Last night was the 1st Annual Take Your Parents to Rocky Nite at the local, Aberdeen, NJ Friday night showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. My wife and I were in attendance. I’d guess that there were about 25 parents there in all.
First I’ll say that while I was not in the least bit a part of the development of the cult phenomenon that this movie became, I did see it a couple of times in my teens at the Waverly Theater in Manhattan where the phenomenon began. So, I was far from clueless.
Second I’ll say that as the parent of a 14 year old, it was absolutely thrilling to my wife and me that Emma wanted us along. During the entire show, from pre-show build up through the movie and the aftermath, she turned around regularly to smile at us. Smiles are sadly few and far between on a daily basis. But it was a joy for us to have her want to share this with us. None of the parent’s of the four friends with her attended.
Rather than go on at length, I think it suffices to say that the entire production is a big club, a place for people to belong. There are, needless to say, some stereotypes about the types of kids who get into it that do apply. They are not the sports minded, cheerleading types nor the preppies. They are the goths, emos, and weird kids. Their hair is of colors not usually found in nature, at least not on land dwelling fauna. But for the most part they are genuinely good kids and they have found a place to let loose and be amongst their kind. A community.
And many of them are creative, bold, and willing and able to create a place for their peers to fit in. The show incorporates ways for participation at all levels including starring roles to just getting up and dancing anonymously with the group. I found it to be brilliant and beautiful.
Of course, the whole production is vulgar and sexually suggestive in ways that are beyond the years of many of the participants. And while I wont try to defend that, I also won’t apologize for tolerating it. I’m not sure it’s different in kind from what goes on in locker rooms.
I suspect that all the parents who showed up were ones that already did have a sense of what goes on there. Kids who wanted to hide the activities from their parents simply wouldn’t have invited theirs. Those who did invite theirs probably already have some sort of open communications and wanted their folks to see what gives them joy. And that for me was enough. My wife, who was spared the “virgin” ritual, and I had a blast.
If you want to know more about how this all got started, read the history page of the official fan site.