On the 20th of October, The Rocky Horror Picture Show remake, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again. It aired on FOX, and with any television channel (beside perhaps HBO) there are limits. This may be have been their first mistake. I mean it’s Rocky Horror, it’s uncensored and a celebration of pushing the envelope.
To begin, Rocky’s shorts were too long. While Peter Hinwood treated us to golden speedos and Staz Nair gave us golden basketball shorts. Also Dr. Frank-N-Furter was a woman. Now I’m a feminists and the idea of a female taking a male’s roll in any situation doesn’t scare me in the least. But Tim Curry, a man, in fishnets and corsets was one of the most iconic parts of the original show. It forced everyone watching to realize that transvestites and transexuals are sexual beings. Think about it. Brad and Janet are very much a representation of the average person in 1975, or how the average were expected to be. They arrive at the castle and see a full grown man dressed as a women ready for a romp in the sheets. It’s supposed to be shocking and sexy and bring a society that was pushed to the back of everyone's mind forward. The thing that people wouldn’t talk about before was strutting proudly across the screen in heels. While Laverne Cox performance was definitely sexy it was less progressive then 1975. Also (SPOILER ALERT) Brad’s awakening was much less notable, if even remotely present, seeing as it was an apparently straight man enjoying sex with an obvious woman.
One thing everyone can agree on, is that the new production was very glitzy. Full of glitter, hair dye, studs, and color. But what they can’t agree on is if that’s a bad thing. On one hand it wasn’t true to the original, in that respect. And that it had been an attempt to make the whole thing more mainstream. Let’s face it if the original Rocky Horror was anything, mainstream was not one of them. On the other hand, the original Rocky Horror took the ‘outcasts’ of society and gave them a solid and legitimate platform, and in a way that’s what the remake did with the modern society.
Also Riff Raff and Magenta never did their creepy, yet adorable, arm thingie.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show remake wasn’t all bad. Ryan MacCartan nailed Brad Majors. Adam Lambert was a Meatloaf, of some description. Tim Curry did make an appearance as The Criminologist, the narrator we see at the beginning and giving instructions during Time Warp. Ivy Levan was a movie theater usherette and later the iconic red rocky lips.
Victoria Justice, Nickelodeon alumnus, was one of the headline names in the production and her performance as Janet Weiss was pretty good. Justice kept Weiss over dramatic, breathless, prudish at the begging and not-so at the end. Sure there are going to be people who are going to poke holes in her portrayal but they’re going to be hard pressed to do so when it comes to “Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me”. The choreography alone was stunning and dorky and everything that it should have been.
It is worth mentioning that there where intermittent cuts to a theater at certain parts. You know which parts. For the Rocky Horror Picture Show virgins out there, there’s an audience participation aspect and at certain parts of the movie the audience shouts at the screen. (Antici……..SAY IT!….. pation) Some could say that this broke the flow of the movie but it was a homage to what Rocky Horror has really become.
Which brings us to one of the most important part of the original Rocky Horror. When you look at the original Rocky Horror Picture Show objectively it is kind of surprising that people can write whole articles on it today. It didn’t have the best dialogue or song lyrics or props. Before you grab your pitch forks, I want you to justify this line from “Wise Up Janet Weiss” “Don’t get hot and flustered, Use a bit of mustard”. That being said it does have the longest theatrical release of any other movie. Ever. Nearly everyone can find a town near them that has a Friday midnight showing and, if you’re lucky, a reenactment Rocky Horror Picture Show. What really gave this celebration of absurdity its place on the screen and in the heart of its audience is well, the audience. It’s the lines people shout back, and the props that people through at the screens, and the people that dress up, and the casts that get together and reenact it. It went viral before going viral was a thing. It’s the cult-classic to end cult-classics. It’s the original gangster of cult-classics.
So if you loved this remake of Rocky Horror, then good for you, you can enjoy Rocky Horror the way you want to. But for those who like Tim Curry in fishnets, fear not. I doubt it’ll be leaving screens near you anytime soon.
