Fishnets and dramatic makeup need to be enjoyed by all!

[Amy Fakley]

Truthfully I've never cared for it too much, I think because there was a period of my life when I was between about 15 and about 22, where it was occasionally the coolest damn 'alternative' thing in the world to all my friends, and we just had to go to the midnight showings and stuff. I was of course, inwardly terrified that somehow they'd figure me out one day and yadda yadda yadda...

Going to those shows was not all that enjoyable for young Amy. I think coming to it in that way ruined it for me, because it's linked to those memories of being so uncomfortable with myself.

Also I think that must be coloring my view of the whole news about Laverne Cox playing frank-n-furter too. On the one hand I should be stoked that she's become such a star, and that apparently our culture doesn't really mind too much that she's trans. And I am ...

On the other hand ... my entire life I've been afraid of what people would think of me if they only knew ... and that damn Frank-n-Furter is pretty much the complete embodiment of the image I've been afraid people would have in their minds. My own personal boogiewoman.

I'm sick of it! I'm tired of being represented by clowns in pop-culture!

Laverne has been the first serious trans person in pop culture that I can remember. To me, she is the anti-frank-n-furter ... she's been the embodiment of everything I hope people will reference in their minds when they think of trans people (and eventually find out I am one of them).

I'm sure she'll find some way to do it right. She's very cool, and I'm sure she wouldn't have accepted the role if she didn't think she could approach it in a positive way. However, the thought that our current "serious" icon in the culture is about to put on the porno-clown outfit and do the timewarp ... God I hope this doesn't send us back 20 years :-/

[jenniferinsf]

my wife and i watched the other nite via netflix...i had not seen it for like 30 years...it was hoot. btw, when i first came out to my son a few months ago, one of his first words were....just a sweet transvestite

my wife suggested we go to the midnight one at the local theatre so i could dress up....while on one hand could be great on the other hand i am feeling that i agree with amy (post below) that it continues the clown opinion of us

[Taylor186]

Rocky isn't everybody's cup of tea but I thoroughly enjoy it on Halloween night. A classic old theater near me holds an annual showing which draws 1100-1200 crazed Rocky fans, mostly, and a few 'virgins.' This will be my ninth year. Costumes range from full out cast copies to generic Halloween fare and contest winners take home prizes. Personally I like to dress like I could be a part of the cast without actually copying anyone specifically. Safe and fun and totally accepting environment.

[Mayo]

I agree that Laverne Cox is a mistake for Frank's role. To cast her thusly is to repeat all of the negative tropes about trans women. Frank is a man and should be played by a man. Laverne Cox is a woman and should not be playing a man who dresses like a woman.

[Taylor186]

@ Mayo yes, I agree. Richard OBrien, who wrote RHPS, said a while back that he had to constantly remind the actors that they were not crossdresing. This is how men dress in Transylvania.

[Dana44]

Originally, the movie was made in the Regan era. A whole new culture is here. In Houston, a movie house near Montrose showed that film every Saturday. There was a packed theater every time and it was a hoot to go and see the show. I'm sure they still are showing it. To make a new production is for the new culture. If they do not completely rewrite it, they will lose the crazy and sweet genre of that film and it will be a dud. Hope that does not happen and wow. Remakes are funky at best. Pulp fiction was another one that can't be remade.

[Judith96a]

Personally, I'd rather it not be remade at all lol. The original, in all its sleazy splendor was perfect haha
Hollywood is not really in the business of making great movies.

Agreed. I think that the whole 'remake' thing is a sign that Hollywood is being run by accountants - the sort of accountants that "know the cost of everything and the value of nothing" (and a right blight on their profession they are). Remakes are (perceived as being) less risky than original ideas. They're easy money, almost a guaranteed win. If the critics rave over the remake then all the original fans will flock to see it. If the critics pan the remake then all the original fans will go to see how awful it really is! And the accountants laugh all the way to the bank.

P.S. I'm not an accountant but my late father was. It was he who taught me to despise the "know the cost of everything and the value of nothing" types.

[Diane Smith]

Originally, the movie was made in the Regan era.

Well, technically, Gerald Ford was president when the movie came out, and we were still two presidents and a good five or six years away from the "Reagan era." The stage version had been kicking around for a few years before that, even.

- Diane

[Lorileah]

It will just as popular as that other movie the made this year about trans...um....OH yeah Stonewall. It will fail. Casting a woman as a man playing a woman is so Victor Victoria. The reason RHPS is surviving today is it has a "CULT" following, not that it was the next GWTW.

I agree with Amy, quit making a mockery of the community...but then again, look how many here do just that and think it's fine. It's all fun and games until you fall off your stilettos and break an ankle

[OCCarly]

Originally, the movie was made in the Regan era. A whole new culture is here. In Houston, a movie house near Montrose showed that film every Saturday. There was a packed theater every time and it was a hoot to go and see the show. I'm sure they still are showing it. To make a new production is for the new culture. If they do not completely rewrite it, they will lose the crazy and sweet genre of that film and it will be a dud. Hope that does not happen and wow. Remakes are funky at best. Pulp fiction was another one that can't be remade.

Actually when the movie was made, Nixon had just resigned and Gerald R. Ford was President. 1975 saw the fall of Saigon, and that event marked the end of the hippie era and the beginning of the disco era. That movie also marked one of the high points in an era of sexual tolerance and freedom in America that started somewhere around the time of the Stonewall Riots and ended in the mid 1980's with the AIDS epidemic, the closing of the bathhouses and the rise of the religious right and misogynistic hip hop culture.

I'm not sure how that film/story fits into millennial culture. I first saw it at the age of 15 in 1978 at a science fiction convention and considered it pretty racy and scandalous. I saw it on TV with my then sixteen year old stepdaughter in 1998 and she pronounced it "corny."

When viewing it recently I saw past the whole sexual awakening of Brad and Janet theme and started to see the story of Frank-n-furter's abuse of alien power and technology, first creating Columbia, then Rocky, and finally being called on his abuses by Riff Raff and Magenta. Somehow I think that story theme will resonate more with millennials than the sexual themes, which are old news to them.

So I guess that is the big question. Is this remake going to be a nostalgia piece for 50 year olds, or will it be something more, like the recent Oz movie with James Franco?