Let’s Not Do the Time Warp Again and Just Say We Did: A Rocky Horror 2016 Review

I am an eternal optimist when it comes to reboots, mostly because it’s exhausting to be constantly whining about a ruined childhood. All I hope for is that the reboot captures the spirit of the original.

Unfortunately for the laboriously titled The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do The Time Warp Again, that wasn’t easy. To belabor my metaphor, they probably shoulda called the reboot Ghostbusters to help them with capturing that spirit, because the movie struggled and grasped and ultimately failed to do so.

(via Popcrush)

Spoilers below.

Theatre Thursdays: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Happy Halloween, everyone! I wish you all the spookiest of days! In honor of the hands-down awesomest holiday of the year, I figured I’d talk again about a true gem of musical theatre: the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I’ve covered this in the past, but I’m gonna analyze it a little more deeply today. RHPS is both a cult classic and a personal favorite of mine, and to celebrate the spirit of the day, let’s look at some of the things it does both right and wrong from a feminist perspective.

In other words: come up to my lab, and let’s see what’s on the slab.

Pepperpots and Trouser Shocks: Cross-Dressing in Geek Culture

Cross-dressing is wrong? Riddikulus!

You’ve seen the movies, you’ve read the books; cross-dressing is a common theme in fiction. It’s in mythology, history, folklore, literature, operas, plays, movies, television, and even music. Most importantly though, it has caught the attention of the alternative and dare I say? nerdy aspects in the pop-culture experience that we call life.

There are a few different kinds of plot points based on cross dressing. A very popular one, especially by those such as Shakespeare is one I like to call: Girls in Caps and Trousers. Women dressing as men have been both a cultural and historical phenomena. Some are trying to find their lost loves, some to fight in a war, and some just want the same privileges and opportunities their brothers get. Since there are many of examples of this particular trope (Japanese anime has hundreds of them) I will stick to only a couple.