1. Reclaiming Queerness in the Rocky Horror Picture Show YOU BETTER WISE UP, JANET WEISS

2. THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW Premiered 1975 Initially a flop Cult Classic Still shown weekly across the country

3. PLOT Teens Brad and Janet on a ride Stranded at spooky castle Transvestite Mad Scientist making a man Strife and Shenanigans Scientist and Creature are killed Castle teleports away

4. THEORETICAL LENS- WHAT IS “QUEER” Reclaimed slur Halperin- “Queer is by definition whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant” Generally accepted term in academia for LGBT studies Subverts or critiques societal norms

5. SCHOLARLY WORK ON “ROCKY” Fairly well discussed work Seen as “a manifesto for sex-and-whatever-else-feels-good”, (Kilgore 153) “The fact that [Furter’s] work produces Rocky rather than some patchwork monstrosity implies that Dionysian values, sexuality and excess, are incomparably more “creative” that Apollonian ones,” ( Kilgore 154) However- ultimately reductive Implies Frank’s demise negates his message

6. THE SWIMMING POOL SCENE Penultimate scene “Don’t dream it, be it” “carries a threat of metamorphosis; its price is a loss of identity, or at least of dignity and autonomy.” (Kilgore 157) Obvious projection- who here has lost the above? Previously, each character gives a statement Each dealing with their awakening in their own way None blame Frank

8. ROCKY AS A COMING OF AGE TALE Some critics have cast Rocky Horror as a coming of age tale “Beneath its surface-level celebration of sexual desire and overt message of hedonism, the film instead preserves and reinforces an ethos of restraint and moderation.” (Reale 138) Saturnalian ritual, one time event The text does not support this interpretation

9. BRAD AND JANET, POST ROCKY By the end, Brad and Janet are changed- but not into adults The immensity of sexual liberation is too much to withstand Clearly they will not go on to stereotypical hetero lives

11. FRANK’S DEATH Many critics reason that Frank’s death= return to normalcy Brad and Janet will never return to “normal” Frank dies because his work is done

12. FRANK’S KILLER, RIFF RAFF Frank is murdered by his manservant, Riff Raff If Frank’s death= return to normalcy, why is he killed by someone equally hedonistic and perverted? Riff Raff is played by Richard O'Brien, screenwriter lyricist and composer “He stands for control, but for the enlightened, almost reluctant control of art and imagination.” (Kilgore 158)

13. FRANK AS ART If Riff Raff= Artist, then Frank=Art Frank creates Rocky, the physical manifestation of sexual desire Like all art, Frank must end Good art changes us

14. QUEER THEORY IN ROCKY HORROR “There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender;... identity is per formatively constituted by the very "expressions" that are said to be its results.” (Butler 25) Gender as performance is a very important idea for Rocky Frank represents a complex gender performance

15. FRANK’S PRONOUNS Despite feminine presentation, Frank exclusively uses male pronouns “Logically, if we assume that Frank is biologically male, then his transvestitism would cause him to dress as a woman, but his transsexuality would actually make him a woman, thus producing a “female woman,” which he seems not to be; if he is female, then following the same logic, he would become a “male man.” Neither seems to be the case.” (Lamm 198)

16. THE PARAMOUNT QUEER In Butler’s terms, Frank represents “the perspective of “feminine” identity… juxtaposed on the “male body” as ground, but both terms… through the juxtaposition, lose their internal stability and distinctness.” (122) Frank destabilizes everything

17. WHY DOES IT MATTER? As LGBT rights move forward, it is vital to remember our roots Films like Rocky shake up the culture, and allow for a greater ranger of gender expression How many young Brad’s and Janet’s have been changed by Rocky Horror?

18. Thank you for your time