Save Rocky

I was reading Wil Wheaton's blog and came across this very interesting post

http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/08/when-you-dresse.html

For those of you with less geek points than me, I'll offer an explanation. Wil Wheaton played Ensign Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and was also in the movie Stand By Me. But beyond that, he's a talented writer and really interesting guy. Back to the blog.

He wrote a beautiful entry about his first experience with Rocky Horror Picture Show, losing his RHPS cherry to a beautiful woman in a corset. This made me reflect on my first time. They say you always remember your first time. But I don't. I remember going with a group of young Catholics (I believe all the Vixens were in attendance), that was a lot of fun, but I don't think it was the first time.

I remember the feeling of confidence and belonging that being there gave me. I remember the electric environment of being in the movie theater, with all those excited people celebrating a cult movie and throwing toast. I remember how cool it was seeing 100 people throwing rice in the air, and how the rice became a 3 dimensional, textured movie screen in front of the projector. There was such joy in that. Despite the story line, it also felt really innocent.

While I don't exactly remember my first time with the costumed masses, I intensely remember the first time I saw it on the small screen. I was sixteen, and had recently discovered sex, and found it very much to my liking. It was part of someone's Halloween tradition, and as we watched it, I became transfixed. Brad and Janet, yes, amusing. Riff Raff and Magenta, a little weird. "The Time Warp," that's catchy. Elevator, white platform heel, Oh my God, who is that? Frank-N-Furter. A beautiful, sensual man, with a sexy voice that sang a message of absolute pleasure. He wore women's lingerie, but it only accentuated his masculinity. The sparkly black corset framed those muscular shoulders and arms, and the heels showcased those gorgeous, toned legs. This, boys and girls, was a siren. A seducer of innocents, a lover of men and women, a person with a desire that could not be satisfied.

Lust, not colored by love, just pure lust. The pursuit of pleasure. The idea was new, and it appealed to me. Frank embodies that lust, makes it real, something you can touch, you can taste, you can roll around in like satin sheets. I was fascinated by the character, and the man who played him for years.

My point (as Wheaton's was) is this: a very bad thing is happening. MTV has decided that they want to remake the show. Wheaton likened it to the "High School Musical" version of RHPS, and I completely agree. The movie was and is a product of its time and the society, and the sexual and social values that they held. While it is still relevant, especially to young people discovering their sexuality, I can't imagine a way in which a modern corporate production company could reproduce that certain something that makes this film a cult classic.

The Broadway revival a few years ago, while successful, proved this point. The edgy characters were translated into modern sexual stereotypes, instead of being the undefined creatures they were meant to be. In a culture where "I Kissed A Girl" is a huge hit (sorry CC), it doesn't mean the same thing. Sure it's catchy, but it merely toys with the idea of sexual experimentation as a fun little thing that tantalizes the boyfriend and gives drunk girls some other encouragement to make out and be attention whores in the club.

There's a link in Wheaton's blog to a site where they are attempting a grass roots movement to stop the remake. I doubt it will be successful. But it can't hurt. Strike a blow for "Give yourself over to absolute pleasure/swim the warm waters of sins of the flesh" as opposed to "I kissed a girl just to try it/I hope my boyfriend don't mind."