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I Hate Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Confessional and Critical Analysis
Introduction:
Let's be honest: not everyone loves The Rocky Horror Picture Show. While it boasts a cult following of devoted fans who participate in elaborate audience participation rituals, there’s a significant portion of the viewing public who find themselves utterly repulsed by the film. This post isn't about converting the unconverted. This is for those who, like me, genuinely hate Rocky Horror Picture Show. We’ll delve into the reasons behind this aversion, exploring the film's problematic aspects, its questionable humor, and why, despite its iconic status, it simply doesn't resonate with everyone. We'll analyze the film's flaws from both a critical and personal perspective, providing a safe space for those who share this unpopular opinion.
Why the "I Hate Rocky Horror Picture Show" Sentiment Exists:
The Camp Factor: Too Much, Too Soon?
One frequent criticism is the film's overwhelming reliance on camp. While camp can be effective in smaller doses, Rocky Horror drowns in it. The intentional over-the-top nature, while aiming for a humorous effect, often feels forced and unconvincing. The exaggerated performances, costumes, and sets, rather than being delightfully absurd, can quickly become grating and tiresome for those who don’t find this style intrinsically funny. The line between intentionally bad and genuinely bad blurs, leading to viewer frustration.
Problematic Themes and Characters: Beyond the "Fun."
Beyond the surface level of absurdity, the film grapples with some troubling themes. Frank-N-Furter's sexual predation is often glossed over in favor of the comedic aspects, but his manipulative and controlling behavior towards Brad, Janet, and Riff Raff shouldn't be dismissed. The film's approach to consent, particularly regarding sexual encounters, feels deeply uncomfortable and dated in the modern context. This uncomfortable aspect is often difficult for viewers to overlook, especially those sensitive to themes of exploitation and manipulation.
The Music: An Acquired Taste (Or Not)
The musical numbers, while undeniably catchy to some, are not universally appealing. The songs often lack lyrical depth and rely heavily on repetitive melodies and suggestive lyrics, which many find repetitive and annoying rather than engaging. The overall musical style may not appeal to those with different musical preferences, leading to a negative overall viewing experience. For many, the music reinforces the feeling that the entire film is trying too hard to be shocking and entertaining.
The Audience Participation: A Double-Edged Sword
The interactive nature of Rocky Horror screenings, while celebrated by its devotees, can be off-putting for first-time viewers or those who simply prefer a passive viewing experience. The shouting, throwing of props, and general rowdiness can overshadow the actual film, making it difficult to appreciate the plot or characters. For someone already predisposed to dislike the film, this level of audience engagement can amplify the negative experience, turning a potentially tolerable film into an actively unpleasant one.
A Lack of Narrative Cohesion: A Messy Plot
The plot itself is often cited as another significant weakness. While intentionally nonsensical, the film's narrative lacks a clear structure and often feels disjointed and confusing. The jumps between scenes, the unexplained elements of the story, and the overall lack of logical progression can leave viewers feeling lost and frustrated. This lack of narrative cohesion can be particularly damaging to viewers who prefer a more linear and comprehensible storytelling style.
The Transgressive Aspect: More Exploitative Than Empowering
The film positions itself as transgressive, challenging social norms and conventions. However, this transgression often feels more exploitative than genuinely empowering. The portrayal of gender and sexuality can be seen as reducing complex identities to mere spectacle, without any meaningful exploration or commentary. This superficial treatment of sensitive topics can be deeply troubling for viewers who find it insensitive and disrespectful.
Article Outline:
I. Introduction: Briefly explains the purpose of the article and its target audience.
II. The Camp Factor: Discusses the excessive use of camp and its potential drawbacks.
III. Problematic Themes: Analyzes the problematic themes, including the portrayal of consent and Frank-N-Furter's behavior.
IV. The Music and its Limitations: Critiques the music, its repetitive nature, and its overall appeal.
V. Audience Participation and its Disruptive Effects: Addresses the challenges of audience participation and its potential to detract from the movie.
VI. Narrative Cohesion and its Absence: Examines the disjointed plot and its impact on the overall experience.
VII. The Transgressive Aspect: Exploitation Over Empowerment: Analyzes the film's problematic representation of gender and sexuality.
VIII. Conclusion: Summarizes the reasons why some people hate Rocky Horror Picture Show and acknowledges the film's enduring popularity despite its flaws.
(The body of this article has already addressed the points in the outline above.)
Conclusion:
While Rocky Horror Picture Show holds a cherished place in cinematic history and enjoys fervent fan loyalty, it’s essential to acknowledge that not everyone connects with it. The film's problematic elements, combined with its stylistic choices, can make it an intensely unenjoyable experience for many viewers. This article aims to validate those feelings, offering a platform to articulate the reasons behind a dislike for a film that's often presented as universally loved. The film's enduring popularity doesn't negate the validity of negative responses; it simply highlights the subjective nature of cinematic appreciation.
FAQs:
1. Is it okay to dislike Rocky Horror Picture Show? Absolutely! Taste in film is subjective. Your dislike is valid.
2. Why is it so popular if so many people dislike it? Its cult following is passionate and dedicated, generating significant word-of-mouth marketing and maintaining its cultural relevance.
3. Is the movie genuinely bad, or just not for everyone? It's a subjective matter. Many find aspects of it problematic.
4. Does the audience participation ruin the movie? For some, yes. The experience can be distracting and overwhelming.
5. Are the problematic aspects intentional, or overlooked? The film's creators likely didn't foresee the extent of the critical reaction to certain scenes and character portrayals.
6. Can the movie be enjoyed without audience participation? Possibly, but the experience is markedly different.
7. Is it worth watching at least once? If you're intrigued despite the criticisms, it's your decision.
8. Why is this film considered a cult classic? Its unconventional style, memorable music, and enthusiastic fan base contribute to its iconic status.
9. Where can I find more critical analyses of Rocky Horror Picture Show? Search online for film criticism websites and journals; many have reviewed the film extensively.
Related Articles:
1. The Enduring Appeal of Cult Classics: Why We Love What Others Hate: Explores the psychology behind cult film appreciation.
2. A Critical Look at Camp Aesthetics in Film: Analyses the effective and ineffective uses of camp in cinematic history.
3. Consent and Representation in 1970s Cinema: Examines the societal context surrounding consent and representation in film during that era.
4. The Impact of Audience Participation on Film Experience: Discusses the dynamics of audience participation in cinema and its effects.
5. Analyzing the Narrative Structure of Non-Linear Films: Explores storytelling techniques in films that defy conventional narrative structures.
6. The Evolution of Transgender Representation in Film: Tracks the evolution of transgender representation and explores its complexities.
7. Why Some Films Age Poorly: Examining Dated Tropes and Themes: Investigates the factors contributing to films becoming dated over time.
8. The Role of Music in Shaping Cinematic Emotion: Explores the power of music in film and its impact on viewers.
9. How Cult Films Build and Maintain Their Fan Bases: Analyzes the strategies employed by cult films to cultivate and maintain their followings.
| i hate rocky horror picture show: The Rocky Horror Picture Show FAQ Dave Thompson, 2016-02-01 The Rocky Horror Picture Show FAQ is the in-depth story of not only the legendary stage show and movie but of a unique period in theatrical history – in the movie's UK homeland as well as overseas. Rocky Horror has been performed worldwide for more than 40 years in over 30 countries and has been translated into more than 20 languages. Inside these pages, we see Rocky Horror as sexual cabaret and political subversion, as modern mega-hit and Broadway disaster. At the movie house, we learn when to shout, what to throw – and why people even do those things. Here is the full story of the play's original creation; its forebears and its influences are laid out in loving detail, together with both the triumphs and tragedies that attended it across the next 40 forty years. Packed with anecdotes, The Rocky Horror Picture Show FAQ is the story of dozens of worldwide performances and the myriad stars who have been featured in them. From Tim Curry to Anthony Head, from Reg Livermore to Gary Glitter, from Daniel Abineri to Tom Hewitt, the lives and careers of the greatest ever Frank N. Furters stalk the pages, joined by the Riff-Raffs, Magentas, Columbias, and all. The book also includes the largest and most in-depth Rocky Horror discography ever published, plus a unique timeline – The Ultimate Rocky Horror Chronology – detailing the who, what, where, and when of absolute pleasure. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: The Rocky Horror Show Richard O'Brien, 1983 Rock Musical Characters: 7 males, 3 females Scenery: Interior That sweet transvestite and his motley crew did the time warp on Broadway in a 25th anniversary revival. Complete with sass from the audience, cascading toilet paper and an array of other audience participation props, this deliberately kitschy rock 'n' roll sci fi gothic is more fun than ever. A socko wacko weirdo rock concert.-WNBC TV. A musical that deals with mutating identity and time warps becomes one of the most mutated, time warped phenomena in show business.-N.Y. Times. Campy trash.-Time. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: I Hate Everyone Aran Maza, 2023-11-26 Eva lives a life of emptiness and despair in a city she despises, with no friends, no job, and no purpose. She longs for an escape from her mundane life and wishes to be abducted by aliens. However, her life takes a turn when she gets a job as a supermarket cashier. Here she meets people who are just as lonely and lost as she is, and she even falls in love for the first time. But reality is not always as romantic as the movies, and Eva soon learns that life is filled with dark humour, pain, and unexpected twists. This poignant story reflects real-life struggles and is recommended for ages 16 and up due to strong language. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: 150 Movies You Should Die Before You See Steve Miller, 2010-10-18 Sure, everyone's seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. But as you'll learn in this shockingly tasteless collection of great awful movies, there's so much more to the world of truly bad film. You'll dive into the steaming swamp of such disastrously delicious movies as: Young Hannah, Queen of the Vampires Puppet Master versus Demonic Toys Creature with the Atom Brain Cannibal Holocaust Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter For each movie, film buff and reviewer Steve Miller includes a list of principal cast, director, producer, a plot overview, why the movie sucked, a rating, choice quotes, interesting trivia, and a quiz. For anyone who's ever enjoyed awful movies, this is the book to have on the couch, along with the popcorn, as the opening credits flash on the screen for Gingerdead Men 2: The Passion of the Crust. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Out of this World Holly Virginia Blackford, 2004-04-30 The author analyzes the way the girls discuss pleasure in becoming the eye of the reader, use film to decode the genres of literature, master forms such as fantasy and Gothic, describe the differences between reading and viewing films, and identify only with animal rather than human characters. Blackford intertwines the vivid voices of her girl respondents with her own story of moving beyond her feminist and multicultural assumptions of how children are shaped by the stories we tell in literature. This breakthrough text presents surprising findings about how girls appreciate literature and what they enjoy about reading. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Confessions of a Transylvanian Kevin Theis, Ronald Fox, 2017-10-09 Confessions of a Transylvanian is a one-of-a-kind, backstage look at the greatest cult movie phenomenon of all time - the live Rocky Horror Picture Show - told by those who lived it. The highest-rated Rocky Horror book on the market, Confessions is a moving snapshot of life in a Rocky Horror cast that captures the grit, language and teenage angst of a group of fishnet-clad performers as they explore a world where the only rule was: Don't dream it. Be it. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Roger Waters Dave Thompson, 2013-08-01 To some, he is the face behind classic Pink Floyd. To others, he is the temperament behind some of the greatest albums of the rock era. And to others still, he is one of the most original songwriters of a generation that overflows with notable talent. To all, he is an enigma: a rock star who not only eschewed stardom but also spent much of his career railing against it. But to call Roger Waters a mass of contradictions is simply taking the easy way out. He is so much more than that. Roger Waters: The Man Behind the Wall is the first full biography of the author of The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and, of course, The Wall. It traces his life from war-torn suburbia to the multitude of wars he has fought since then – with his bandmates, with his audience, and most of all with himself. Packed with insight and exclusive interviews with friends and associates, Roger Waters: The Man Behind the Wall dismantles the wall brick by brick, revealing the man who built it in all his glory. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: If I'm Being Honest Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka, 2019-04-23 Mean Girls meets The Taming of the Shrew in this romantic follow-up to Always Never Yours Cameron Bright's reputation can be summed up in one word: b*tch. It's no surprise she's queen bee at her private L.A. high school--she's beautiful, talented, and notorious for her brutal honesty. But when she slips up in front of her crush, Andrew, any affection he may have had for her quickly fades. To win him over, Cameron resolves to tame herself, much like Shakespeare's infamous shrew, Katherine. If she makes amends with everyone she's ever wronged, Andrew will have to take notice. Thus, Cameron begins her apology tour with Brendan, the guy whose social life she single-handedly destroyed. At first, Brendan isn't so quick to forgive, but slowly he warms to her when they connect over a computer game he's developing. To Cameron's amazement, she actually enjoys hanging out with Brendan; he appreciates her honesty in a way Andrew never did, and she's left wondering: maybe you shouldn't have to compromise who you are for the kind of love you deserve. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: I Hate Fairyland (2022) #12 Skottie Young, 2024-03-13 Three Billy Goats Gert? What happens when three hungry goats try to cross a troll's bridge? Buy as many copies of this issue as you can to find out. I mean, you can find out by buying one copy, but if you buy more copies, then we make more money and thatÕs always pretty fluffin cool. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Horror Show Greg Kihn, 2015-08-18 A Bram Stoker Award finalist for Best First Novel: This endlessly inventive thriller pays homage to 1950s Hollywood horror films—with a demonic twist Schlock horror director Landis Woodley lives in a decaying mansion in the Hollywood Hills. When he abandoned the movie business—after being reduced to filming skin flicks and peep shows—he also left a laundry list of enemies, including the IRS. But avid fan Clint Stockbern is determined to write a piece on the alcoholic recluse for Monster magazine. Woodley agrees to the interview—for $600 in cash. As the tape recorder starts rolling, Stockbern travels back in time with Woodley. He hears recollections of Attack of the Haunted Saucer, the worst movie of all time, and Blood Ghouls of Malibu. But he really wants to know about Woodley’s masterpiece, Cadaver. Shot on location in the Los Angeles County morgue, the film was rumored to have used real corpses and everyone associated with the production has been fatally haunted since its 1957 release. But the truth is far more terrifying than Stockbern imagined. Is a dead Satanist, possessed by the devil, reaching out beyond the grave? Or is the reporter the final victim in a diabolical scheme dreamed up by mortals? Horror Show is a wild and wacky romp that sends up mid-century Hollywood horror movies and schlockmeisters Roger Corman, William Castle, and Ed Wood. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Creatures of the Night Sal Piro, 1990 |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: The Dallas Women's Guide to Gold-Digging with Pride Jennifer Ross, 2008-12-24 “Here, in the land of conspicuous consumption, marriage isn’t considered a lifelong commitment. It’s the ultimate accessory.” –from The Dallas Women’s Guide to Gold-Digging with Pride Jennifer Barton’s life has veered 180 degrees. A transplanted New Yorker now in a Lone Star state of mind, she’s ditched her urban hipster look for the waxed, Botoxed, and blond glow of the Dallas women she now walks among and mingles with. Jenny’s mission: to be in “tall cotton,” which in Texan husband-hunting terms means sporting a major rock on your finger and seeing the prenup torn up before you walk down the aisle. But learning the local lingo is only the tip of the cactus for Jenny, who is used to picking men based on attraction and long-term compatibility, not net assets. No matter that in Dallas, a husband is “like a Hermès bag or a Chanel coat, a good investment that will mature over time. If he no longer fits, you can trade up to a more luxurious model.” To Aimee, Jenny’s pretty-as-a-beauty queen roommate (and an expert gold-digger), marrying for material worth is gospel–she’s already successfully managed her first divorce and is on the lookout for husband number two. Jenny has laughed off Aimee’s ideas on flirting and courting (“Never directly engage a man you’re interested in”), but after catching her boyfriend cheating and listening to her mother’s constant laments over her lack of grandchildren, Jenny reconsiders Aimee’s businesslike approach to marriage: plan, strategize, conquer. Under Aimee’s guidance, Jenny finds herself grocery shopping in stilettos, attending skeet shoots and rattlesnake hunts, and traversing the ultimate husband-hunting ground–a Baptist wedding. But in between secretly decoding her targets’ e-mail passwords and breaking into potential mates’ houses to figure out what their interests are, Jenny wonders if love ever enters into the deal. Welcome to Dallas, where the higher the hair the closer to God. Grab the steer by the horns and sharpen your nails, J. C. Conklin’s hilariously funny debut novel will have you going Texas wild! |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Transnational Punk Communities in Poland Marta Marciniak, 2015-07-16 A Transnational History of Punk Communities in Poland is a multi-regional study of the history and contemporary condition of two Polish punk communities: the one in Warsaw and surrounding areas, and the Upper Silesian region: both rich in varied and sometimes conflicting punk traditions. The author, a self-identified member of the punk subculture formerly living and active in Warsaw, explores the various political, economic and social dimensions of the development of these unique communities and the meaning of the punk ethos for people across different age groups, genders, and life experiences, in relation to other subcultures, especially skinheads, and the broader society. An additional dimension, previously unexplored in scholarship, are the ties between these Polish punk communities and their counterparts in the United States and Canada. The personal connections between early bands and the long lasting transnational aspects of punk practices are shown to be an important factor in the shaping of punk attitudes across time and space. The economics of everyday punk life are discussed referring to contemporary scholarship on the subject, punk lyrics, and ethnographies which throughout the book illustrate selected themes and problems. This study includes insight about obscure yet foundational Silesian bands and their defiant, sardonic humor; about punk and anarchy, punk versus communism and the political opposition in the 1980s, punks’ attitudes toward the transformation of 1989, about being a punk girl on the streets of Warsaw or Wodzisław Śląski. Discover punk as an old subculture that cherishes its own past and remains an important alternative to mainstream cultural practices in a rapidly “Westernizing” and corporatizing country. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: We're Not Here to Entertain Kevin Mattson, 2020-05-14 Many remember the 1980s as the era of Ronald Reagan, a conservative decade populated by preppies and yuppies dancing to a soundtrack of electronic synth pop music. In some ways, it was the MTV generation. However, the decade also produced some of the most creative works of punk culture, from the music of bands like the Minutemen and the Dead Kennedys to avant-garde visual arts, literature, poetry, and film. In We're Not Here to Entertain, Kevin Mattson documents what Kurt Cobain once called a punk rock world --the all-encompassing hardcore-indie culture that incubated his own talent. Mattson shows just how widespread the movement became--ranging across the nation, from D.C. through Ohio and Minnesota to LA--and how democratic it was due to its commitment to Do-It-Yourself (DIY) tactics. Throughout, Mattson puts the movement into a wider context, locating it in a culture war that pitted a blossoming punk scene against the new president. Reagan's talk about end days and nuclear warfare generated panic; his tax cuts for the rich and simultaneous slashing of school lunch program funding made punks, who saw themselves as underdogs, seethe at his meanness. The anger went deep, since punks saw Reagan as the country's entertainer-in-chief; his career, from radio to Hollywood and television, synched to the very world punks rejected. Through deep archival research, Mattson reignites the heated debates that punk's opposition generated in that era-about everything from straight edge ethics to anarchism to the art of dissent. By reconstructing the world of punk, Mattson demonstrates that it was more than just a style of purple hair and torn jeans. In so doing, he reminds readers of punk's importance and its challenge to simplistic assumptions about the 1980s as a one-dimensional, conservative epoch. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Hearts at Stake G.L. Giles, 2010-09-24 As the number of my adult short stories, songs and poems has grown considerably (many of them have been previously published in magazines, etc.), I decided it was high time to gather many of them together into an anthology that has a cohesiveness about it of oftentimes exposing the truth of the human heart through a fictional, or fictionalized, setting, characters, etc. Hence, the title. Add to that, Ive included two articles: one on even more marketing advice, and the other about how I was able to successfully lose weight as a vegetarian. Plus, there are other surprises included within that youll just have to discover for yourself. Praise for the Writing of G.L. Giles: I will begin by saying that one of the best things about Giles writing is that she defies tradition and she expresses herself in whatever form or style she wishes. I feel that she creates her own rules, regarding her writing, and I respect the hell out of that. I enjoy her live and let live policy, which constantly shines through her writing, and I think she is one of the most honest and open writers that I have read. She is very comfortable with whom she is and that peace about her gives her words great power. Peter Syslo for Infernal Dreams http://www.infernaldreams.net/mindyourpsandqs.html |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: The Encyclopedia of Guilty Pleasures Sam Stall, Lou Harry, Julia Spalding, 2004-09-01 What do Neil Diamond, Touched by an Angel, Pamela Anderson, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, White castle hamburgers, Benny Hill, Thomas Kinkade, and the song “You Light Up My Life” have in common? They’re all guilty pleasures—and they’re all celebrated in this massive A-to-Z encyclopedia. Authors Sam Stall, Lou Harry, and Julia Spalding have unearthed fascinating trivia about literature (Valley of the Dolls, The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue), television (The Real World, Land of the Lost), fashion (Members Only jackets, the WonderBra), and more. Every page features a sophisticated two-column design and handy guide words for quick at-a-glance reference. Best of all, we’ve illustrated 100 of the guiltiest pleasures with the same portrait style used by the Wall Street Journal. Complete with 1,001 entries, it’s the ultimate guide to everything you hate to love! |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Bad Reputation Dave Thompson, 2011-08-01 Bad Reputation is the unexpurgated story of Joan Jett, the single most exciting rocker of the American 1980s, one of the biggest-selling acts of the age, and one of punk rock's most valued elder statespeeps. Through its pages, a welter of exclusive interviews and observations paint what might well be the last great tale of rock hedonism, but one that comes with a twist in its tail. The rockers are women, the groupies are guys. It could have been the plot line for a movie or even a sitcom, but the Runaways, Jett's first band, made it happen, and Jett made it last. The first serious female rocker of the 1980s, Jett became the template for everyone that followed. But unlike so many of her peers and counterparts, she never lost her credibility, never sold out, and never gave up. And she has backed her reputation up with genuine star power, following the chart-topping “I Love Rock 'n' Roll” – one of the most played '80s anthems of all time – with “Crimson and Clover ” “Do You Wanna Touch Me ” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You” before the decade ended. And, while the 1990s saw Jett purposefully step away from the spotlight, she remained, and remains, America's number one Queen of Noise. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: The Comedy Film Nerds Guide to Movies Graham Elwood, Chris Mancini, 2012-06-01 A movie guide for film and comedy fans, by filmmakers and comedians, for the movie lover with a good sense of humor. Tired of the usual boring, dry movie discussion? The Comedy Film Nerds Guide to Movies is something new. Is it serious movie discussion? Is it funny? Do the writers know what the hell they are talking about? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Okay, that’s too many yes’s, but you get the point. Graham Elwood and Chris Mancini, both professional filmmakers and comedians, created comedyfilmnerds.com to mind meld the idea of real movie talk and real funny. And they called in all of their professionally funny and filmy friends to help them. Comedians and writers who have been on everything from the Tonight Show to their own comedy specials tell you what’s what about their favorite film genres. While The Comedy Film Nerds Guide to Movies is funny and informative, each genre is given a personal touch. All of the Comedy Film Nerds have a love of film and a personal connection to each genre. Read about a love of film from an insider’s perspective. The Comedy Film Nerds Guide to Movies brings what has been missing from movie discussion for too long: a healthy dose of humor. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: The Night of the Hunter Jeffrey Couchman, 2009-02-12 Reaching simultaneously into the realms of film and literature, The Night of the Hunter: A Biography of a Film details the transformation of Davis Grubb's 1953 novel into a motion picture. A popular and critical success, the novel spent four months on the New York Times bestseller list, and Hollywood responded to its atmospheric lyricism. In the hands of first-time director Charles Laughton, the story became equal parts thriller, allegory, and fever dream, filled with slow, inexorable suspense. Yet the film initially failed at the box office. In the first major study of the long-lost first-draft screenplay by James Agee, Jeffrey Couchman confronts a fifty-year controversy about the authorship of the film. He explores many levels of artistic convergence-between novelist and director, director and actor, and cinematic form and audience expectations. The talents that clashed or came together along the road from book to movie created a film of rich stylistic contradiction. Combining biographical and historical analysis with a critical study of both the novel and the film, Couchman makes the case that this initially overlooked cinematic gem is a prismatic work that continually reveals new aspects of itself. Book jacket. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: The Sound of Music Caryl Flinn, 2019-07-25 Fifty years after its release, The Sound of Music (1965) remains the most profitable and recognisable film musical ever made. Quickly consolidating its cultural authority, the Hollywood film soon eclipsed the German film and Broadway musical that preceded it to become one of the most popular cultural reference points of the twenty-first century. In this fresh exploration, Caryl Flinn foregrounds the film's iconic musical numbers, arguing for their central role in the film's longevity and mass appeal. Stressing the unique emotional bond audiences establish with The Sound of Music, Flinn traces the film's prehistories, its place amongst the tumultuous political, social and cultural events of the 1960s, and its spirited afterlife among fans around the world. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Imperfect Women Araminta Hall, 2020-08-04 FROM THE AUTHOR OF OUR KIND OF CRUELTY A stunning, dark novel about who women want to be and the reality of who they are.” —Samantha Downing, author of His Lovely Wife Promises to please those who enjoy psychological thrillers and all those who love Elena Ferrante but wish her series was just a bit (okay, a lot) more twisted. —Molly Odintz, Lit Hub A psychological thriller in the truest sense of the word . . . At points I was folding pages repeatedly.” —Sarah Vaughan, author of Anatomy of a Scandal Creeps on you slowly, like a fog, until you find yourself enveloped in this tangled skein of relationships, eager to see how all this is going to play out, who is going to betray whom and in what way. —Sarah Lyall, The New York Times Book Review When Nancy Hennessy is murdered, she leaves behind two best friends, an adoring husband and daughter, and a secret lover whose identity she took to the grave. Nancy was gorgeous, wealthy, and cherished by those who knew her—from the outside, her life was perfect. But as the investigation into her death flounders and her friends Eleanor and Mary wrestle with their grief, dark details surface that reveal how little they knew their friend, each other, and maybe even themselves. A gripping, immersive novel about impossible expectations and secrets that fester and become lethal, Imperfect Women unfolds through the perspectives of three fascinating women. Their enduring, complex friendship is the knot the reader must untangle to answer the question Who killed Nancy? Imperfect Women explores guilt and retribution, love and betrayal, and the compromises we make that alter our lives irrevocably. With the wickedly sharp insights and finely tuned suspense that has drawn comparisons to Patricia Highsmith and Paula Hawkins, Araminta Hall returns with another page-turning, thought-provoking tour de force. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Hatchet Job Mark Kermode, 2013-10-10 The finest film critic in Britain at the absolute top of his form' Stephen Fry 'Entertainingly incendiary stuff' Empire A hatchet job isn't just a bad review, it's a total trashing. Mark Kermode is famous for them - Pirates of the Caribbean, Sex and the City 2, the complete works of Michael Bay. Beginning with his favourite hatchet job ever, Mark tells us about the best bad reviews in history, why you have to be willing to tell a director face-to-face their movie sucks, and about the time he apologized to Steven Spielberg for badmouthing his work. But why do we love really bad reviews? Is it so much harder to be positive? And is the Internet ruining how we talk about cinema? The UK's most trusted film critic answers all these questions and more in this hilarious, fascinating and argumentative new book. 'A wry, robust and developed defence of accountable critical voices' Total Film 'Very accessible, entertaining and relevant . . . warmly recommended' Den of Geek |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Wish I Was There - I Was the Golden Girl of British Cinema... Then My Life Fell to Pieces. This is My Story Emily Lloyd, 2014-03-03 When Emily Lloyd burst onto the movie scene as a teenager, she was hailed as the next Marilyn Monroe. Her stunning performance as precocious Lynda Mansell in David Leland's Wish You Were Here thrust her into the spotlight, winning her, among other awards, a BAFTA nomination. Hollywood beckoned and Emily landed high-profile roles alongside A-listers like Bruce Willis and, notably, Brad Pitt in A River Runs Through It. However, behind the cheeky grin that seduced Tinseltown, Emily was struggling with a debilitating mental disorder. Now, in her deeply honest autobiography, Emily describes the highs and lows she experienced during her tumultuous acting career. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Sinister Urge Joel McIver, 2015-09-01 (Book). Sinister Urge is the first in-depth, career-spanning biography of heavy-metal musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie. Born Robert Cummings in 1965, Zombie is now as well known for his movies as he is for his music, which he has released and performed both as a solo artist and as part of his early band White Zombie. In both fields, he imbues his art with the vivid sense of macabre theater that has thrilled his millions of disciples since he and his band first emerged with Soul-Crusher in 1987. Although he has sold millions of albums and generated many more millions of dollars at the box office, Zombie has never taken the easy option or the predictable route. Indeed, while the music industry and many of his peers have fallen to their knees in the last decade or so, Zombie has found a new edge, his work undiluted by success or middle age. Drawing on original research and new interviews with bandmates and associates, Sinister Urge takes a detailed look at Zombie's challenging oeuvre, offering close analysis of his albums and films alongside tales of his life and work on and offstage. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: The Great Science Fiction Pictures II James Robert Parish, Michael R. Pitts, 1990 This belated sequel is even more important than the same author's first volume ( LJ 9/15/77), which predated Star Wars/ET/Close Encounters and the films they inspired. This book also fills in that volume's omissions. Information on some 400 films (and updated TV and radio listings) yields credits, detailed cast lists, synopses, quotes from contemporary reviews and genre encyclopedias, brief critical evaluations, and entertaining film buff-y tidbits. There are a few nitpicky errors, and the quality of the entries unavoidably varies somewhat, but generally the level of scholarship is high, as it usually is for all the products emanating from the veteran Parish/Pitts reference book ``factory,'' in part because they are, and utilize other, crackerjack researchers. Highly recommended.-- Da vid Bartholomew, NYPL -Library Journal. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Hello, My Love Chase Brooks, 2008-11-22 High school. Love. Drama. Blondes. Brunettes. Friendship. Coffee. Grease. As a normal, high school freshman, Carrie Dawson has been thrown into a whole new world, following the tragic death of her father. Her cousin, best friend, second-mate, partner-in-crime, Jess, is behind Carrie in all aspects of life. They share a friendship that is unique and unlike any other. Carrie finds herself lost emotionally on how to feel when it comes to a confusing moment in every persons young life: First love. Shes torn between dating the guy that is perfect for her by everyone elses standards and that unforgettable, tingly feeling that she gets from her other indecisive, best friend Ben. Her Grease, coffee, and sarcasm addiction certainly do not help herself achieve her goal of finding the perfect, movie-like relationship. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Boys Keep Swinging: A Memoir Jake Shears, 2018-03-28 From Jake Shears – world famous singer, songwriter, actor and LGBTQ+ icon – comes this wide-eyed and determined coming-of- age story; an unforgettable literary account of a man overcoming the odds and finding his true voice. Long before hitting the stage as the lead singer of the iconic glam rock band Scissor Sisters, Jake Shears was Jason Sellards, a teenage boy living a fraught life, resulting in a confusing and confining time in high school as his classmates bullied him and few teachers showed sympathy. It wasn’t until years later, while living and studying in New York City, that Jason would find his voice as an artist and, with a group of friends and musicians who were also thirsting for stardom and freedom, form the band Scissor Sisters. First performing in the smoky gay nightclubs of New York, then finding massive success in the United Kingdom, Scissor Sisters would become revered by the LGBTQ+ community, sell out venues worldwide, and win multiple accolades with hits like Take Your Mama and I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’, as well as their cult-favourite cover of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb. Candid and courageous, Shears’ writing sings with the same powerful, spirited presence that he brings to his live performances. Following a misfit boy’s development into a dazzling rock star, Boys Keep Swinging is a raucously entertaining memoir that will be an inspiration to anyone with determination and a dream. ‘This is a beautiful, fascinating memoir by a beautiful guy who has lived a fascinating life – and he has the insights and receipts to prove it. Wonderful!’ - Dan Savage |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Spy , 1990-10 Smart. Funny. Fearless.It's pretty safe to say that Spy was the most influential magazine of the 1980s. It might have remade New York's cultural landscape; it definitely changed the whole tone of magazine journalism. It was cruel, brilliant, beautifully written and perfectly designed, and feared by all. There's no magazine I know of that's so continually referenced, held up as a benchmark, and whose demise is so lamented --Dave Eggers. It's a piece of garbage --Donald Trump. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Grappling with Representation in the WWE Lowery A. Woodall III, 2022-10-03 In this book, Lowery A. Woodall III explores the ways that diverse populations are portrayed, stereotyped, and sometimes villainized in the WWE’s colorful and dramatic programming. Each chapter examines the surprisingly complex and multilayered representation of marginalized populations throughout the modern history of the WWE under the leadership of Vincent K. McMahon. Through weekly shows like Raw and SmackDown, pay-per-view spectaculars like WrestleMania, and a vast library of wrestling-related material on their streaming platform, Woodall argues that the WWE and McMahon have created calculated and carefully curated representations of diversity that are viewed by millions of fans worldwide. What effects do those representations have on the men, women, and children who consume WWE content? How are wrestlers and performers impacted by their on-screen portrayals? This book explores these questions and demonstrates that when representations are inaccurate or problematic, more than just kayfabe is in danger of being broken. Scholars of professional wrestling studies, media studies, and communication studies will find this book of particular interest. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: If at First You Don't Succeed...Read the Directions , |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Shut Out Kelly Jamieson, 2016-06-07 From the bestselling author of the Heller Brothers Hockey series comes a moving and thought-provoking novel about a college team facing hard knocks on the ice and off. The Bayard College hockey team isn’t where Jacob Flass thought he’d be a season ago. He was a rising star in the Canadian major junior league, cruising toward a spot on an NHL roster—until a single disastrous night on the town brought it all crashing down. Now he’s out of options, except for playing well, studying hard, and staying away from the opposite sex. He’s not supposed to be flirting with the most intriguing woman he’s ever met. But how could he possibly stay away? Skylar Lynwood’s freshman year of college was a disaster. This semester she’s working hard to get back to the grades her parents want to see, and she’s dealing with her painful memories by doing volunteer work. There’s no place in Skylar’s life for parties, fun, and arrogant jocks—until Jacob melts her resistance with his easy charm and rugged smile. The deal he’s offering could be a win-win: a fake relationship that will keep him out of trouble and her secrets safe . . . if they can keep their hands off each other. Kelly Jamieson’s USA Today bestselling Aces Hockey series can be read together or separately: MAJOR MISCONDUCT OFF LIMITS ICING TOP SHELF BACK CHECK SLAP SHOT PLAYING HURT BIG STICK Don’t miss any of Kelly’s alluring reads: The Bayard Hockey series: SHUT OUT | CROSS CHECK The Last Shot series: BODY SHOT | HOT SHOT | LONG SHOT The standalone novel: DANCING IN THE RAIN Praise for Shut Out “Sexual tension doesn’t get better than this! Shut Out is wickedly sexy, but with enough sweet moments to make it the perfect love story.”—USA Today bestselling author Lauren Layne “Sexy and sweet, yet layered with emotion, Shut Out perfectly captures the feeling of a first love!”—Award-winning author Katie Rose “An absolute winner . . . I’m hoping to see more of Skylar and Jacob in the future.”—Dear Author “Very powerful and thought-provoking in many ways . . . Shut Out is the type of book that may stay with you a long time after you read.”—Babbling About Books, and More! “The chemistry between these two is explosive and you fall in love with both of them and their struggles to find their way. . . . I have no doubt you will enjoy it as much as I did.”—Books & Boys Book Blog “I applaud Jamieson. . . . This story just felt so important right now.”—Book Jems Includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Big Bad Boss Renee rose, Lee Savino, Rule #4 of Wall Street: Keep your enemies close The Vampire King wasn't on the invite list for our engagement party, but that won't stop him from demanding his due. He insists Madi and I make an appearance at his club. He wants a performance where we're the players. I would refuse--war be damned, but my bride is intrigued. And what she wants, she gets. Mated is a bonus story from the completed Big Bad Boss trilogy featuring a billionaire boss-hole wolf shifter and his freakishly smart assistant. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Reading Rocky Horror Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, 2008-11-24 The first scholarly collection devoted to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, dissecting the film from diverse perspectives including gender and queer studies, disability studies, cultural studies, genre studies, and film studies. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Conversations with Women in Musical Theatre Leadership Amanda Wansa Morgan, 2023-10-27 Most writers, composers, librettists, and music directors who make their careers in musical theatre do so without specific training or clear pathways to progress through the industry. Conversations with Women in Musical Theatre Leadership addresses that absence by drawing on the experiences of these women to show the many and varied routes to successful careers on, off, and beyond Broadway. Conversations with Women in Musical Theatre Leadership features 15 interviews with Broadway-level musical theatre music directors, directors, writers, composers, lyricists, stage managers, orchestrators, music arrangers, and other women in positions of leadership. Built around extensive interviews with women at the top of their careers in the creative and leadership spheres of musical theatre, these first-hand accounts offer insight into the jobs themselves, the skills that they require, and how those skills can be developed. Any students of musical theatre and stagecraft, no matter what level and in what setting from professional training to university and conservatory study, will find this a valuable asset. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Bad Things Tamara Thorne, 2013-09-03 Reprinted Edition The Piper clan emigrated from Scotland and founded the town of Santo Verde, California. The Gothic Victorian estate built there has housed the family for generations, and has also become home to an ancient evil forever linked to the Piper name. . . As a boy, Rick Piper discovered he had the sight. It was supposed to be a family myth, but Rick could see the greenjacks--the tiny mischievous demons who taunted him throughout his childhood--and who stole the soul of his twin brother Robin one Halloween night. Now a widower with two children of his own, Rick has returned home to build a new life. He wants to believe the greenjacks don't exist, that they were a figment of his own childish fears and the vicious torment he suffered at the hands of his brother. But he can still see and hear them, and they haven't forgotten that Rick escaped them so long ago. And this time, they don't just want Rick. This time they want his children. . . |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Future Imperfect K. Ryer Breese, 2011-04-26 Ade Patience can see the future and it's destroying his life. When the seventeen-year-old Mantlo High School student knocks himself unconscious, he can see days and decades into his own future. Ade's the best of Denver's divination underground and eager to join the heralded Mantlo Diviners, a group of similarly enabled teens. Yet, unlike the Diviners, Ade Patience doesn't see the future out of curiosity or good will; Ade gives himself concussions because he's addicted to the high, the Buzz, he gets when he breaks the laws of physics. And while there have been visions he's wanted to change, Ade knows the Rule: You can't change the future, no matter how hard you try. His memory is failing, his grades are in a death spiral, and both Ade's best friend and his shrink are begging him to stop before he kills himself. Ade knows he needs to straighten-out. Luckily, the stunning Vauxhall Rodolfo has just transferred to Mantlo and, as Ade has seen her in a vision two years previously, they're going to fall in love. It's just the motivation Ade needs to kick his habit. Only things are a bit more complicated. Vauxhall has an addiction of her own, and, after a a vision in which he sees Vauxhall's close friend, Jimmy, drown while he looks on seemingly too wasted to move, Ade realizes that he must break the one rule he's been told he can't The pair must overcome their addictions and embrace their love for each other in order to do the impossible: change the future. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: The Punk-Rock Queen of the Jews Rossi, 2024-04-23 This is Rossi’s wild, queer coming-of-age story. Rossi was taught only to aspire to marry a nice Jewish boy and to be a good kosher Jewish girl. At sixteen she flowers into a rebellious punk-rock rule-breaker who runs away to seek adventure. Her freedom is cut short when her parents kidnap her and dump her with a Chasidic rabbi—a “cult buster” known for “reforming” wayward Jewish girls—in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Rossi spends the next couple of years in a repressive, misogynistic culture straight out of the nineteenth century, forced to trade in her pink hair and Sex Pistols T-shirt for maxi skirts and long-sleeved blouses and endure not only bone-crunching boredom but also outright abuse and violence. The Punk-Rock Queen of the Jews is filled with wonderfully rich characters, hilarious dialogue, and keen portraits of the secretive hothouse Orthodox world and the struggling New York City of the 1980s: dirty, on the edge, but fully vital and embracing. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Bleeding Skull Annie Choi, Zack Carlson, Joseph A. Ziemba, 2021-03-23 A celebration of the most obscure, bizarre, and brain-busting movies ever made, this film guide features 250 in-depth reviews that have escaped the radar of people with taste and the tolerance of critics ― Goregasm! I Was a Teenage Serial Killer! Satan Claus!Die Hard Dracula! Curated by the enthusiastic minds behind BleedingSkull.com, this book gets deep into gutter-level, no-budget horror, from shot-on-VHS revelations (Eyes of the Werewolf) to forgotten outsider art hallucinations (Alien Beasts). Jam-packed with rare photographs, advertisements, and VHS sleeves (most of which have never been seen before), Bleeding Skull is an edifying, laugh-out-loud guide to the dusty inventory of the greatest video store that never existed. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: Eye of the Taika Matthew Bannister, 2021-10-19 Innovative study of Taika Waititi, whose Maori and Jewish roots influence his distinctive New Zealand comedic style. Eye of the Taika: New Zealand Comedy and the Films of Taika Waititi is the first book-length study of comic film director and media celebrity Taika Waititi. Author Matthew Bannister analyses Waititi's feature films and places his other works and performances—short films, TV series, advertisements, music videos, and media appearances—in the fabric of popular culture. The book's thesis is that Waititi's playful comic style draws on an ironic reading of NZ identity as Antipodean camp, a style which reflects NZ's historic status as colonial underdog. The first four chapters of Eye of the Taika explore Waititi's early life and career, the history of New Zealand and its film industry, the history of local comedy and its undervaluation in favor of more serious art, and ethnicity in New Zealand comedy. Bannister then focuses on Waititi's films, beginning with Eagle vs Shark (2007) and its place in New Geek Cinema, despite being an outsider even in this realm. Bannister uses Boy (2010) to address the comedian comedy, arguing that Waititi is a comedic entertainer before being a director. With What We Do in The Shadows(2014), Bannister explores Waititi's use of the vampire as the archetypal immigrant struggling to fit into mainstream society, under the guise of a mockumentary. Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople(2016), Bannister argues, is a family-friendly, rural-based romp that plays on and ironizes aspects of Aotearoa/New Zealand identity. Thor: Ragnarok(2017) launched Waititi into the Hollywood realm, while introducing a Polynesian perspective on Western superhero ideology. Finally, Bannister addresses Jojo Rabbit (2019) as an anti-hate satire and questions its quality versus its topicality and timeliness in Hollywood. By viewing Waititi's career and filmography as a series of pranks, Bannister identifies Waititi's playful balance between dominant art worlds and emergent postcolonial innovations, New Zealand national identity and indigenous Aotearoan (and Jewish) roots, and masculinity and androgyny. Eye of the Taika is intended for film scholars and film lovers alike. |
| i hate rocky horror picture show: David Fincher Laurence F. Knapp, 2014-09-09 David Fincher (b. 1962) did not go to film school and hates being defined as an auteur. He prefers to see himself as a craftsman, dutifully going about the art and business of making film. Trouble is, it's hard to be self-effacing when you are the director responsible for Se7en, Fight Club, and The Social Network. Along with Quentin Tarantino, Fincher is the most accomplished of the Generation X filmmakers to emerge in the early 1990s. This collection of interviews highlights Fincher's unwavering commitment to his craft as he evolved from an entrepreneurial music video director (Fincher helped Madonna become the undisputed queen of MTV) into an enterprising feature filmmaker. Fincher landed his first Hollywood blockbuster at twenty-seven with Alien3, but that film, handicapped by cost overruns and corporate mismanagement, taught Fincher that he needed absolute control over his work. Once he had it, with Se7en, he achieved instant box-office success and critical acclaim, as well as a close partnership with Brad Pitt that led to the cult favorite Fight Club. Fincher became circumspect in the 2000s after Panic Room, shooting ads and biding his time until Zodiac, when he returned to his mantra that “entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine. Some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything's okay. I don't make those kinds of movies. That, to me, is a lie. Everything's not okay.” Zodiac reinvigorated Fincher, inspiring a string of films—The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo—that enthralled audiences and garnered his films dozens of Oscar nominations. |
