Rocky Horror Picture Show Fun for All

Water was being squirted, confetti and toilet paper were being thrown and newspapers were on everyone's heads the evenings of October 18th and 19th in the Shafer Auditorium. It was all part of the fun of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, sponsored by the Drama Society. For only $4, students had the opportunity to watch the movie, get a prop bag, and have the opportunity to participate in a trivia contest and virgin sacrifice. Most theaters that actually show Rocky charge more to see the movie plus audience members need to bring in their own props, so students got a good deal.

What is Rocky Horror about? Those who have seen the movie already know but for all you Rocky virgins out there I will tell you a little bit about the plot. Brad and Janet get stranded and enter a castle where Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a transvestite, is in the process of creating a perfect man. It's a comedy, musical and a classic horror movie all rolled into one.

The movie started as a play written by Patrick O'Brien in 1973. Two years later it was made into a movie with little success. However theater owners noticed that the same people kept coming back to see the Rocky. In 1976, a theater owner decided to play the soundtrack before the movie and he encouraged a party atmosphere thus resulting in audience participation such as speaking to the screen and dressing up like Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Riff-Raff, Magenta, and Columbia. Another form of audience participation includes throwing of props.

Free horror videos were awarded to the winners of the trivia contest and the best costume contest.

A student who dressed up like Dr. Frank-N-Furter won the best costume award which was determined by the audience and judges.

Other costumes included one girl who dressed as a Hostess Twinkie while another girl dressed as a guy with a T-shirt and shorts.

Some of the characters people dressed up as included Rocky, Riff-Raff, Magenta, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Columbia, Eddie, Brad, and Janet.

A virgin sacrifice officially took away the virginity out of those who have never seen Rocky before. Virgins stood on the stage while members of the Drama Society placed color balloons between our legs and used a needle to pop them. It was a tame virgin sacrifice compared to that of other theaters. Other theaters have virgin sacrifices that may include conga dancing, yelling of demeaning terms by the audience, and embarrassing the virgins.

It was disappointing that only eighty students came to the event. Many might not have understood how much fun a movie with audience participation can be. What makes the movie good is the fact that Brad and Janet enter a world where transsexualism and dancing is embraced unlike their world in the 1950's where conservatism and high morality was the standard and any deviation was shunned.

If one were to watch the edited cable version and compared it with the full version with audience participation it would be like comparing a cake without frosting to a cake with frosting.