Rocky Horror Picture Show Analysis
It’s been over forty years since Rocky Horror Picture Show was released in 1975, and its cultural impact has been significant. Despite poor reviews in the box office, it quickly gained a cult following, and thanks to consistent midnight showings at indie movie theaters, it is now the longest running theatrical release. A combination of parody of and tribute to the B movies of the early age of cinema, Rocky Horror is a rock musical draped in glitter, eye shadow, and fishnets. It tells the story of the ultra-square newly engaged couple Brad and Janet who, after getting a flat tire in the middle of a woods on a stormy night, go to a nearly castle to call for help. However, it does not go quite as planned, given that the owner of the castle is
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Seven hours and nineteen songs later, the very innocent Brad and Janet have each had sex (but not with each other), four people have died, and a castle has been transported to the planet Transsexual in the galaxy Transylvania. Although in the present day, it is easy to merely enjoy the bizarreness of the plot line, the catchy songs, and the spectacular wardrobe, it was quite scandalous when it was released in 1975. Rocky Horror deals in men wearing fishnets, sexual liberation, and shameless self-expression, but much of this sexual content stemmed from the sexual liberation movement occurring at that time. The sexual liberation movement was a period of time in the 1960s through the 1980s in which it became more acceptable to have sex outside of the narrow box of heterosexual vaginal procreational intercourse. An important factor of this sexual revolution was the introduction of Envoid, the first oral contraceptive pill in 1960 and its redevelopment in 1970 to maximize safety and effectiveness. This allowed young, unmarried single women to take their sexuality into their own hands without fear of getting pregnant, and the cultural change was swift. In
Seven hours and nineteen songs later, the very innocent Brad and Janet have each had sex (but not with each other), four people have died, and a castle has been transported to the planet Transsexual in the galaxy Transylvania. Although in the present day, it is easy to merely enjoy the bizarreness of the plot line, the catchy songs, and the spectacular wardrobe, it was quite scandalous when it was released in 1975. Rocky Horror deals in men wearing fishnets, sexual liberation, and shameless self-expression, but much of this sexual content stemmed from the sexual liberation movement occurring at that time. The sexual liberation movement was a period of time in the 1960s through the 1980s in which it became more acceptable to have sex outside of the narrow box of heterosexual vaginal procreational intercourse. An important factor of this sexual revolution was the introduction of Envoid, the first oral contraceptive pill in 1960 and its redevelopment in 1970 to maximize safety and effectiveness. This allowed young, unmarried single women to take their sexuality into their own hands without fear of getting pregnant, and the cultural change was swift. In