# Rocky Horror Picture Show - WTF?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285 "2005-01-05T22:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Maxxxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Maxxxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maxxxie)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/1 "2005-01-05T22:25:00Z")
So, I was channel-surfing the other day when I stumbled across the zillionth showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I’ve seen bits and pieces of it in the past but had never seen it all the way through. MaxBabe turned to me and said, “You know, I’ve seen bits and pieces of this in the past, but I’ve never seen it all the way through.”. Since it was clear that MaxBabe was reading my mind, we decided we’d… you guessed it… watch it all the way through. Oh, the horror. It’s CRAP! Total, pure, unadulterated crap! With the exception of a few catchy songs (“timewarp”, anyone?), it was just plain old painful to watch. By the time it got to the swimming pool scene, I was ready to gnaw off my arm just to make it stop. I turned to MaxBabe and asked, “Honey, do you mind if I change the channel?”, to which she replied, “I thought you’d never ask!”. She picked up the TV guide to check out what else was on, and it was in that moment that the true horror made itself known. It wasn’t just ONE showing of RHPS. It was TWELVE HOURS of the same movie on a continuous loop! :eek: So… please explain to me: WHY? Why do people like this show? And WHY WHY WHY is it the sort of thing that bears watching over and over and over again? Cheers, Max 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/2 "2005-01-05T22:27:49Z")
It sort of does bear watching time and time again- but not on TV. Only in a theatre with audience participation. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/3 "2005-01-05T22:28:51Z")
The audience makes the show. Jeez, imagine trying to watch that damn thing on your own? **shudder** –Cliffy ---
**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:** [January 5, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/4 "2005-01-05T22:31:18Z")
Absolutely agreed. I saw it the first time at a midnight showing, with audience participation and a floor show, and loved it. When I saw it a few months later on TV, I realized that it majorly sucked as a movie. The music’s great, but everything else is just…_shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/5 "2005-01-05T22:33:26Z")
It’s all about the participation. My fiancee used to be in a production of RHPS in Texas, so she knew all of the lines, when you said them, etc. Completely makes the film. Without it, it’s just a craptacular film. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/6 "2005-01-05T22:35:46Z")
Yeah, it’s crap, but it’s fun crap. It’s the cinematic equivalent of that $.75 bottle of bright blue nail polish. That stuff is shit, man. It doesn’t cover evenly, it chips like crazy, and it’s a pretty massive fashion don’t in polite company, but it still has its place. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/7 "2005-01-05T22:55:30Z")
“It is a credit to your Genius.” “A triumph of will.” “It’s OK.” “OK, OK! Well I think we can do better than that…” “So Bippy, what do you think of Rocky Horror show?” Well _F_ the lot of you I think its brilliant, even watched on your own on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/8 "2005-01-05T23:45:39Z")
I used to love to go to midnight showings. The first time I saw it on video, though… I … eesh. It just doesn’t _work_ at home. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/9 "2005-01-06T00:10:30Z")
It’s a product of its time. Thirty years going by has not been kind to it. ---
**Author:** ![Maxxxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Maxxxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maxxxie)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/10 "2005-01-06T00:15:55Z")
Ahhhh, I understand now. It’s a “it’s so bad it’s good” thing, mixed in with a bit of “best watched with other people who also understand it’s crap”. Does that pretty much sum it up? Max. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/11 "2005-01-06T00:28:14Z")
Yeah, with a hefty dose of “It’s So Bad It’s a Heckle of a Good Time,” which, of course was the origin of all the live audience interjections to the dialogue. That, and the barely-clad chick who used to play the part of Magenta here in South Pasadena had a bodacious set of tatas… and I’m talking _bo_dacious… Of _course_ they weren’t real. That didn’t matter. I’d never seen a pair of DDDs that didn’t need a bra to stand up like that before… they were a spectacle to behold. And I’m not a breast man! Something about the scene caused sexual inhibitions to be lowered considerably… maybe when you get that many uninhibited people together in a room, in costume, with props, the rest of the folks feel sexually liberated somehow. So you can add in a dash of “It’s So Bad It Makes My Loins Stir,” too. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/12 "2005-01-06T00:43:25Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > My fiancee used to be in a production of RHPS in Texas, so she knew all of the lines, when you said them, etc. Me too. I was in the Houston cast (at River Oaks) from 1995-1997. If you (and she) don’t mind my asking, where was she? ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/13 "2005-01-06T00:45:51Z")
> [@Maxxxie](#): > > Ahhhh, I understand now. It’s a “it’s so bad it’s good” thing, mixed in with a bit of “best watched with other people who also understand it’s crap”. > Max. I think the point is to light up before seeing it with those “other people” who also got high. Also a feature of its era. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/14 "2005-01-06T00:47:36Z")
Ivylad says you can watch it on TV if you’re stoned. 😃 (I kid, I kid. The theater is much better, or so I’ve been told. I’m still a virgin.) ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/15 "2005-01-06T00:57:38Z")
You should try seeing it live. And by live I don’t mean in a movie theater with a live cast. I mean in a regular theater, with a live cast, but without the film. Also, make none of the scantily clad people attractive. And give the big vocal parts to people who can’t sing (or at least not while their lungs are being crushed by a bustier). Oh, on top of that, put it on the program that audience participation is not encouraged. At least you could change the channel. It’s Kermit the Frog in drag! ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/16 "2005-01-06T02:20:41Z")
> [@Maxxxie](#): > > Ahhhh, I understand now. It’s a “it’s so bad it’s good” thing, mixed in with a bit of “best watched with other people who also understand it’s crap”. Does that pretty much sum it up? No, that’s not quite it. RHPS is best watched with a whole theater of people who worship it, know every line, and attend every Saturday night at midnight. The entertainment is the audience, not the movie. Being in the audience requires you to bring all the proper props ( rice, popcorn, lighters, squirt guns, etc) and to yell all the proper lines at the screen at the proper times. Yelling out the wrong line at the wrong time could get you labeled as a ‘virgin’. There were the folks who dressed up and there were the ones who danced around up front near the screen. But even they weren’t the real entertainment. I’m sure I’m not capturing the real core of the fun though. I guess you just had to be there. Oh, and FUCK THE BACK ROW!!! ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/17 "2005-01-06T02:23:57Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Oh, and FUCK THE BACK ROW!!! FUCK YOU, FRONT ROW! (LifeOnWry, Columbia at the Biograph in Chicago, the Prospect Theater in Mt. Prospect, and the Oriental Landmark in Milwaukee, 1980-1985) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/18 "2005-01-06T02:24:41Z")
I saw a live production of the musical “The Rocky Horror Show” here in Topeka, Kansas. It was a blast, and in costuming they didn’t try to copy the movie. but Dr. Frank-n-furter was quite cute, in a pastel tones, Frederick’s of Hollywood sort of way. Oh, oh! And to get into the theater you had to cross a picket line outside! Fred Phelps is from Topeka you know! I blew them a couple of kisses on the way in and you should have heard them scream! ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/19 "2005-01-06T02:31:31Z")
Still haven’t been to a live show, and it took forever before I even got around to watching the movie on video, but I have long been a fan of the soundtrack. I think the RHPS music is excellent. There’s a liiiiiiight… ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285/20 "2005-01-06T02:42:58Z")
Ya know, I used to enjoy going to see RHPS back 20 years or so ago. It was fun to sing the songs, shout a few lines, feel smug and worldly about appreciating this movie that my parents would be confused by and my grandmother horrified. It has evolved to be annoying and obnoxious. Maybe it’s because I am closing in on being an old geezer but I don’t particulrly want to see whatever local wanna-bes who think the show is about them and are blocking the screen (I have yet to see anyone local who looks better then Rocky and Franknfurter) and the obnoxious youngsters who think profanity makes anything clever. Have you ever seen a clever use of profanity? Screaming F\*\*\* at the screen isn’t my idea of fun. YMMV [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocky-horror-picture-show-wtf/283285.md?page=2)