I've seen a lot of fan outrage regarding horror remakes in recent years, but nothing like this. For the first time I can recall, fans have actually mobilized and put together a petition to stop a remake from happening. And it's gaining steam.At StoptheRemake.com, devotees of that ultimate cult phenomenon, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, are making their opinion heard loud and clear regarding MTV's planned remake of their beloved camp classic. It's a passionate plea, and on my last check contained 2,072 signees.
Can it have any effect? Probably not, unless perhaps it gained enough momentum and media attention. Otherwise, it looks like another "re-imagining", this time from the people who brought you "The Hills" and "Yo Mama".
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Ah, come on. The Rocky Horror Show is a play. It's been frequently remade, dozens of times on several continents. It was remade into a movie. What on Earth can be the problem with doing it again? When I heard about this, I thought, finally, they are remaking something with some actual potential, some fair game reason to be made again. I would kill to see some of the versions of Rocky I've never been able to see: Curry on the London stage, Tony Head, those obvious nuts from Australia. I love to see High Schools doing Rocky, the Muppets, the cast of Dallas, Pen and Teller.
So what's exactly wrong with this one? Sure, it'll probably suck. But isn't that kind of the point? There's nothing meant to be original here. It's already just a pastiche. A warm hearted homage to monster sci-fi boomerism. It's a play, it's interpretive. Let them interpret it, and let them find their new monsters warmheartedly in the new mix. Then let them leave those works of art that are our primary sources of horror and sci-fi alone instead.
No one would ever call Rocky Horror a classic, but it was made with an exuberance and genuine creative energy that is utterly lacking in the soulless irrelevance that is MTV. Let's rejoin this debate after it actually airs, and you'll see what I mean.
Thanks for the write-up! I'm putting together a press page on our site with links to websites that have written about us. So check it out later today.
Let's rejoin this debate after it actually airs...
I don’t think that’s necessary, and I am not sure I meant to be debating. My point is that Rocky Horror is made for this sort of re-interpretation, its cultural ownership is transitive, its inspiration is derivative, and its realization--in so far as it has already suffered some fifteen different iterations--is hardly concrete. I’m certain that the MTV version of the play will not satisfy me, but I am also certain that it isn’t being made for me. It’s okay, it’s not mine to feel entitled about. I’m not certain that I believe that Rocky Horror isn't strong enough to incorporate the pastiche of these new people it is being made for, and I am totally certain that nothing we say one way or another will matter very much in the long run.
But what I am most certain of is this: more interpretations of Rocky Horror can only further cast in stone the relevance of what has come before, and the ease with which new versions come after. I think that this is a good thing. Honestly, I do think Rocky is a classic. It’s too enduring not to be. And again, I would rather see another version of Rocky Horror, one even that wildly reinterprets (how many Hamlets can you name? Or Cyrano de Bergeracs, or Zorros or Draculas?), than just another thoughtless remake of something unique and original. Also, honestly, I want to see Richard O’Brien’s pockets simply stuffed with devaluing American dollars.
One last note: while you or I may not particularly like MTV, or modern entertainment culture for all that, it is certainly not, even now, irrelevant. Ugly and embarrassing maybe, but also relevant.
Rocky Horror is the original cult classic and should not be remade.
Performing the pay is a lot different than remaking a movie.
Often when the play is done it is done with love of the film and great care and is done well. I am pissed off about this and even have been running this on my site and everywhere I have a login to a forum and message board. It is great to see others supporting stopping this thing before it ruins a classic.
"Performing the pay is a lot different than remaking a movie."
How so? And is it different when a play is remade into a movie? Imagine that when the Rocky Horror Picture Show first opened, fans of the play were pretty annoyed that all its glorious high comedic British farce (like the stage play Irma Vep or like Victor/Victoria, only with sci-fi) had been rendered lurid by a cheap budget, crappy B production, and several (off) key vocal substitutions (like for Dr. Scott and Janet, for example).
In retrospect, were those nineteen seventies sourpusses right to protest, or were they wrong?
I'm sorry B-Sol, I guess I really am debating. I don't mean to. It's just that sometimes everyone else seems to get some point I'm missing. And I need to understand.
Perhaps part of the problem is that these folks are not going back to the original source to attempt some new interpretation. Rather they are directly remaking the movie version, and judging by MTV's track record, it isn't a terrific stretch to assume they will be taking a work of pure energy and charismatic quirkiness that has been embraced by generations of fans, and turning it into a truly cringe-worthy experience that will not even be remembered the following week by the 13-year-old girls it was created for.
About time. Now if only we could stop that Nightmare on Elm Street remake.
remake is one thing, but a complete rebuild is another, new music and updated society placed within the world of Denton just ruins the whole idea. to remake it from stage to stage with new cast and then a movie that had almost all of the same people in it is how it was Mr. Calvin. i can only speculate that Obrien wouldnt even have a say in the whole thing. this re-invention would end up being the creation of the pretty people for the pretty people. and would never give any credit to those of the past who can actually cast actors with talent and voices instead of look good on a poster
the problem with remaking the movie and comparing it ti having a stage show is that a stage show go's with the movie and playing as the actor and not trying to remake the character and that voices will never be any where near as good the rocky is perfect as it is why fix something that's not broken...
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