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Can a movie about a sweet alien transvestite from transsexual Transylvania be spiritually uplifting?
Of course it can, if it's The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
I was one of the approximately 17 North Americans to see the movie when it opened in the summer of 1975. It closed about three days later. But, as most of you know, it became a cult sensation and even now, 40+ years later, still packs them in at midnight screenings around the world.
Conservative religionists were, and remain, appalled at the film's gleeful embracing of sex between unmarried adults of various and indeterminate genders. It was shocking. It was ribald. It was in-your-face.
It was just what society needed. But spiritual?
Yep.
The underlying theme is one of love, tolerance, understanding, and acceptance - all noble, spiritually-uplifting attributes - all in short supply these days as we look around the planet.
The movie gave gays, transgenders, and other members of society's outliers courage to be themselves. It was instrumental in reshaping many people's definitions of "normal" - including my own - to include those on the fringes.
Religionists however, refuse to see the movie as anything but a paean to freaks and immoral behaviour. Which is their, and society's loss.
Have you found any non-religious films to be spiritually uplifting? Off the top of my head, I would add Life of Pi, Lord of the Rings, Harvey, A Christmas Carol, It's A Wonderful Life, The Princess Bride, and A River Runs Through It. I'm sure there are many more.
Closing with Tim Curry's terrific rendition of I'm Going Home.
Can't get the YouTube vid to work. It says "problem with servers".
I must confess I have never watched Rocky Horror without the noise and participation of the audience, which is how I saw it several times back in the 70s at midnight in the Oritani Theater in Hackensack, NJ. It played every week, and some friends of mine were into it. I suppose I could find it on Netflix or one of the other similar services.
A few years ago I discovered that my niece (now 30) and her friends were into it, so it underwent a revival of sorts.
To answer your question, yes. I found the movie Pleasantville to have a great deal of meaning for me at the time in my life when it appeared. For those of you who have never seen it, Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon are siblings who are transported into a black-and-white TV show where life is "perfect", but really dull and colorless, and their presence transforms Pleasantville into a much messier and complicated, but ultimately more colorful and passionate place.
The theme of Pleasantville was that there is no one right way for life to be lived. It was a time in my life where I needed to hear that message, and the message helped me let go of broken dreams from the past and move forward. "It's not 'supposed to be' anything."
I was just listening to the soundtrack of this today while I was doing my dishes. I'm sure if anyone looked in my window, they would probably laugh as I was doing the Time Warp in the kitchen. It's just a jump to the left.
I was just listening to the soundtrack of this today while I was doing my dishes. I'm sure if anyone looked in my window, they would probably laugh as I was doing the Time Warp in the kitchen. It's just a jump to the left.
I never saw the movie till the 90s. Though i surely lived thru the era it was released. No theater near me of course, showed it or would.
Waaaaaay ahead of its time. I can't even conceive of it getting made today? Yet alone 1975. Love the music. Not offensive to me. But when i first saw it i couldn't believe the characters. But seeing it as fun, entertaining to watch and awesome music..... Only a ultra-conservative person would truly get offended by it ..... in things we hear about today.
Now in 75 ..... few knew if even the term transvestite and what the gay scene was in most of America. More rural America ..... faghetabout it. Few knew the "Village people" group were out of the gay scene with YMCA and the Disco short-lived era in the 70s.
I never saw the movie till the 90s. Though i surely lived thru the era it was released. No theater near me of course, showed it or would.
Waaaaaay ahead of its time. I can't even conceive of it getting made today? Yet alone 1975. Love the music. Not offensive to me. But when i first saw it i couldn't believe the characters. But seeing it as fun, entertaining to watch and awesome music..... Only a ultra-conservative person would truly get offended by it ..... in things we hear about today.
Now in 75 ..... few knew if even the term transvestite and what the gay scene was in most of America. More rural America ..... faghetabout it. Few knew the "Village people" group were out of the gay scene with YMCA and the Disco short-lived era in the 70s.
I agree it was way ahead of its time and almost certainly helped the LGBTQ become a powerful social movement like that of women in the 70s and blacks in the 60s. It spoke an important message: that it's ok to be different. You're still part of the universal "us."
I am jealous that you saw it in theatres during its original release. I was a bit young myself, but I enjoyed it in the 1980s.
When I first saw it, I really didn’t understand the implications, and by the time I did, I didn’t care. The characters seemed like fantastical caricatures, so I didn’t think that they might represent, at some level, real people. Years later I met LGBTQ individuals, and Rocky Horror, along with other cultural influences, meant that I first engaged with these people with a sense of curiosity, then later as friends.
I don’t know if that counts as spiritual, but it is my personal experience.
I am jealous that you saw it in theatres during its original release. I was a bit young myself, but I enjoyed it in the 1980s.
When I first saw it, I really didn’t understand the implications, and by the time I did, I didn’t care. The characters seemed like fantastical caricatures, so I didn’t think that they might represent, at some level, real people. Years later I met LGBTQ individuals, and Rocky Horror, along with other cultural influences, meant that I first engaged with these people with a sense of curiosity, then later as friends.
I don’t know if that counts as spiritual, but it is my personal experience.
I would say it is, because it caused you to grow and expand in the way you viewed others, right? That in and of itself is spiritual, IMO.
At the time I saw it in the theater, we didn't think about the impact. It was just "different", the characters were just "different", and we were stoned and thought it was fun. The world was changing already, though we didn't realize it yet.
....Religionists however, refuse to see the movie as anything but a paean to freaks and immoral behaviour. ...
what is a "religionist" ?
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Only a ultra-conservative person would truly get offended by it ..... in things we hear about today. 
