em kay zah ree ell

Riff Raff: Did you go to bed late?

Frank: No

Riff Raff: Did you do something strenuous?

Frank: No

Riff Raff: Then why are you tired?

Frank: I'm alive

Just very clearly an attempt at saying, “my what?”

RHPS was released in 1975. Seven years after the end of the Hayes code. Six years after the Stonewall Riots. Two years after homosexuality was removed as a mental illness in the American Psychiatric Association’s list. Six years BEFORE THE AIDS EPIDEMIC. Almost all represenation that could be pointed out as queer in media before Rocky Horror (given the modern western culture) was gay men, or on occasion, lesbian women.

Now, am I arguing that it is great queer representation? I’m not even arguing that it is GOOD queer representation. I think what people miss about the whole “representation” thing is that it’s not universal or black and white. I’m bisexual, so I could see a bisexual character on screen and relate to their every experience regarding sexuality, and think “wow. Fabulous work, THAT’S good representation.” Similarly, another bisexual person who has immensely different experiences than I do can watch the same film and not relate one bit. That doesn’t demote my experience with my sexuality or the character, nor does it do the same for person A. Of course, blatantly harmful characters based upon stereotypes which cause harm to the reputation of minority groups are a completely different story. But it seems that is what people are claiming Frank n Furter to be, and as a long time fan I feel the urge to argue against that.

Frank n Furter is not a trans woman. He is not meant to be a trans woman (I’m pretty sure later iterations may have made him one, but that is besides the point when arguing for the original movie). But as previously stated, if a trans woman watches RHPS and sees Frank as an offensive character, that is entirely in her right to express that. However, I personally know SO many trans people who adore the movie and the stage show because of Frank. I would know, being one of them lol. He isn’t made into the butt of the joke, he simply gets to wear fishnets and a corset and heels and he’s still a man. A confident queer man at that. He is not a good person. His actions in the movie are not good. But being a good person does not equal being good representation. He is a fleshed out character, not one sided, and beautifully portrayed by Tim Curry.

People also tend to just skim over the fact that the creator of RHPS himself is transgender. He is nonbinary and discovered and accepted this about himself in the 60s. Frank n Furter was inspired by his own experiences cross dressing and his frustrations with living in such a binary world. Frank is there to communicate his rage, not to be the perfect example of a transgender person.

Personally, I watched RHPS for the first time with a big group of my queer and trans musical theater loving friends. And holy shit, it brought us together like nothing else. To see a movie from the 1970s that so unapologetically showed cross dressing without making it a joke or a bit, rather just saying this is who they are. I have since hosted many watch parties, dressed up as Frank for halloween, and desperately searched for tickets to see it on broadway. To say that this film has made me more comfortable in my queerness would be an understatement.

[ID: a screenshot of a comment from reddit, with no username visible. The commend reads: This doesn’t make a ton of sense to me either. Setting aside the question of whether gender/sex is assigned or observed at birth, the gender I was assigned at birth was ‘boy.’ The gender I have now is ‘man’. Boys and men have different gender roles, and few adults identify as boys anymore. From this standpoint, every adult has a different gender than the one they had at birth. End ID]

It's not right that we never hear about people who take T to end up androgynous outside of context of "these are bad shallow transition goals, they're not taking being trans seriously". And it's even worse that we never hear about people who take E to be androgynous, because the dominant narrative is that they don't exist and any depiction of them is a mockery of binary trans women. It all also has an implication of greater safety/privilege sprinkled on top. As if it works like that for literally any trans person at all.

The Kingdom of Hawai’i was illegally overthrown with the help of American businessmen and we have suffered under the iron grip of America.

Our land is simply seen as a vacation spot, my people are simply seen as tour guides and hula dancers. We have had our culture, our history, and our people turned into a commercialized joke by America.

The rampant tourism kills our islands with endless hotels, attractions and overcrowding. The housing and living costs are out of control because of the false “paradise” narrative. The Navy poisons our water and destroys our land. Covid has killed so many of my people due to the reckless and selfish nature of tourists. I have lost loved ones to this virus, because tourists “couldn’t stay away”.

My people have suffered. I have suffered.

We are more than your vacation. We are more than an aesthetic.

We are a sovereign nation illegally occupied by the United States of America.

Restore Hawai’i to Hawaiians. End the American Occupation.

See the links below to learn more and to read up on your Hawaiian history.

Why might someone from a group of people that historically have been denied access to wealth, now brag that they have it?

“Rappers only talk about sex!”

Why might someone from a group that have historically been denied sexual autonomy now brag about their sexual escapades on their own terms?

“Rappers only talk about drugs and crime!”