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So here's my question for the group - Are we supposed to give a shit about Frank as a person? I think the movie and the subculture that was created around it definitely positions him as a liberator and an introduction into fringe/queer culture. However, he is the villain of this story. He murders, rapes, forces cannibalism, and physically controls everyone around him. Even if we think about the time this was made in he definitely is a terrifying person to be around. But as you said in your second paragraph, the ending is truly weird to give him this self reflective song that would almost posit a turn around for his character in the 11th hour. This is a weird ass movie y'all once you take out all those bops and the throwing of toast.

Yes...the tv version starring Laverne Cox and directed by the guy who did High School Musical. I dunno, I’ve always felt the deaths at the end were out of place. Don’t these aliens believe in due process?!

His name is Robert Paulsen.

First off, I want to apologize for referring to Frank as a “he” and not a “they.” I am 45 and—as an an English major—just too used to the old-fashioned uses of language even though I’m open to change. Damn you, patriarchy, for enforcing grammar rules I think are bullshit most of the time anyway!!!!!!! Fuck you, Strunk and White (that is an inside grammar joke with which i’ve Impressed myself)!!!!! i’m OK with Frank being the provocative villain (and I think that label is accurate), but I just don’t think they (I’m fucking doing it again and had to correct myself. FUCK!!!) earn that song this late in the movie. That’s why it’s confusing. No one else acts as badly as they (meaning Frank—fuck, this is confusing) do. I was also confused about their duties (I did it!), re: Tay-loe’s earlier post. What exactly were they supposed to be doing? It seems like Frank was doing lavish, fucked-up stuff for awhile. How derelict in their duties was Frank? Why did Riff Raff and Magenta wait until NOW to kill them, instead of before they made Rocky? I realize trying to impose logic on this film is a fool’s errand, but I think it could have used another draft to wrap up some loose ends.

That makes sense, especially with a character like Eddie, who is undeniably a victim, but is also described as a psychopath who might be better off dead anyway.

I'm a bit worried about the director of Country Bears. There was sadness in his voice even though he was trying to mask it. It's okay, man. We all do jobs we don't love.

The Boys and JANET VARNEY do a special episode of Voyage of the Stars.

My concern with the movie is not really about trans representation. I think language has changed so much since the movie came out, we didn't have the words to really explain a gender and sexuality-fluid character in 1978, so Frank had to sing a song about it. Unfortunate that the backstory for Frank is that they are a LITERAL ALIEN and not just a person that is not all man or all woman, and attracted to both. My problem with the film is that Frank is so determined to get their rocks off, that Rocky is a being created for the sole purpose of getting fucked. Rocky is created with the mind of a child, designed to be nothing but the sex toy for this mad scientist. Not only that, Frank sneaks into both Brad and Janet's rooms, pretending to be the other's fiance, and they molests them until they like it. If we're going to call scenes like James Bond kissing Pussy Galore until she's not a lesbian in 'Goldfinger' a rape (it is), then I think we have to come to terms with what Frank does here. I know this movie is about sexual liberation and personal freedom, buy Frank is FORCING their sexual politics on Brad, Janet, and Rocky, the latter a creature Frank is responsible for bringing into the world. It's pretty gross. Charles Grey is my favorite character.

Suddenly I’m persona non grata just because I buttchugged all the horchata.

Please read in NYC 11/8/19. Please. .... please.

I haven’t seen it - haven’t seen it on any free streaming sites yet. But yes, I would also want to see it for Laverne Cox.

P.S. the “White” of Strunk and White is E.B. White, who wrote Charlotte’s Web. That book is a goddamn classic, so maybe just fuck Strunk?

I agree that Frank's a charismatic villain, but their position to the characters they oppose are the subjects of mockery and derision, people who need changed. Brad and Janet are repressed (sexually, socially, etc.) squares, Doctor Scott is conspiratorial and duplicitous, and Riff Raff and Magenta are opportunists who are quick to murder Frank when an opening presents itself. So if Frank is the villain, who is the hero? I know Brad is labeled as "A Hero," but that is almost certainly sarcastic.

In my opinion, Frank is more of a charismatic villain than an anti-hero. We love Frank even as we are repulsed by them. Frank really can’t be contained in any one way - which is why they are ultimately so attractive.

In honor of resetting my password and unlocking my account, I am bumping this thread I made like 6 years ago. Unfortunately, none of my original 5 movies have been done yet. League of Extraordinary Gentleman is like my own Dorian Grey painting, because until HDTGM does it, I cannot die

They poke right through my turtleneck sweater.

Yes, you are totally right. To all of this. These are things you never really consider when you're young and rape culture is still very present but yeah that's all so fucked up lol.

Laverne Cox was the only part of that whole thing I was remotely interested in so I skipped out on it lol. Was it any good?

Ok, I have time to address this movie now. I’ll try to be succinct: I think it’s fun, I think it’s dated (I totally agree with Quasar Sniffer’s points), Tim Curry is great, parts of the movie are funny, parts are overlong and the ending is weirdly flat. I never saw a midnight screening of this, although it was screened on a weekly basis for decades in Seattle. I first saw it when it was first released—on VHS (I’m fucking old)!—in the early 1990s. After I watched it—as other people have noted—I was kinda underwhelmed and not really motivated to see a midnight show, and not many friends were dying to go either (I was in high school at the time). After all the years of mysterious buildup (I would repeatedly hear in the 80s, “It’s so outrageous!”), I didn’t find it bad but didn’t see what the hype was for. I worked in a mall that was a hub for gay culture and had a karaoke bar, so I saw some people who were dressed up like Frank N Furter anyway. Now, I think the film was a good Halloween choice and it was fun to rewatch after so many years. I probably picked up a few more jokes. As a creative writing major, my main issue with the movie is this: there’s not much character development. The most fully developed character is Frank N Furter, and Tim Curry gives a great performance, but to build off of Quasar Sniffer’s comments, Frank is a narcissistic asshole. Not only does he take sexual advantage of people, but he also forces them into cannibalism, among other things. While I enjoyed the outrageousness of it (and there are a lot of moments that I did find funny), I didn’t give a shit about him as a person. Which makes the ending truly weird because the film seems to be building to some outrageous climax, but instead he sings some self-pitying song and is killed. Then Rocky is killed. It has elements of over-the-top tragedy, but that doesn’t work for me if the characters aren’t really fleshed out. Then the house takes off and the movie ends, dumping Brad and Janet and Dr. Scott back on earth (all of whom are amusing but none of whom have much of a character arc). I legitimately don’t know what the takeaway from the final twenty minutes of the film is supposed to be. If my comments seem all over the place, that’s because I think this film is all over the place, in ways good and not so good. I respect the cult following it has and i’d be interested in seeing the play. I wonder if they remade it as a film, how they’d do it (I heard the live TV version was not good, but I haven’t seen it). Hopefully they’d make some of the songs a little shorter and the characters a little more nuanced (but still over-the-top). And they should still eat Meatloaf. Even if they have to digitally insert him into the film.

This is a great time to get inside this crazy ass plot, cause I'm not totally sure if I really know either. I think it's because he became too passive in his duties to their home planet? And they were tired of keeping an eye on him? Also, are you referring to the Live version on TV?

please chip in a hedgehog for ol' Dalton who tirelessly posts these playgrounds for our amusement and can be quite prickly when mishandled.

The Boys welcome MATT BESSER back to the show to promote his new special Pot Humor and hopefully confess his crimes.

Graham cracker is a cookie!