Exemplar for internal assessment resource Music for Achievement Standard 91423

© NZQA 2015

Cultural Context: popular horror movies which may have influenced the conception and

production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show contains references from many popular horror movies of the

time. Three of these include ‘Frankenstein’ (1931), ‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968) and ‘The

Mummy’ (1959). During the 1960’s, horror movies became more based on reality, more

believable, more sophisticated and dealt with some of the issues faced by people in a

changing technological world. Although Frankenstein was originally produced in 1931 many

continuations were produced during the 1960’s including: ‘The Evil of Frankenstein’ (1964),

‘Jesse James meets Frankenstein’s Daughter’ (1966), ‘Frankenstein created Woman (1967),

and Frankenstein Must be Destroyed’ (1969). During the RHPS, a dead body is resurrected

by Frank-N-Furter. This is a direct link to the movie ‘Frankenstein’ where Dr Frankenstein

finds dead body parts and assembles them to make a ‘perfect specimen’ which he resurrects

using electricity. The accomplice Riff-Raff in RHPS is similar to ‘Igor’ in ‘The Son of

Frankenstein’ (1939) and Igor in ‘The Hilarious House of Frankenstein’ which was a

Canadian sketch show in 1971. They all have the classic hunched back. There is a reference

to the film ‘The Mummy’ when Rocky is wrapped up like a mummy in rolls of white cloth

during his ‘resurrection’.

All these ‘classic’ horrors influenced the conception of Rocky and were important reference

points for the people going to watch the show. They would ‘get’ the references but also enjoy the obvious ‘twists’ on the horror theme with the strange transgender angle to the musical.

Aesthetic/Individual context: gender/sexual identity in The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Scene and song: ‘Sweet Transvestite’ sung when Brad and Janet first meet Dr Frank-en-Furter

Throughout the musical there are many instances where characters wear clothing intended

for the opposite sex. This highlights Richard O’Brien’s struggle with sexual identity. This is

made apparent in his interview with ‘Pink News’ where he stated; “all my life, I’ve been

fighting never belonging, never being male or female …” During the ‘Sweet Transvestite’

scene, Dr Frank-N-Furter is wearing a dress with pink rubber gloves, a bead necklace, and

large amounts of make-up. The lyrics to the song in this scene are like a personal message

from O’Brien because Dr Frank-N-Furter says; “Don’t get strung out by the way I look; don’t

judge a book by its cover”. These words reflect how people are often quick to judge others

based on appearance rather than as a person, especially when that person is transsexual.

The shock shown by Brad and Janet at Dr Frank-N-Furter’s lingerie with fishnets is a

reflection of society’s perception towards a man wearing female clothing.

Conception and production of the song: This piece is in the key of E major, with a time

signature of 4/4 and a tempo of 105 crotchet bpm. This upbeat tempo allows Frank-N-Furter

to strut onto the stage and show us his full glory of fishnets and platform heels. Instruments

include drums, electric guitar and bass, saxophone and piano. This gives the music a 1950’s

Exemplar for internal assessment resource Music for Achievement Standard 91423

© NZQA 2015

rock ‘n roll feel, making it fun and a celebration of Frank and his life-style. O’Brien grew up in

the 1950’s so the rock ‘n roll era would have been a big influence on him musically.

When Brad asks to use the phone, he sing-speaks in time with the beat to move the narrative

along. The saxophone adds a sexy feel to the music and adds to the texture as it builds up to

the chorus, “I’m a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania.” Soon aspects of the

horror genre start to enter in the bridge when Frank’s lady assistant, Magenta and Riff Raff

echo Frank-N-Furter. Magenta repeats “bite” while looking at Brad and Janet like she is

hungry and licking her lips. Riff Raff also gives them a hungry look and repeats the word

“night”.

The saxophone in the music when he says, “I’m one hell of a lover”, emphasises the fact that

he is being playful like he is putting on a performance such as a burlesque show. The

saxophone continues to play high and screechy notes to emphasise the weirdness of the Dr

and his ‘over the top’ style. The piano glissandi and fast repeated rock ‘n roll-style chords are

all part of the 1950’s rock theme that matches with rebelling in society in those days.

Although the music sounds fun and catchy, there is still something sinister underneath the

lyrics, e.g., “satanic mechanic”, “See what’s on the slab”. All the lyrics sum up Frank-en-

Furter’s character; a crazy mixture of sweet and scary.

Geographical/New Zealand context:

Richard O’Brien’s New Zealand upbringing influenced Rocky because during his teenage

years he would go and watch late night double feature films. Richard would have drawn

much of his inspiration from the films that he watched during this period of his life. In an

interview with Dominick Miserandino in 1999, O’Brien said; “I think whatever came out of

Rocky was because of its expression of freedom, its adolescent kind of drive gave its edge

really and the longevity at the end of the day”. This theme of freedom comes up again when

Richard explains his admiration of New Zealand’s classlessness and the added freedom that

this allows; “I loved the freedom of New Zealand”.

Richard noticed how different things were in England where there are different ‘classes’ of

people and he realised the extent of which he had taken the classless nature of New Zealand

for granted. While Rocky was written in London during O’Brien’s time as a theatrical actor

and gave him something to do while he was between acting jobs, the conception of the

musical took place years before when O’Brien was a teenager in NZ. Watching horror

movies at the Embassy Theatre in Hamilton and seeing his first drag show also in the

Embassy all impacted on the conception of Rocky Horror.

I think he has inspired other people to feel the same way with his musical as it is like a

‘support group’. When you go to the show you can sing and dance with everyone else and be

who you want to be. People go along dressed up as their favourite character/who they relate

to and get involved in yelling out, throwing toilet paper around and singing. O’Brien has

created a musical unlike any other; something that happens in NZ a lot – originality and

individuality.