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made these months ago, might as well post them
“and superheroes come to feast, to taste the flesh, not yet deceased…”
“and all i know, is still the beast is feeding…” /lyr
Time warp song analysis
This was part of the mega theory but im aware some people would like it on its own so here you go! Also sorry for the hiatus still working on shock treatment kinda lost my notebook ):
Time Warp is one of the most well-known songs to come out of the Rocky Horror Picture Show even a first time Rocky Horror watchers can do a jump to the left and a step to the right. But putting dance moves aside the song shows how the Transylvanians arrived on Earth and the foreshadowing to the backstabbing of Riff Raff and Magenta.
Riff Raff line “I’ve got to keep control” initially read to me as Riff Raff trying to grab Brad and Jannet’s attention however, through my countless re-watches of the movie I’m believing Riff Raff saw Brad and Jannet as a stop to his and Magentas plans. For example, in the film's entirety we can see Riff Raff and Magenta plot with each other through a hand signal they do repeatedly. We also see them sabotage Frank N Furter's plans letting Rocky go while indirectly stopping Frank from “entertaining” Brad. Another theory I have for Frank N Furter's original mission is to enslave humanity and the reason he made Rocky was to be desirable for all, making it easier for him to manipulate others for the benefit of the Transylvanians. Here, Brad and Jannet would be the test subjects and I believe if Frank wasn’t interrupted his mission would have been successful as he would have blackmail to hold over Brad and Jannet’s making them his new human slaves which could allow him to use them as bate for the rest of humanity.
“The blankness would hit me and the void would be calling” is a reference to the time warp/ Blackhole they traveled through to get to Earth. For example, for around 100 years physicists have known of time warp in fact the space between the Earth and the sun is a sort of time warp. Einstein argued that gravity is the property of curving space and time. Blackholes can dilate time however once you get to the point called the event horizon whatever you brought with you can’t come back. The following line “let’s do the time warp again” shows the Transylvanians wanting to go back but waiting on Franks “audio vibratory physio-molecular transport device” to get them back waiting for him to finish (ha) so they can regain control and go back to Transylvania shooting their matter through space and time.
Another bit of evidence into enslaving humanity is the quote “in another dimension with voyeuristic intention”. Voyeuristic is a word which wasn't priorly in my vocabulary but the definition goes: relating to or denoting sexual pleasure gained from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity.
Now Columbia's verse is a can of worms. In summary, it explains how Columbia became a groupie for Frank N Furter. “A snake of a guy gave me an evil wink” Could link to the biblical story in the Garden of Eden. God warns Adam and Eve not to take from the tree of knowledge lying to them both saying they would “surely die”. However, the serpent tempts Eve stating “your eyes will be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” Eve eats from the tree and gives some to Adam. God bans them from the garden of Eden. This mirrors what happened to Brad and Jannet, seeing only the good in the world but being exposed to the restricted, increasing their curiosity and changing their life forever. Which makes me think Columbia was a relatively normal person before she got abducted. “time meant nothing never would again” allows us to infer that Columbia can’t remember how long she’s been there falling into a depression as everything gets ripped away from her or time moving differently in the mansion.
Richard O'Brien is a master of foreshadowing. What else could we be missing in his writing?
there's a light over at the Frankenstein place (song analysis)
(note one paragraph has been copy and pasted from a prior essay)
Over at the Frankenstein is symbolic of societies progression in the 1970s towards more alternative and sexually liberated life styles and the growing possibility of communities rising out of obscurity and benefiting society as they come to a more liberated views and values.
Late 1960s and the early 1970s undeniably sparked a chain of change for those in the LGBTQ+ community spanning from 1967 where homosexuality was decriminalized in England and Wales.1969 stonewall riots protesting the treatment of members in the USA and Cuba. A year later 1970 the American Psychiatric Association ruled 13-0 that homosexuality should be taken off the list of mental disorders. 15th of August 1975 was the premier of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. First rated 2.5 stars out of 4 from critics. It didn’t become a cult classic straight away, however; it found a place in the hearts of LGBTQ+ members and allies that loved the sexual liberation and the androgyny that the movie brought to the screen. We can credit actors such as Tim Curry and the rock legend Meatloaf and the rest of the cast for the movie's timelessness.
In Janet's verse, Richard O Brian highlights the accepting nature of the LGBTQ+ community and how it creates a change in societal norms by teaching those who are curious. In the first two lines “in the velvet darkness of the blackest night” is a metaphor of pre-1970s society and the republican views it held and the prejudice which it spread causing a community being marginalized from society despite protesting for equality and acceptance. Later in the verse the lines “burning bright, there's a guiding star, no matter what or who you are.” Is valuing the role of the LGBTQ+ community in bringing a new light to society and guiding it into a one of acceptance and love. Alternatively, this is Richard O Brian expressing that Brad and Janet are microcosms for the 1970s society which would allow more analysis of Richard's interpretation of society through character arcs.
In the original, Brad hasn’t got his own verse; however, in many stage plays Brad has the lines “I can see the flag fly, I can see the rain, just the same, there has got to be something better here for you and me.” I won’t go into great detail considering it's not canonical to the original movie adaptation. For the line “I can see the flag fly” I consider this as Frank N Furter's mansions almost being a white flag for Brad and Janet as they surrender their republican views in the benefit of more liberated ones. “Something better for you and me” Is Brad understanding the new society they are going into isn’t going to negatively impact them rather expand their mindset on the world.
Riff Raff verse highlights the breath of fresh air and the metaphorical weight of expectation being lifted of their shoulders. His most notable line “flow morphia flow”. Morphia was the original name for the common drug morphine now used for pain relief. This is symbolic of Frank N Furter house being a safe place and promoting identity no matter how weird or outlandish away from society's expectations.
This song is fundamental for analysis on Richard O Brians meaning and interpretation on the society around him otherwise the message of the movie wouldn’t be as clear.
Science Fiction/ Dammit Jannet theory (song analysis)
Science Fiction Double Feature is the opening song to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yet the foreshadowing went over my head until my classmate passed this theory onto me. Today we will see Richard O'Brien foreshadowing the entire plot of rocky horror through clever references and
a nod to the classics.
“Michael Rennie was ill the day the earth stood still” Is a nod to the movie The Day The Earth Stood Still where extraterrestrial visitors break havoc on earth as the government scrambles to stop it. This parallels the Transylvanians. Instead of causing catastrophic harm they evoke a social change in society through Brad and Jannet (who are microcosms for 1970s society) and change their perspective of the world by exposing them to the strange and unusual. Alternatively, perhaps this is symbolic of Brad and Jannet's failing relationship and Brad doing little to fix it standing by while his fiance runs into the arms of another man.
“Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear” Is a reference to the superhero Flash Gordon, a Yale graduate who embarks on a mission to planet Mongo, which imposes danger on earth. Is symbolic of Rocky Horror and also gives the musical a cynical structure as it links back to the closing song “superheroes” allowing me to infer when Jannet was talking about “superheroes come to feast” She implied that the sexual experience she had with Rocky is going to be at the four front of her mind for a while.
“At a deadly pace it came from outer space” exposes the plot twist at the end of the movie of the Transylvanians being extra terrestrial. There are countless movies which I could pick on and show the connections to the plot of Rocky Horror but this song shows us we should take nothing we are being shown in Rocky Horror at face value, always analyzing and always inferring. Therefore, Richard O'Brien is one of my favorite composers as he was way ahead of his time and he put quality thought into the world he was creating.
The final quote I want to highlight is “when worlds collide”. Rocky Horror brought out a new side of society, being able to express ourselves freely, not caring about the opinion of most of society focusing on themselves and social change for the future generations where we can be who we are with no scrutiny.
Dammit Jannet
Dammit, Jannet is the first peak we have into Brad and Jannet and shows young romance (statistically going to fail) but here's a few notes.
1.Brad is talking about how difficult it was to get to this point. I think this is an early sign of him holding back his sexuality.
2.User @pant-lit has full credit to this theory. The Transylvanians are at the funeral to collect parts for Rocky
3.First sign of Jannet not being interested in the relationship being more concerned about the ring and up leveling her friends.
Denton USA song analysis
Denton USA is the opening song in Richard O'Brien's “Shock Treatment” with heavy sarcasm and poking fun at small towns in America. What does this song have to tell us about the morality destroying soundstage of DTV and how it sets in stone the tone of the movie? Whether it's through set design, Juxtaposition through the lyrics or the character of the crowd Richard O’Brien sets up a line of criticism.
(please note there will be two main points for one piece of evidence most of the time as I jump across the two theories over Shock Treatment being years after Rocky Horror or in a different timeline)
The song opens with Neely where we find the first issue with Denton USA. “And tolerance for the ethnic races” we see them valuing the bare minimum of human dignity which allows us to understand the low quality of decency of the DTV allowing us to infer early on something corrupt is happening behind the scenes. Including the fact that they had set the civil rights act into law over 10 years prior even by 1981 standards this was expected. Emily says “tenderness and innocence” which if we go off Shock Treatment coming after Rocky Horror where Denton is anything but. Perhaps this is criticizing the new age of media and its reluctance to expose the day to day negative experiences of the people they document, leading to society having high expectations that quickly come crashing to the ground when hit with reality. We see this with Betty and Ralph’s divorce. First seen in Rocky Horror Picture Show as something to strive towards yet in Shock Treatment, we see them divorcing and Betty being almost villainized for showing negative emotions towards Ralph and breaking the illusion of Denton being the perfect place.
This isn’t particular about the lyrics itself although I thought it was important to highlight what I thought was the hidden meaning of each letter in D-E-N-T-O-N and what criticisms they have of 1981 society. D and E represent the enforced gender roles in society. We see Emily sewing and Harry doing physical labor in the yard. Despite women holding similar job positions and receiving the same level of education, 45% of women over the age of 15 were in the labor workforce, men were still seen as the head of the house (which we can see in the lead up to thank god I’m a man). This is completely opposite to the Frank N Furter which didn’t discriminate but Denton seems to be the harsh reality that Brad and Jannet have to face with their newfound identity. Or in this being in a completely different timeline, Brad and Jannet’s relationship breaking gender norms (Jannet wearing pants and also a pink and blue outfit which is a motif for women who break the norms like Betty). N is how society is limiting itself from changing, locking itself into old values. T is a criticism of patriotism and how it desensitizes us to the negatives of our country as we choose to see through rose-tinted glasses. O and N is the false sense of the American dream. We see this elsewhere in Shock Treatment such as Happy Homes and Faley promising Jannet everything she might want and more. This also links back to materialism which they showed us countless times in the adverts for the new hot ticket item in “Bitchin’ in the kitchen” and Farley and his gang profiting off mental health.
As I have said in countless other theories Richard O’Brien is the king of foreshadowing showing the breaking point in Denton USA through juxtaposition. For example, we see Vance saying “Denton is a real OK town” which would paint it as average (shown by the repeating mention of white picket fences a symbol for suburban America). Yet later on in the song we hear it described as “The Mecca of America” and “The Bethlehem of the West” which both have major religious importance. Mecca is where Muhammed the founder of Islam, was born and Bethlehem being the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Followed by the line “This is the birthplace of the virtuous” I can infer they are talking about Farly being depicted as godlike in Shock Treatment literally being placed higher than everyone in the DTV complex. This could criticize how we idolize people in pop culture despite their actual morality and seeing them at face value without using our critical thinking skills to make an accurate assumption on character.
Throughout the entire film they show the crowd as a character which initially I thought was a representation of the Rocky Horror Picture Show audience however, I think it's a metaphor for the ignorance in the complacent society fueled by capitalist exploitation. For example, in the song Denton USA we see the crowd move as one (except for Brad who has no clue what is going on) singing in total harmony but ultimately being directed by the DTV staff and the town wide brainwashing allowing Farley to test the waters to see how far he can go. We see this complacency at the end of the movie where they all sign up to be put in the in-house mental ward following each other like sheep.
Denton USA is the perfect opening song as it shows the movie's satire and also shows you what to look for when analyzing Shock Treatment.
edits from halloween + rocky at springer as a treat that i forgot to post over here. i love college
This week makes 5 characters I’ve played in all! I played Janet in our cast’s “switch nite” aka drag nite! It was SO much fun, I might want to start playing her regularly!! And this week is my debut as Trixie!!!!! Aaaah!!!!
(He/him)
