
Movies have always played an important part within the culture. There are some roles and some storylines that are so iconic they carry across generations. The Rocky Horror Picture Show was first released in 1975, but quickly became an experience that transcended the mere movie. The movie plays a large role within Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower as Charlie and his friends find their community because of it. RHPS has provided as home to outcasts and misfits since it’s conception. Similarly, Chbosky’s novel gives a voice to the misfit youth within our society, in a way that allows the reader to connect to that sense of misfit within their self. As Halloween just ended, and I am coming off another rousing night of throwing rice and toast, I want to reflect on my own experience with RHPS through the lens of Charlie’s experiences.
To give you a little context, Rocky Horror as an experience gained traction through 1977 in the kingdom of the misfits, Greenwich Village. The Waverly Theatre housed the movie, and the wayward outcasts that came to see it. I call it an experience because if you’ve ever been to a showing of RHPS you know that you aren’t just going to sit in a dark theatre and sit quietly for an hour and a half. RHPS as most of us know it now, involves a lot more. The movie plays while a shadow cast (actors who are acting out the scenes, but not speaking out loud) moves across the stage and encourages audience members to yell things out, while throwing various props around the theatre. The audience becomes a part of the show, encouraging participation and giving the audience a voice that is more important than those coming from the trained actors. This wasn’t the original intention of the filmmakers, but rather came organically from a group of friends who attended RHPS the movie various times throughout 1976 and 1977. It started with costumes, dance alongs, and the occasional jokes, and then grew into the phenomena that it is now. What is so special about this? Simple, this experience grew out of the antics of a few societal misfits.
Since those first misfits, RHPS has been providing a home for those who don’t fit into the “normal” of society, and those who are searching for a community. Chobsky’s Charlie longs for community of his own, as he loses his only friend to suicide in the beginning of the novel. When Charlie finds Sam and her brother Patrick, he is introduced to the world of RHPS and his eyes begin to open to the community around him. The performances of RHPS allow the characters a place to explore sides of themselves that would not be allowed within in their high school interactions. Patrick is able to present himself as his authentic, out of the closet, gay self; while Charlie is able to explore his new feelings of sexual awakening. Each character has a sense of freedom by performing, but also by being in a judgement free area. They may be the outcasts of their school, the “island of misfit toys” as Sam calls them, but at least they are not alone. Charlie, for the first time, doesn’t feel alone. He feels free, and he feels accepted, because he is accepted.
This year I attended my first official shadow cast of RHPS. I’ve seen the movie many times, and have even attended midnight showings where we yelled profanity from the script, and threw items from our grab bags, but this was the first year that I attended outside of the small town I grew up in, and really got to experience what RHPS had to offer. The first thing I was struck by was the acceptance of the cast and crew. There was a sign that read “if someone is yelling something at the screen, try yelling something funny back instead of shushing them,” which shook me. I knew you yelled back at the screen, but just to ad-lib? That seemed crazy. I dressed up this year, and others were dressed, but it didn’t feel like a competition to see who was the best, instead there was an admiration between us all. A girl in the bathroom asked me where I got my garter, and when I sheepishly admitted it was a costume choker that I repurposed into a garter, she beamed and told me how much she loved my resourcefulness. During the time warp I kept accidentally bumping into the girl beside me and she just smiled and bumped into me back with a giggle. During the “virgin games” the MC’s invited anyone who wasn’t comfortable participating to sit back down and applauded them for standing and thanked them when they sat back down. I’ve never felt such an openness. As someone who is so afraid of being judged by others, there was such a freedom within that space. We all were just little weirdos, outcasts, who came together to celebrate being weirdos and outcasts.
RHPS has a deep connection to me, as it does Charlie, because it has helped me find my community, and find my peace with that community. Like myself, Charlie also fears judgement and it’s part of why he confines himself to being a wallflower; to being silent and observing, never participating. Much like Charlie, I have my wallflower moments; times when fear of my image to others gets in the way of participation within a community I so desperately want to be a part of. But like Charlie, at least for one night, at least for one room, I could let that fear go. I could have unabashed fun. Misfits do have more fun.
Come join us on the island of misfit toys.