Living in a Media World

I posted my reaction to preview materials of the Rocky Horror Glee Show last week, and nothing I saw during the episode changed my opinion.  But I’m an old guy who used to go to Rocky Horror Picture Show when it was new.  I’m also not a fan of Glee.  I have nothing against it; just not my type of show.  So here is the first of two guest blog posts on the subject. Samantha Bates is a journalism student at University of Nebraska at Kearney.  She’s a Gleek who has enjoyed Rocky Horror Picture Show:

Shortly after watching the Rocky Horror Glee Show I went to Twitter to see what the trending topics were saying. One tweet pretty much summed up a lot of what I’m feeling:

“#Glee was good but now every single tween on the planet is gonna claim to be a true rocky horror ‘fan’ #watchtheoriginalthentalk.”

I think a lot of people feel the same way.

Now, I’m not saying that I’m some holier-than-thou Rocky Horror fan because considering the age of the show I’m relatively new to the scene. I was introduced to the movie by a friend a few years ago and have since memorized the songs and seen the movie countless times, but I’ve never seen the play, though I know the play, going back to its inception in 1973, is an even larger event than the movie.

Last year I went to see the film at the local movie theater during Halloween weekend and was amazed at the spectacle. We brought our own toast, toilet paper and other various items to participate, but what I was most surprised about was the amount of people that showed up in full Rocky Horror garb, including a student that I’ve seen around campus, as a stunning replica of Frank N. Furter. I had no idea that Rocky Horror was the phenomenon that it is.

As a Rocky Horror fan first, I have to say that I really did enjoy the Glee episode. I thought the musical numbers were highly entertaining and the characters well-interpreted. I’ll probably even buy the album on iTunes. That’s not to say that I thought the show was flawless−far from it.

I felt like the episode spent half of its time concentrating on addressing the risqué material. In the very beginning, glee club director Will Schuester says, “I’ll have to make some edits here and there.” That did nothing to prepare me for some of the pointless changes that I was in for.  The show tried to be too politically correct, and yet still be edgy. Obviously, the R-rating of the film called for some censorship but some of the changes just didn’t make sense.

The seemingly “subtle” lyric changes were fairly ludicrous. Opting for “Sensational, Transylvania” instead of “Transsexual, Transylvania” in “Sweet Transvestite” was a small change but made the fans who actually knew the lyrics scratch their heads and say, “Why’d they do that?” However, that was nothing compared to “Touch a Touch a Touch a Touch Me.” The line “I felt there’s no use getting into heavy petting” was changed to “heavy sweating.” What? Explain how that makes it less risqué.

Sue Sylvester made a comment during the show about how Will shouldn’t be exposing kids to this type of material, and it got me thinking. The show thought that maybe the material was too racy so they censored it, but they knew that thousands upon thousands of pre-teen or teenage “Gleeks” would be IMDB-ing Rocky Horror Picture Show and renting the movie to see what it’s all about, thus exposing kids to this material. Did Glee do this episode in hopes that thousands of kids would experience a new world that included “Transsexual Transylvania?” Maybe, maybe not. [Editor’s Note: They could also likely borrow it from their parent’s DVD collection….]

And now for the casting. Characters like Brad, Janet, and Mr. Scott were easy to agree with, but I don’t know why Kurt, the one gay male character, couldn’t have played Frank N. Furter. Maybe it was just too obvious of a choice, but I don’t go for that excuse. Kurt said that he didn’t want to dress up in a transgender corset with fish nets and high heels, but why not? That seems exactly like something he would do on a normal day, much less for a school play; not that Mercedes (Amber Riley) didn’t do an amazing job in the Frank N. Furter role, because her rendition was fantastic, but it lacked the flamboyancy that Kurt (Chris Colfer) could have brought to the role. On the other hand, I can’t think of another character that would have done a better job in the role of Riff Raff than Kurt. I guess I can’t have it both ways.

The last of my queries was about the ending. Throughout the entire episode we go back and forth with how far they can push the envelope but then they end up performing “for themselves” in front of no one. Glee isn’t the most realistic show but this made me put things in perspective. If this had been a real public high school, would they have been able to perform this show either? That makes me wonder about the intended audience. I believe that with the ending as it is, Glee put their Rocky Horror Glee Show out there for us to be the audience. They were telling us to decide. They gave us their version of the show and we can either take it or leave it. Personally, I’ll take it. With all its flaws, it’s still the Glee I love and the Rocky Horror I adore.