The Rocky Horror Picture Show cult following describes the cultural phenomenon surrounding the large fan base of enthusiastic participants of the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show, generally credited as being the best-known if not the first cinematic "midnight movie".[1] The following resembles (to some extent) the fandom of other fantasy and science fiction films, with its own fan conventions, websites and YouTube videos.
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The film The Rocky Horror Picture Show opened in the United States at the United Artist Theatre in Westwood, California on September 26, 1975. Although the theater was selling out every night, it was noted that many of the same people were returning to see the movie. This turned out to be an exception, not the rule as it was not doing well elsewhere in the US.[2]
The film was then re-launched as a midnight movie, beginning its run at the Waverly Theatre in New York City on April 1, 1976.[3] The Riverside Twin in Austin, Texas became the second location to run the film as a midnighter. Over time, people began shouting responses to the characters' statements on the screen. Schoolteacher Louis Farese, Jr., is credited by some with starting the convention of talking back to the film on Labor Day weekend, 1976, at the Waverly Theatre.[4] [These mostly include melodramatic abuse of the characters or actors, vulgar sex jokes, puns, or pop culture references.) A showing of the film at the 1976 World Science Fiction Convention spread its fame to a new cadre of enthusiasts.[5]
Midnight screenings of the film soon became a national sensation. All across the country people were lining up on Friday and Saturday nights to see this unique film experience. In New York, the film relocated from the Waverly after a house record ninety-five weeks to the 8th Street Playhouse. By summer 1979, the film was playing on weekend midnights in twenty-odd suburban theaters in the New York region alone; 20th Century-Fox had approximately two hundred prints of the movie in circulation for midnight shows around the country.[6] The Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee, where the film has played as a Saturday midnight film since January 1978, is the world record holder for continuous showings.[7] The Clinton Street Theatre in Portland, Oregon, has also had continuous runs of Rocky Horror since April 1978.[8]
The film gained popularity as much because of the fan participation as anything else.[9] Interactive shows featuring "Shadow Casts" of fans acting out the entire movie below, or in some cases directly in front of the screen are almost always present at showings. In San Francisco at the Strand Theatre on Market Street fans came to see the well organized group there performing with sets and props like a professional theatre troupe. In Los Angeles fans included a transsexual performing as Frank N Furter at the Tiffany Theatre on Sunset Blvd, just a few blocks away from the Roxy Theatre where the Rocky Horror Show made its American debut.[10]
Other audience participation includes dancing the Time Warp along with the film, and throwing toast, water, toilet paper, hot dogs, and rice at the appropriate points in the movie. Many theatres forbid throwing items that are difficult to clean up. In many cases a total ban of throwing anything at all have been instituted due to severe damage to screens. Fans often attend shows in costume as the characters, while an onstage "shadowcast" act out the movie. At a now defunct theater in New Orleans the local Eddie would ride his motorcycle down the aisle during Meat Loaf's/Eddie's song, "Hot Patootie."[11] Audience members also use newspapers to cover their heads and squirt guns for rain during the "Over at the Frankenstein Place" musical sequence, and use noise makers during the scene in which Rocky is unveiled. The whole phenomenon got a boost in 1980, with the release of the movie Fame, in which some characters attend a screening of Rocky Horror at the 8th Street Playhouse. It was this feature film that introduced America to Sal Piro, the president of the National Fan Club. Piro made an appearance in the film playing himself during the screening of Rocky Horror.[12]
There are many aspects and levels to participating at a showing of this movie. Many people just yell at the screen while others go much deeper. Many people develop over time into die hard fans. During the song "Time Warp" in many theatres nearly everyone stands up and does the dance. Costumes, props, and verbal dialogue are all tools in participating.
What were ad lib responses, more commonly known as "Call Backs" by followers, from the audience are now, in a few locales, as tightly scripted as any screenplay. Audience members who provide "incorrect" or poorly timed responses may find themselves angrily shouted down just as if they were being disruptive in a normal movie. However, creative new lines are usually applauded and even added to the local repertoire.[13]
There have been audience participation albums recorded and scripts published. However, most fans feel that it is preferable for responses to grow organically from the local culture.[14] For example, the audience members in Salt Lake City have utilized frequent references to the LDS Church and Brigham Young University. In most locales, new responses are regularly added to the canon (for example the introduction of references to South Park character Timmy at times when the paraplegic Dr. Scott is in a scene). Additionally, in some areas, the lines take note of current events (for example, the use of the name of a recent famous deceased in the line "SHOW ME NAME", when Riff-Raff opens the coffin at the beginning of the Time Warp).
In Paris, where it's been shown twice a week for 20 years, the audience makes puns not only around the audio dialogs, but also with the French subtitles.
Some arthouse cinemas will have a tradition of regularly playing the film on a particular date, especially Halloween. While the film—and associated live cast performances—are less popular than in its heyday, regular weekend showings can still be found in many cities throughout the world.
In cinemas where the film plays on a regular or semi-regular basis, groups of fans have formed casts. These casts act out the movie on a stage, or on the floor in front of the movie screen, or even behind it for ghostly effects (Studio Galande, Paris). Among many Rocky Horror casts there is a perpetual quest for "screen-accuracy", meaning that everything from costumes to props to the motions that actors make on stage match the movie exactly. Other casts focus on innovation or simply giving the audience a good time.
Largest showing ever: over 8,000 fans at the Hollywood Bowl in September 2005, featuring the Long Beach cast Midnight Insanity, a troupe that has been performing weekly since 1988. The annual Dragoncon showing, performed by Atlanta cast Lips Down on Dixie in addition to their standard weekly shows at the Plaza Theatre, also draws audiences of 3,000 or more each year.
Typically, a showing that uses a shadow cast will include a pre-show ritual that involves calling attention to anyone who hasn't seen the film in a theater. Those who haven't experienced Rocky Horror "live" are considered "Virgins", often having a 'V' marked on their foreheads with red lipstick. Depending on the theater and shadow cast, Virgins will be called out, mocked, made fun of (usually in a good-natured-but-vulgar way) and encouraged to participate in party tricks and games that might be considered racy or demeaning. It is not uncommon to have rubber balloons (or even inflated condoms) placed between a "virgin's" knees to be popped by cast members. In the 1990s, casts in New York and Virginia would fill a "Virgin's" mouth with whip cream and put a cherry on top, etc. A Nashville-based pre-show includes parading the "Virgins" up and down the aisles of the theater with balloons (referred to as "cherries") held between their knees, while the song The Ecstasy Of Gold from the soundtrack to The Good, The Bad & The Ugly plays throughout the house.
The levels and intensity of the preshow hazing varies from cinema to cinema, with some being pornographic or dangerous.
Costume designer Sue Blane's original designs for the film are recreated by fans in great detail. Costumes range from the very simple to extremely elaborate. Fans can be very serious about their recreations and take great pride in entering costume contests at conventions and debating various techniques and materials used to build them. However, plainclothes are considered acceptable among those who are not as serious.
During select moments of the film, audience members will use select props they had brought for the film. For instance, when Brad and Janet start running in the rain, some audience members will fire off loaded water pistols into the air, while others cover their heads with newspaper as Janet does in the scene. Many fans will fling toast into the air when the line "A toast!" is said, Scott brand toilet paper at the line "Great Scott!", and playing cards are often thrown when Frank N. Furter sings the line "cards for sorrow, cards for pain" in "I'm Going Home".
Some props and participation have evolved regionally. In semi-regular screenings of the Rocky Horror at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, Tennessee the longtime MC and shadow cast host has been known to throw a large bucket of water from the back of the cinema when Curry's character tosses a cup of water at the camera during a song. Those in the "know" have adapted to the surprise while the uninitiated in the audience become doused.
However, due to both the added burden of cleanup and the potential for more serious damage to the facility, not all theatres which screen Rocky Horror permit the use of props.
Because of the proliferation of the film into the mainstream and public consciousness, there have been numerous references to it within other media. Some notable references are listed below:
In the 1990s fan-based sites for Rocky Horror began to pop up. Initially these were FTP archives, with various text and graphic files available for download including movie scripts, parodies, and scripts of callback lines. As the World Wide Web gained popularity these sites shifted there and many more came into being. Zenin's Rocky Horror Archive is considered to be the longest running of the sites,[16] with Cosmo's Factory a close second. With a decline in the online Rocky Horror participation noticed, [17] the Rocky Horror Online Community was created and announced at the 4/7/11 Rocky Horror convention in Atlantic City. Along with it, [18] the official Rocky Horror FAQ was republished in a live Wiki format (with the original contributors still active as curators) at Rockypedia.org. Rockypedia now comprises the original FAQ and all of its contents and is being actively curated to include more material on a consistent basis. The Rockypedia Facebook fan page currently enjoys over 21,000 fans and regular participation, representing a resurgence in online Rocky Horror fandom.
Many of the web sites that cropped up were small personal fan pages hosted for free with companies such as GeoCities, and would appear and disappear within a relatively short time. Other sites became well-known resources for a specific niche of Rocky Horror fandom. The fan clubs also have popular sites, both for the official fan club and TimeWarp UK.
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