Last night we went to the midnight showing of RHPS (Rocky Horror). jason had a good time and we got to hang out with some friends – the rest of this post is gonna sound like another “remember the good ol’ days?”” rant…
When “I was a young warthog” back on Toronto in the 80’s, I saw the stage version (Rocky Horror Show) once but really enjoyed seeing the real ‘live event’ (the movie with audience participation) way out on the Danforth. In those days the audience was a supplement to the show- we talked back to the screen, booed the Criminologist, and had our bag of props (newspaper & squirt gun, toast, candle, cards, etc.). Some people came dressed up as their favourite character, and there was some dancing in the aisles (“Time Warp“). To paraphrase; “that was 20 years ago when we used to watch the show“.
Last night the ‘Fishnet Mafia’ put on skits and scenes that compete with the show (too loud, and their lights blank out the screen). It used to be that we could hear all the movie except for the lines of the Criminologist that was shouted down. Now? Lucky to hear half the movie. And the comments are as critical, judgmental and sexist as ever.
Although I know the six people in our party are cool with the various lifestyles (three gay men, two straight men, one straight woman) there was excessive use of the ‘F’ word- not the one that refers to traditional intercourse, but British slang for a cigarette. No doubt some of it is just harmless enjoyment in the shared experience; but I have to wonder how much of it is a reflection of deep-seated, probably sub-conscious (can you say “deeply-held beliefs“?) stereotypes of gender roles.
