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From midnight screenings to college dorms and community productions, it seems like The Rocky Horror Picture Show is going as strong as ever. Released back in 1975, the movie musical is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and for some, it's a big occasion.
"There’s a particular coming-of-age feeling about it, but more for people who feel a bit more like outliers in society," says Amy Taylor from Exited Mental State (EMS), a Toronto-based Rocky Horror shadowcast. "It’s important to have a place for people who feel they don’t fit into society to have somewhere to be themselves and find others who feel the same way. Also, with how disconnected we’ve become with each other, having an in-person experience with others rather than a virtual experience is needed all the more."
If you're not familiar with the cult of Rocky Horror, some of these mass gatherings, glamorous costumes, and unique traditions seem like a fragment from another alien-like world. Such as the tradition of a shadowcast, or a group of performers who act out the film as it's playing. As these people prance around on stage, you're supposed to yell at them with callbacks at specific points in the film. According to EMS, "Legend has it that during a midnight screening in New York City, someone yelled out a callback line to Janet when she got out of the car with a newspaper on her head. More and more people yelled out to things, and then people started dressing up as the characters and shadow casting was born."
It can be a strange thing, watching a movie become something so drastically different from what it started out as. But really, there's nothing comparable to Rocky Horror. Especially given that this particular oddity has persisted for an entire 50 years. As for the community, "It allows the people who feel like outcasts or weirdos to feel seen and to assemble with fellow like-minded people and not feel alone anymore. It also was extremely important to the LGBTQ community in the early midnight screening days, with the pushback in the world today it continues to be an important place for kind of people who feel they don’t fit in society to have somewhere to be themselves," says Taylor, "Because the point of doing the movie with a shadow cast is for people to have a good time, the energy of the audience influences the cast to ensure that they laugh, get up and dance, and participate through callback, lines and props. We are doing something together, so the energy gets passed back-and-forth."
For the local community, these rituals have their place as part of a wider culture. It's silly, yes, but it gives people a place to be silly together. Reflecting on shows past, "There are so many performance stories, whether it was an injury or something funny like someone’s wig flying off or having a particularly great audience. Every show is different, and something amazing always happens sometimes. The most fun is if there’s an interruption to the film for one reason or another, like in the old days if the film breaks, or today if something goes wrong with the digital projector, when the audience and the cast just keep going because they want the party to continue."
So, as movie theaters around the world are overtaken by nylons, glitter, and corsets for the 50th year in a row, there still remains something that brings them together. There will be singing, celebrations, and dancing. Its endurance isn’t just about nostalgia; it’s about connection. Every midnight screening, every call-back, and every performance. For those who find themselves in the aisles dancing the Time Warp, it’s not just a show, it’s a space to belong. The message that began back in 1975 still echoes loud and clear: don’t dream it, be it.
