Rocky Horror Picture Show: Reimagined

Why I Love Rocky Horror (And Why I'd Want It Remade)

When I was 14, my parents made me watch Rocky Horror Picture Show for the first time. While I didn't get into it the same way I do now, it was both a sexual and queer awakening for me. I wouldn't say it was the first of either--I knew I was a closeted queer kid at 12, and songs like "For Your Entertainment" by Adam Lambert and "S&M" by Rihanna already unlocked some doors for me--but it was the definitive awakening. What can I say? Seeing Tim Curry in women's clothing led to some (ahem) "seat-wetting," let's call it.

I look back on that film over a decade later, and I'm like, "God...no wonder I turned out to be a queer, genderfluid, polyamorous, and kinky freak of nature." I'm proud to say it.

And obviously, I'm not the only one who thinks this, as RHPS is considered a staple of LGBTQ+ cinema. Keep in mind this movie came out six years after Stonewall, and this was during a time where queerness, be it of sexuality or gender, was considered a mental illness in the DSM. So, to see this unabashedly campy film portray a sexual bacchanalia of queerness, polyamory, and self-discovery was revolutionary for the time. Plus, there are a lot of queers (myself included) who love the movie because fuck respectability politics; queerness didn't exist to be squeaky clean and palatable to cishet, perisex people. After all, a mental mind-fuck can be nice.

That being said, just because something is revolutionary for the time doesn't mean it won't age in certain aspects. A lot of transgender women have voiced complaints about this movie's depiction of a "transvestite/transsexual," two outdated terms that fall under the trans identity umbrella. Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the "sweet transvestite" in question, only creates Rocky to use him as a sex slave. He also rapes Brad and Janet (by deception in the stage production, with coercion in the film). While it may have seemed innocuous back then, we're in a time period where we're witnessing the rise in violence towards both trans women and drag queens for being "predatory." Trans women have every right to disown (or reclaim) a once-empowering character.

Kenny Ortega tried to reimagine it through a more LGBTQ-oriented lens, even casting well-known trans actress Laverne Cox as Dr. Frank as a way of reclaiming the character. He openly said it was a tribute to RHPS, not a means of competing with the original. I don't hate the 2016 version like many do, but I feel it was neither unique enough to stand on its own high-heeled feet nor did it incorporate the fan culture surrounding RHPS to the degree it could've. It was clearly meant to be a love letter to both the LGBTQ+ community and the fandom, but it looked more like a Kindergartener's attempt at a homemade Valentine. That doesn't mean it wasn't made with love, but it's obviously rough around the edges.

I don't think a Rocky Horror remake is impossible. I don't even think it has to be completely sanitized to Hays Code proportions for the LGBTQ+ community to love it. But in writing the story, you'd have to find a way to make it stand out on its own; it can't just be a shot-for-shot. Also, in relation to casting for a RHPS remake, three things would be paramount IMO:

1. The cast would have to be diverse. People of different races/skin tones, body types, and ages are often neglected in the LGBTQ+ community in favor of white (or light-skinned), young, and skinny queers. While there's nothing wrong with that, I would want to represent all people in the LGBTQ+ community--especially the queer BIPOC who helped build it from the ground up.

2. The cast would have to be LGBTQ+ (or at least predominantly so). I understand that acting is acting, and you don't always have to be the exact thing you're portraying on-screen. But to me, if you're going to make a movie for the LGBTQ+ community, you need to have their direct input, especially when it comes to the casting. If anyone who's cast isn't a member, they'd have to be a proven supporter of the community. The environment needs to be as queer-friendly and accommodating as possible.