# A poll: ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373 "2010-10-26T02:34:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/1 "2010-10-26T02:34:09Z")
I’m a huge fan of musicals but I’ve never watched this. Part of it is I’ve often been told you have to see it with a group and do it with rituals, then there’s the fact that I don’t generally like rock musicals. Just curious what others think. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/2 "2010-10-26T02:38:57Z")
The “show” is the public viewing and all that it entails. Watching it alone at home will not do it justice whatsoever; it will just be a horrifically bad, schlock movie. Seeing it live gives you the MST3K effect in all its glory. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/3 "2010-10-26T02:39:20Z")
I went with a group of dorm-mates back in the 70’s, when it was fairly new and the audience participation was sweetly amateurish. We were a bit startled by flying toast and shouting at the screen, but it was great fun. We didn’t participate, seeing as how it was our first exposure to the event…it was exciting enough to have our purses searched on the way in! After that point, though, I believe you began to have people who viewed the audience participation as their job, and it seemed (from afar) to be a bit obsessive and cliche-y, with elaborate costumes and such. I always wonder what happened if two or four people all showed up to play the same part some nights…how would they decide who got to go up on stage? ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/4 "2010-10-26T02:55:52Z")
I’m in my second production of it right now; music directing and voicing Riff Raff (we’re doing a Rocky Horror Puppet Show with separate voice talent and puppeteers). I actually think I just voted counter to what I really think. I think going to see a stage version live can be great fun, but I’ve never quite gotten into the participatory aspects of the _movie_. I like the movie a fair amount, and Tim Curry gives a one-of-a-kind performance, but a large crowd performing the participation for each other doesn’t work for me. Even worse are people acting out the movie in front of the movie, which I’ve seen done as well. Rent and watch the movie; what little I’ve picked up about you on the boards, **Sampiro** , leads me to believe you’d enjoy many aspects of it. I don’t think it’s a great movie, but there are some very fun, unique, and authentic things about it that people who try to produce camp today can only dream about achieving. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/5 "2010-10-26T03:00:17Z")
The movie is good, in a very campy way, and the soundtrack kills no matter what your opinion of the movie itself is, but the whole experience needs other people to make it really fun. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/6 "2010-10-26T03:00:31Z")
I’ve seen it about 10 times at home. I don’t think you need to see it live to truly appreciate it - that surely adds a lot but I’ve never felt the need. I did go see a live _stage play_ version of it when I was working for the entertainment section of the paper. That was fun but it was much more demure than a movie viewing would be. They handed out bags of props, which doesn’t seem like something a viewing of the movie would entail. I agree with **Eonwe** that you as a person will dig it as a movie. If you feel the need to break out the fishnets afterwards, then you go girl! ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/7 "2010-10-26T03:07:10Z")
I see it as a “college thing”. Everybody ought to get into a chemically altered state of mind and see it at the midnight movie with a group of friends at least once. Also works as a party theme. As a “watch it alone on late night cable” thing it’s…meh. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/8 "2010-10-26T03:10:13Z")
The only time I’ve ever seen it was at a theater in Harvard Square around 1985. It was shown on Friday and Saturday nights at midnight with people in full costume acting out each role. Note that we were searched before we were allowed into the theater, but the only thing they were looking for was _live animals_. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/9 "2010-10-26T03:21:10Z")
My all-time favourite film, but even then I recognise that it wouldn’t come close to it’s current level of greatness without the music. The soundtrack is just flawless. I’ve seen it over and over again (I’d say maybe 100-150 times in the eleven years since I first saw it) but only a handful of those times have been in public - most of my viewings have just been me at home. It’s my go-to film when I’ve got nothing in particular I want to watch, so I seem to be going against most of this threads replies so far - I find it just as enjoyable to watch it alone as I do watching it in a movie theatre. If you were to add my actual viewings of the film with the amount of time I’ve spent listening to songs from the soundtrack, it’d be an obscene amount of my life taken up by The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In conclusion: I love it. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/10 "2010-10-26T03:46:22Z")
My parents (!) introduced me to RHPS when I was 15. I went to my first ‘participation movie’ at about 21 and stage show a couple of years after that. Unlike some of the real fans in the thread, I’ve probably only seen it around 20 times. My preference is to watch the movie at home. I need to be in the mood for shenanigans. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/11 "2010-10-26T03:52:38Z")
I saw it at a midnight public showing, with a friend of mine who happened to be a Catholic priest. We arrived armed with props, like the Cleveland \*Plain Dealer, \*plastic forks, rice and toast. My friend really got into it, including things that were somewhat unpriestly. It was a lot of fun, and I can’t imagine watching it at home without an audience. On one of my trips to Paris, I took some \*Plain Dealer \*newspapers with me, to sell outside a showing. I made a nice profit. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/12 "2010-10-26T03:53:11Z")
It’s really best if you see it in a crowd when you’re about 20. I’m not sure what it would be like at home with the lights on, but probably not nearly as much fun. Still, no remakes allowed! (I mean, who came up with that idea??) ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/13 "2010-10-26T03:55:15Z")
I saw it live for the fisrt time when I was 39. And I was sober.:eek: Live is better is tape. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/14 "2010-10-26T04:05:44Z")
Saw it on a 10’ screen at a science-fiction convention, before it became an “event” movie. Liked it a lot! It was a star making turn for Tim Curry (as much as he became a star) and for Susan Sarandon, you come out singing the songs, and the scene cuts and fades were very fresh cheese at the time. Watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/15 "2010-10-26T04:11:58Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > My all-time favourite film, but even then I recognise that it wouldn’t come close to it’s current level of greatness without the music. The soundtrack is just flawless. Don’t get me wrong - I love the movie, and the soundtrack has a special place in my heart forever - but (particularly after getting familiar with the original London cast recordings) I can’t say the movie soundtrack is flawless. The addition of Meatloaf makes for a _great_ audience participation gag, but the music was better without him, really. (Some of the production really gets in the way of some great music and misses the mark. Not in a super-obvious way, but once you hear what O’Brien was going for before it got dirtied up, it’s hard to listen to the movie versions of some of the songs again - they don’t measure up.) As for audience participation vs. actually watching the movie, totally different. I enjoyed going out for that in my twenties, but even then I was glad that I’d already seen the movie a dozen times - I wouldn’t want to see it for the first time with that crowd. Now that I am old and cranky I much prefer to watch it on the couch and do my best not to annoy my wife by blurting out the audience bits. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/16 "2010-10-26T04:12:17Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I’m in my second production of it right now; music directing and voicing Riff Raff (we’re doing a Rocky Horror Puppet Show with separate voice talent and puppeteers). Holy crap. My aunt is part of that show. ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/17 "2010-10-26T04:24:28Z")
This is the only movie I own. Have a RHPS party. Invite some friends over, make some toast, put on some fishnets, and do the time warp. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/18 "2010-10-26T04:31:42Z")
I was a regular performer at a midnight showing. My main role was Eddie - using my unicycle! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/19 "2010-10-26T04:42:46Z")
You must see it at a theatre and see it with a good live cast and audience. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373/20 "2010-10-26T04:53:23Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > I was a regular performer at a midnight showing. My main role was Eddie - using my unicycle! I was a regular in the early 1980s at the Bijou theater in Kansas City, saw it several hundred times. My ex-wife was a Columbia. It was a bit wild at that particular theater during the time. How wild? I lost my virginity in the theater. My real virginity, not in the “Rocky Horror” sense. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-rocky-horror-picture-show/558373.md?page=2)