Editor's Note: Faithful reader and frequent Best Shot participant Derreck (see his tumblr here) attended a special film event that we desperately wanted to make it to last week, a screening of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" with everyone's favorite red curtain Aussie auteur hosting. I invited Derreck to share his memoir of the event, so here he is to do so! - Nathaniel R.
I've never seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’ve heard about it. I’ve seen images of Tim Curry in a corset, fishnets and makeup, heard about shadowcasts and seen its enduring cultural presence in movies like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but I’d never actually watched the film. I was born way after it was released and even though to this day, it is one of the longest theatrical releases in the history of cinema, it never made it to theatres in my homeland of the Bahamas. Rocky Horror ended up in my “I’ll get to that eventually” pile along with other much-discussed 70s movies like Apocalypse Now and Xanadu.
Fast-forward to me living in New York. I was doing my daily blog readings and saw that Rocky was playing at the IFC Theater in Manhattan as part of Super Week leading up to Comic-Con. I thought “oh, that’s nice. Maybe I’ll go.” Until I read on and saw that Baz Luhrmann would be there in person to conduct a Q&A about the film and speak about how it influenced his work.
Baz Luhrmann. The man behind the film that remains forever close to my heart and inspired my ridiculous obsession with love: Moulin Rouge!
I immediately left my apartment to get a ticket.
Fast-forward to the big night. I was sitting in my chair shivering with "antici--
….
pation" for the film to start but mostly to see Baz. In the meantime, someone came to the front of the auditorium to welcome the audience, tell us that this was one of the fastest sellouts that they’ve ever had (I silently thanked God that I snagged a ticket) and that the film first got its start as a cultural phenomenon in the same space that we were sitting in back when it was known as the Waverly Theatre. It was then announced that Baz would be joining us after the film to conduct the Q&A with a special guest: Susan Sarandon.
I always wanted my first time to special.
The lights dimmed and it was time to begin. A pair of red lips started singing and then we were introduced to Brad (“Asshole!”) and Janet (“Slut!”). I was taken aback. People were shouting at the screen! Not only that, but there was one guy shouting and making jokes while the movie was playing. I thought “he’s going to get thrown out!” before I remembered that this was exactly the kind of behavior that happens at these showings. After I got over the initial shock, I settled in and found myself constantly laughing and waiting for more hilarious jokes and commentary.
Audience: “Janet, did you bring your waterproof dildo?”
Janet: “Yes.”
Audience: “Why?”
Janet: “Because it’s raining.”
The film went on and I heard mention of the Time Warp. I was thinking “oh, this song sounds familiar!” when people jumped out of their seats and began performing the dance. I just stayed seated and watched them, feeling like the most unhip 25 year-old ever. After the Time Warp ended, I turned my attention back to the screen to see Tim Curry (who I loved as a child in Home Alone 2 and as an adult in Clue) in all his Dr. Frank-n-Furter glory and found myself moving in my seat along with his song.
Fast-forward to the end of the film. I'm still trying to process everything when Baz Luhrmann walked up to the front of the auditorium. There he was. I was sitting in my chair excited like a little kid who just saw Walt Disney. Baz began to talk about how he wanted to do this screening as a tribute to his friend, fellow Aussie and director of the film, Jim Sharman. Baz mentioned how he recently looked back at the film and other musicals like Fame (1980) in order to do research and preparation for his next project. (I wanted to holler “OH MY GOD, BAZ, ARE YOU DOING ANOTHER MUSICAL???” but it didn’t seem like the right time.) Baz also commented about how one of his young relatives was obsessed with the film (his wife, Catherine Martin, shouted from the audience correcting him about the age of the young relative) and remarked on how the film remained so ingrained in popular culture.
Baz then introduced Susan Sarandon who casually walked in and took a seat at the front of the auditorium.
Fun Facts learned from the Q&A with Baz Luhrmann & Susan Sarandon:
- Sarandon would be interested in celebrating the 40th anniversary of the film next year.
- Baz has a habit of not sitting down in the director’s chair when working. He likes to remain on his feet.
- There was a fire on set that claimed all of Sarandon’s personal wardrobe.
- Sarandon was surprised that there’s a “slut” label thrown onto Janet. She never saw her that way.
- At a past screening of the film, she saw a shadowcast with second generation members that really spoke to her about the enduring legacy of the film.
- Sarandon was fascinated the most by an audience member who admitted that she first saw Rocky Horror as a toddler which led to a lifelong obsession with the film.
- The man doing most of the audience response jokes during the film is making a documentary called Rocky Horror Saved My Life, with loads of interviews from fans speaking about how Rocky Horror has touched their lives.
I raised my hand to ask a question even though I had no idea what I was going to say so it was probably for the best that I went unnoticed. After the Q&A was completed, I walked up to the front of the auditorium hoping to at least meet Baz or Susan but they got surrounded by a crowd and headed to the exit. I thought “Ah, well, at least I got to see them”.
I was blocked trying to exit by a group of girls in costume taking a photo. I stopped and to my right, once again, there he was. Baz was just standing there quietly. This was my chance.
“Mr. Luhrmann?”, I said in a in a quiet, soft voice that I didn’t know I was capable of. He didn’t hear me.
“Mr. Luhrmann?” I said, sounding more and more like Michael Jackson.
I was heavily debating about gently poking Baz to get his attention when he noticed me standing next to him with an eager glint in my eyes and a finger pointing at him. A girl standing nearby, threatening my window with the director, made a beeline for him until I channelled Medusa with a glare that stopped her dead in her tracks.
Derreck & Baz
“Would you mind taking a picture with me?” was the first thing I managed to croak out. He immediately agreed and I put on a big smile for my camera.
a magical talismanAfter we took the picture, I finally whipped it out: one of my prized possessions, my Moulin Rouge DVD. I brought it on the chance that this moment would happen and even packed two markers just in case he didn’t have any writing instrument on him. He signed my DVD and I couldn’t help but say, “This means the world to me.”
Honestly, it did. He got called away but not before he smiled and gave me a gentle pat on the back. I left the theater overjoyed at the whole experience and my world seemed just a touch more rose-tinted
