Rocky Horror Picture Show theories (complete)

Science Fiction Double Feature

Science Fiction Double Feature is the opening song to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yet the foreshadowing went over my head until my classmate passed this theory onto me. Today we will see Richard O'Brien foreshadowing the entire plot of rocky horror through clever references and

a nod to the classics.

"Michael Rennie was ill the day the earth stood still" Is a nod to the movie The Day The Earth Stood Still where extraterrestrial visitors break havoc on earth as the government scrambles to stop it. This parallels the Transylvanians. Instead of causing catastrophic harm they evoke a social change in society through Brad and Jannet (who are microcosms for 1970s society) and change their perspective of the world by exposing them to the strange and unusual. Alternatively, perhaps this is symbolic of Brad and Jannet's failing relationship and Brad doing little to fix it standing by while his fiance runs into the arms of another man.

"Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear" Is a reference to the superhero Flash Gordon, a Yale graduate who embarks on a mission to planet Mongo, which imposes danger on earth. Is symbolic of Rocky Horror and also gives the musical a cynical structure as it links back to the closing song "superheroes" allowing me to infer when Jannet was talking about "superheroes come to feast" She implied that the sexual experience she had with Rocky is going to be at the four front of her mind for a while.

"At a deadly pace it came from outer space" exposes the plot twist at the end of the movie of the Transylvanians being extraterrestrial. There are countless movies that I could pick on and show the connections to the plot of Rocky Horror but this song shows us we should take nothing we are being shown in Rocky Horror at face value, always analyzing and always inferring. Therefore, Richard O'Brien is one of my favorite composers as he was way ahead of his time and he put quality thought into the world he was creating.

The final quote I want to highlight is "when worlds collide". Rocky Horror brought out a new side of society, being able to express ourselves freely, not caring about the opinion of most of society focusing on themselves and social change for the future generations where we can be who we are with no scrutiny.