The Rocky Horror Show stage production is pretty popular in its native UK, but good luck finding an American viewer who has any knowledge of it.
There are several different stage productions; the UK production, the European production that largely tours German-speaking countries, and the Korean production.
Assuming that Transylvanians are meant to represent LGBTQ+ people, Riff Raff telling Frank that his lifestyle is "too extreme" could be read as certain queer people telling others to Stop Being Stereotypical. The other reading is simply the fact that Frank's lifestyle involved literally whipping Riff Raff and publicly murdering someone in cold blood.
It’s important to note that the film (and the show upon which it is based) takes tropes of otherness often metaphorically associated with queer people and turning them on their heads. As such, there’s some comedic irony in Riff Raff (Transylvanian- and thus queer himself) telling Frank that his lifestyle is too extreme.
Always have a spare tire.
Actually be able to change a tire on your own if you need to.
Don't take anything to extremes and don't be too permissive or prudish.
Don't let the servants in a house take your clothes, and if you're spending the night, make sure the bedroom doors are locked! Brad tells Janet to humor Magenta and Riffraff when they're stripped to their undies, but setting boundaries might have helped.
Depending on which fanfic you read, Dr. Frank N Furter is either A.) An abusive, psychotic, heartless jerk who only manipulates and hurts (both physically and emotionally) other people for his own personal amusement or B.) A misunderstood person who only acts the way he does due to some mysterious past tragedy.
It's also easy to make a case for Frank being a trans woman, based on their verse in Rose Tint My World, whose dysphoria caused them to act in such a way instead of some past tragedy.
Likewise, are Riff Raff & Magenta an evil brother/sister duo plotting Frank's downfall, or are they merely the victims of Frank's abuse and their actions are completely justified? Fanfics will vary greatly on the answer. (Note that Riff Raff killed not only Frank, but also Columbia and Rocky, for no obvious reason.)
In the European stage production, Riff Raff does not intentionally kill Columbia and Rocky - Columbia jumps in front of the gun while Rocky charges Riff Raff in retribution for shooting Frank - unsuccessfully.
There are also plenty of fics where Columbia's personality ranges from bubbly and full of energy all the time, to always in tears and constantly depressed. Fan fic writers can't seem to make their minds up.
Why Frank murdered Eddie beyond him just being crazy.
Third, note WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR DRUGS? Columbia was clearly influenced enough by Eddie's presence that she started to break whatever hold Frank had on her; murdering Eddie was just Frank's way of reminding Columbia who was in charge.
Eddie sent a Distress Call to Dr. Scott but did not leave the mansion. Was he physically unable to leave, or was Frank's allure too strong?
In the stage play, after Columbia dies saving Frank, Frank calls her a "stupid bitch". Depending on the delivery, this can either be used to show Frank as an Ungrateful Bastard or said as a lamentation that she threw her life away for him.
Awesome Music: As a musical, Rocky Horror is one HELL of a soundtrack. Not just songs to propel the narrative, but good rockin' numbers in their own right.
The opening number "Science Fiction/Double Feature" is a loving ode to the classic and B-movie science fiction movies of the Fifties and Sixties.
In recent years, there's been a divide over the Audience Participation - while older fans defend it as integral to the fandom, a lot of newcomers complain that it has created a hostile or noisy environment (some people just want to watch the movie). There is also an increasing awareness that all the thrown objects mean that theater employees have to stay late to clean up, which is driving smaller theaters to cancel the midnight showings - many shows also ban props that don't come in a pre-existing packet, and work in reminders to not throw props at the screen, actors, or lighting.
As the show ages and culture moves on, some fans have become increasingly uncomfortable with the tradition of screaming out "slut" each time Janet's name is called. Similarly, the "SIEG HEIL!" callout has dwindled, and even gained its own callout: "Sit down, Nazi".
In the German stage production, the "SIEG HEIL" callout is replaced by "WHO?"
The film's place in the canon of queer cinema has also come into question in recent years as transgender people become more prominent in the LGBT community. While plenty of transgender individuals claim that it helped them become more comfortable with themselves as much as it did gay, lesbian and bisexual people, a minority of others argue that the film is a painful reminder that society sees them as sick or perverted. Adding fuel to the fire is Richard O'Brien's apparent belief that transgender individuals all occupy a third gender, despite being non-binary himself.
It's not often that a pansexual transvestite murdering a 1950's motorcyclist is hilarious.
One of the Audience Participation gags which evolves with the times: when Riff-Raff shows Brad and Janet the skeleton near the start of the film, it's customary to shout out "SHOW US" and the name of whatever celebrity has most recently died. Bonus points if it's someone people really liked, especially if they had an early or especially tragic death.
Cult Classic: Typically cited by reviewers as the definitive example of a cult film.
Designated Hero: Brad and Janet - seemingly wholesome couple that turn out to have short tempers dismissive of anyone not "normal", airs of being wholesome, and, finally, trying to keep each others' infidelities a secret. There's a reason that they're respectively called "Asshole" and "Slut" by riffers. In point of fact, Brad and Janet are called "a hero" and "a heroine" in the opening but neither of them do anything heroic at all.
Director Displacement: The movie is more often associated with creator and writer, Richard O'Brien rather than director, Jim Sharman.
Do Not Do This Cool Thing: Kids, don't have lots of sex, or you might end up in a fabulous musical. It's ultimately left up to the audience if Brad and Janet embracing their desires has left them broken. (This is less ambiguous if one accepts Shock Treatment as canon, as they definitely start that film as broken, and it is only over the course of that film that they relearn how to be functional people.)
Many fans try to present Riff Raff and Magenta as being far more worthy of pity than they are in the film. Yes, the same Riff Raff and Magenta who killed Rocky, Frank, and Columbia out of pure spite.
Likewise, Frank gets the same treatment the same way. The fact that he is a classic example for Evil Is Cool is understandable, but many people somehow managed to actually feel sorry for the guy who tricked two innocent people into having sex with him, brutally murdered a guy from whom he removed half a brain (said half-of-brain was used to make Rocky, BTW) and then tricked said people he had sex with into eating the remains of the guy he murdered.
A common fan guess is that Janet's pregnant at the end, thanks to Frank's line "I've laid the seed/It should be all you need" in "Planet Schmanet Janet". This supposedly would've been confirmed outright in the never-made sequel, Revenge of the Old Queen.
Everyone Is Satan in Hell: Isaac Weishaupt wrote a book called It's Just a Jump to the Left: The Unauthorized Guide to Occult Symbolism in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
It was a celebration of the then-recent sexual revolution and what modicum of visibility queer people had within 1970s counterculture before the conservative revolution of the 1980s. As mentioned on This Very Wiki, the increased awareness of gay and trans rights since 1975 has brought into question the film's decision to depict gay people and cross-dressers as literal aliens (an appropriate metaphor at the time, now it feels somewhat backhanded) with some even calling it outright transphobic, not helped by the characters' immoral behavior.
The connotation between "transsexual" and "transvestite" would also be discouraged today. The word "transsexual" has been steadily replaced by "transgender" (though it is still used by some older trans people), and the term "transvestite" is now considered dated and potentially offensive, given its origins in classifying cross-dressing (and gender-variant identity as a whole) as a sexual fetish - the preferred term is "cross-dresser".
Alternatively, one could argue that Rocky Horror is a significant reason that society has marched on. Since 1976, untold millions of (mostly) young people have taken part in, not just a movie, but an audience experience in which the most charming, intelligent, confident, dynamic and (see above) sexy character is a bi-if-not-omnisexual transvestite, and along with him have sung "Don't dream it, be it" countless times. And while not everyone loves it, it's still helping young queer people come to terms with their sexualities and genders, even if it's not exactly up-to-date with modern values.
During Dammit Janet, the audience often shouts note As Janet singing to Brad "That you fuck Mom and you blow Dad". Shock Treatment reveals Harry Weiss to be a Heteronormative Crusader who thinks "Faggots are Maggots" and gets so uncomfortable when gay people are mentioned that he has to leave the room.
Heartwarming in Hindsight: Susan Sarandon's sexually repressed (and straight) character Janet Weiss fantasizing about being with everyone in the castle and later making out with Columbia under Dr. Frank-N-Furter's influence becomes this following the actress's coming out as bisexual in 2022.
He's Just Hiding: The Rocky Horror Shows His Heels concept would have Rocky revealed to be in a coma rather than dead and Dr Scott managing to resurrect Frank. The Rocky Horror: The Second Coming play would have resurrected Frank as well.
I Am Not Shazam: Rocky is only called "Rocky Horror" in the credits and the comic book. The movie just calls him "Rocky". (The narrator refers to him as "Rocky Horror" during "The Sword of Damocles" in the stageshow; his part was cut out for the movie version.)
LGBT Fanbase: Thanks to it being one of the first mainstream films to tackle LGBTQIA+ themes, it's maintained a devoted following of LGBT fans to this day, even as its depictions grow increasingly outdated. It also helps that the creator of the Rocky Horror brand, Richard O'Brien, identifies as nonbinary.
Its Cult Classic status and rabid fandom are also well-known.
"I got pneumonia."Explanation In an interview for the 40th anniversary on the Today Show, Susan Sarandon says this, and ever since the interview was broadcast, this has become a meme in the Rocky Horror community. For example, some people guessed it was the reason she didn't show up to the Royal Albert Hall 40th Anniversary screening.
"I see you shiver with antici... pation.Explanation Dr. Frank N Furter's line made famous by an awkwardly placed pause, usually prompting the audience to shout "SAY IT!" while they wait for him to finish.
"LEEEEEET'S DO THE TIME WAAAAARP AGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!"Explanation "Time Warp" is tied with "Sweet Transvestite" as the movie's Signature Song, being a fun and infectious Dance Sensation. It's also not uncommon to refer to the song when discussing Time Travel in other works of fiction.
A lot of British people like the film due to most of the cast being British. Also, performances of the original stage show (The Rocky Horror Show) are more common in the UK than the US, where showings of the movie with shadowcasts are more common than the stage show.
Despite some of the more dated depictions of queer people, it remains one of the most popular films in queer cinema to this day.
Mis-blamed: Despite some contingencies among LGBTQ+ activists as to whether or not this movie's representation of them holds up, it's important to remember that Frank is the only Transylvanian who commits any seriously monstrous crimes like murder and rape, not to mention is repeatedly called out for it, first by Columbia's "The Reason You Suck" Speech and later when Riff Raff tells him his "lifestyle's too extreme." Riff Raff and Magenta's relationship is questionable at best and the worst thing they do is kill Rocky and Columbia out of spite (let's be fair, Frank had it coming).
Thus, it's not "LGBTQ, Crossdressers, Transgender people and Kinksters are evil freaks" but rather "Cruel selfish raping psychopaths are freaks". Riff Raff simply saw Frank as an evil jerk who treated him like garbage so he got revenge and Frank's lifestyle being too extreme is a case of Take Our Word for Itnote Meaning that Frank was considered too extreme even for the standards of the Free-Loving to the point of Incestuous Transylvanians.
Tim Curry makes his film debuts here, a decade or so before he'd become one of the most in-demand actors of the '80s and '90s.
This was Meatloaf's first appearance in a work of mainstream pop culture, two years before he'd become rock n' roll royalty with Bat Out of Hell.
Among the principal musicians who performed on the soundtrack is keyboardist John Bundrick (credited here by his nickname Rabbit), who would later become a regular touring keyboardist for The Who.
Richard O’Brien later had a recurring role on Phineas and Ferb as Lawrence Fletcher. The show contains a few shout-outs to Rocky in some episodes (most notably the Max Modem episode) and Tim Curry & Barry Bostwick even make appearances as guest stars!
Betty Munroe was portrayed by Hilary Farr (credited as Hilary Labow), who became well known as the co-host of Love It Or List It.
Signature Song: "Time Warp" is the most well known song even among people who haven't seen the movie, with "Sweet Transvestite" coming in second.
So Bad, It's Good: This movie is a textbook deliberate case of this. The plot (such as it is) is very like Manos: The Hands of Fate (probably unintentional, given "Manos"'s cliched plot and utter obscurity until MST3K found it) with vast galloping amounts of homoerotica thrown in. The characters were, for the most part, based on those of the Bulgakov novel The Master and Margarita — itself a modern masterpiece, partly because all of its failed drama is deliberate. Richard O'Brien intentionally made it this way, as a tribute to the campy sci-fi films of the 50s & 60s (as evidenced by the opening number Science Fiction/Double Feature).
The one real offender is probably the corpse of Eddie under the dinner table, which is pretty obviously a mannequin. It could easily have been avoided if they just had Meat Loaf there in corpse make-up.
You can see the wires pulling Dr Scott's wheelchair up the stairs on his way to the zen room and when the castle blasts off at the end the real castle is visible through the smoke.
The anti-matter effect isn't much more than a sparsely animated flashing light very clearly superimposed over the live-action footage.
Suspiciously Similar Song: The Audience Participation made note of how the beginning of "Over At The Frankenstein Place" sounded a lot like the middle section of The Beatles' "A Day In The Life" ("Woke up/Fell outta bet/Dragged a comb across ma head...").
It might have been funnier to leave Columbia as a statue. She's treated so poorly throughout the film that getting turned to stone seems like a fitting end to her torment. Of course, that would have meant sacrificing her contribution to the floor show.
The 2016 made-for-TV remake is largely a shot-for-shot redo of the original. With the exception of the Usherette character being utilized in the remake, no other elements from the original stage production not used in the 1975 film are presented in the remake. Rocky is even still mute, even though here there's no reason for him to be. Columbia's death is also exactly the same as in the 1975 film.
On a social level, many felt that the remake was a wasted opportunity to address some of the more questionable points of the original and update the story, even if very slightly, for the advancements in society that occurred since its release. Many were bothered by the fact that not only were there no changes to the script, but Frank's casting only opened up a new can of worms. Frank became a female character played by transgender actress Laverne Cox, and casting a trans person as a transvestite is already questionable. It may seem better that Frank isn't actually a crossdresser here...but "Sweet Transvestite" is exactly the same, lyrics and all. This was noted to possibly lead to additional damaging associations between trans people and crossdressers (the lyrics might now be read as inadvertently devaluing Cox's identity by implying she's in drag), on top of the terminology just being incorrect for a woman in women's clothes. There were also complaints that despite increased acceptance today, Frank's Gender Flip and the TV network restrictions caused a lot of the sexuality and homoeroticism to be toned down and left the film feeling unwelcomely sanitized.
Others wanted to see the remake take place in the present day, and felt that the outdated character types for Brad and Janet no longer played well when being used in a modern work, no matter how cheesy the story is supposed to be.
The unproduced sequel ideas had Frank and Rocky brought back to life for those bummed by their deaths.
Unintentional Period Piece: Avoided for the most part thanks to its sheer strangeness. In fact, in quite a few ways the film was ahead of its time: it looks more like the 80s than the 70s (accurately predicting the punk/New Wave hair and makeup styles, as well as the satiric Black Comedy brand of humor that characterized comedies during the Reagan era). What's more, the casual bisexuality and Frank-N-Furter's schizoid mix of Camp Gay and Hard Gay behavior are still quite shocking today, at least if you don't consume such entertainments on a regular basis. However, the setting does anchor itself in the mid-1970s early on by playing a radio broadcast of President Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation speech.note Though Word of God states it was a tape recording (note that Nixon resigned at noon in August but the scene takes place at night in November).
Unintentionally Sympathetic: O'Brien said that Eddie's Teddy was added to the play to stop viewers feeling sorry for Eddie but they still do anyway.
As mentioned above, this movie is very much a product of the far more heteronormative 1970s, which may be why it was a flop when it first came out. It an age where the LGBT community has significantly more visibility and (arguably) respect, more people take umbrage with the fact that Frank is portrayed as a perverted nutjob, something that is viewed today as a very negative stereotype of LGBT people. On the other hand, the film's Be Yourself moral is played straight, and creator Richard O'Brien identifies as nonbinary in real life.
The terms "transvestite" and "transsexual," both of which were considered accurate descriptions of the kind of person the Transylvanians are in the 1970s, have also largely fallen out of favor in the decades since the film's release due to new distinctions and understandings. Neither word is recommended, and their successors are now held to represent different concepts. "Transsexual" has been replaced by "transgender" with the meaning of "a person whose preferred gender identity does not align with their biological sex" and "transvestite" being replaced by "crossdresser" to mean "someone who dresses as another gender without identifying as such."
There is also the way that Janet and Brad's assaults are handled. It's very clear that Dr. Frankenfurter uses disguises to sneak into their bed, and visibly pins them both after they pull off his wig, making it a case of Questionable Consent and Bed Trick. Yet, in the aftermath, it's portrayed as Brad and Janet cheating on each other, when that wasn't the case at all, and they respond by being angry and awkward towards each other after it comes out into the open. If this play had been written in the 2020s, there may have been a more nuanced conversation about the nature of sexual assault while establishing that neither Brad nor Janet were to blame.
Dr. Frankenfurter's respective impersonations of Brad and Janet to trick the other into sex invokes a common transphobic stereotype.
Vindicated by History: A rare example where one could actually see its evolution from a flop B-Movie into a pop-culture behemoth, as the now-famous Audience Participation which has kept it alive all these years started just as the film was finishing its original theatrical run.
What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: There are many little kids who are fans of Rocky Horror, but there is a ton of sex and several scary scenes, including two scenes involving four deaths, but it's not as bad as most R rated movies nowadays. Its sequel, Shock Treatment, although it is rated PG, contains more cursing and suggestive language than in Rocky Horror.
The Woobie: Poor Rocky, who appears to be only slightly smarter than your average house pet, goes through a lot of grief in one night without having any idea why. The fact that he was only created to be Frank's personal Sex Slave doesn't help, and the only person who showed him any kindness was essentially using him as revenge sex. In the stage play, he's shown to be far more acutely aware of his circumstances, but feels completely helpless.
Most fans sympathize very strongly with Columbia, who really gets treated like dirt. Her only friend appears to be Magenta, who later betrays her by turning her into a statue and treats her death like nothing happened.
in the Criminolgist's book, she mentions Morning Sickness and Wacky Cravings.