Sunday, September 12, 2010

SciFi for the weekend

My mom was in town for the weekend, and since my mother and I are strange, we opted to watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show on friday night. While I have made previous commentary regarding the opening song ("Science fiction... double feature...") I never realized how much the film actually is science fiction. I don't know if I have any fellow Rocky Horror fans in this class, but if you know anything about it, then you probably know that it involves Tim Curry starring as Dr. Frankenfurter, an alien from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. And, yes, he is dressed completely in drag, which in this case involves glittered high heels, man panties, and a glittered front lace-up corset. (Hopefully you all want to check it out if you haven't before)

But the Science Fiction aspect was what I noticed the most when I watched it this weekend. The alien doctor creates life, turns people to stone and then revives them and commands them to his will, and his former alien servants rebel, take command, shoot him down with a laser beam of pure anti-matter, and beam the entire castle back to their home planet.

Take out all the drag and we have just another science fiction film. But the cross-dressing, the time warp, and the dramatic musical numbers definitely make it more fun.

Here's the original TRAILER. Enjoy!

4 comments:

John Harris said...

Rocky Horror is probably one of the first movies people come up with when they think of "cult classics," but I doubt it is anywhere near the top when they think of "sci-fi cult classics." I mean, it certainly qualifies, but it still gets beaten out by things like Blade Runner, Brazil, and Logan's Run (all great movies). I wonder why this is... Maybe Rocky Horror has transcended genre to simply be a master (mistress?) cult film.

Caleb Weeks said...

WOW. Pulling Rocky Horror Picture Show into our Science Fiction class. You deserve a pat on the back or at least a high five or something.
*internet high five*

Andy Duncan said...

Everyone should see The Rocky Horror Picture Show at least once, ideally with an audience, and everyone should see a live production of The Rocky Horror Show -- the original stage musical -- at least once. The University of Alabama's Department of Theatre & Dance did a splendid production of Rocky Horror a few years ago. Moreover, the first semester I taught this class, I compiled a playlist that began with "Science Fiction Double Feature" and ended with "The Time Warp."

Katy said...

I have never actually seen this, but it is on my list of must sees. Now that you mention to scifi aspect, I may pick it up while contemplating paper topics. Thanks Bailey ;)