Rocky Horror Picture Show theories (complete)

Rose tint my world

Tw: abuse (sexual,emotional,physical)

Rose tint my world is definitely one of the most catchy songs but the hidden meaning behind it all shouldn't go over your head. Through in-depth character revelations to what comes next for Brad and Jannet and we will reveal Columbias descent into utter despisement for Frank.

In rose tint my world Richard O Brian exposes the manipulative nature of Frank N Furter and the pattern of codependent relationships by forcing his victims to be isolated from the rest of society. Columbia steals the first verse in her lines "it was great when it all began". Through prior character notes Frank is charming and attentive. Many abusive relationships start off with this (note every relationship that follows this will not become abusive this is just how manipulators hook you into their game before it starts). Sociologists argue there are 4 stages of abuse: first tension. With Columbia the tension starts with Eddie joining the Transylvanian group. We know this in the line "First you spurned me for Eddie''. Stage 2 is an incident. Frank definitely disapproved of Eddie and Columbias relationship and understood that injuring Eddie would cause severe emotional trauma to Columbia. This allowed him to keep Columbia under his control through fear while also becoming a sexual manipulator as it implies they have a sexual relationship with eachother while this goes on. Stage 3 is reconciliation; They show this through the house wide rule not to talk about Eddie. The 4th stage is calm which we can infer is from Eddie's initial "death" and the Transylvanian convention. This repeats itself on the events of the November night.

The second half of her verse starts off with the line "Now the only thing that gives me hope... love of a certain dope." They imply that the "dope" is a reference to Eddie as we see throughout the film Columbia taking refuge in the memory of Eddie. The norm that Eddie brought to Columbia gave her an accurate view of reality. This is clear in how a mention of Eddie causes Columbia to break away from her normally preppy self. The repetitive line "Rose tint my world keeps me safe from my trouble and pain." Has similar but different meanings for each character. For Columbia she is choosing to be naïve about the world around her as she no longer has reality to be comforted by.

The next verse is Rocky's where we see the adverse effects of Frank's hyper sexuality personified. For example, in the lyric "my libido hasn't been controlled" exposes the instability of pure mindless lust. A lack of personal control causes others to be hurt furthering the point of Frank being a sexual manipulator even going to the whim of building a person to relieve himself. Another notable line is "The only thing I've come to trust is an orgasmic rush of lust" highlights how the only constant in Rocky's life is sexual pleasure caused by Frank sexualising him from the moment he was born. "Rose tint my world keeps me safe from my trouble and pain" in reference to rocky is his childhood naivety rather than shutting out reality like Columbia.

Unlike Columbia and Rocky's, Brad's verse is not a criticism of Frank rather exploring his sexuality and the problem of accepting himself and his new lifestyle.Brad sings the third verse with the lyrics "It's beyond me". This could be a subtle nod towards Brad's sexuality finally understanding its something he can't hide from himself and others somewhat ruling over his life. Contrasting his prior beliefs at the beginning of the film as we can infer that he follows the words of a christian god. In the 1970s religion had a greater effect on society compared to modern times. Furthermore, the lyric "help me mommy" is a plea for his innocence depicting the internal crisis he is now facing. Caught between two mindsets praising his new found freedom while simultaneously shunning himself. We see a sort of resolve to this issue in the quotation "what's this lets see, I feel sexy!" showing that he doesn't restrict himself from feeling sexual desire and in the format of the Frank N Furter house he feels safe and excepted. For me the lines "rose tint my world keep me safe from my trouble and pain" (despite him not saying it directly in the song) with Brad is him not wanting to re-enter society as he fears the social repercussions as being a sexually liberated gay/bi man.

Unlike like the other characters (excluding Brad as he had no clear opinion on Frank) Jannet has a positive view of Frank N Furter talking about the sexual freedom she know has access to. In the line "I feel a release" there is no question this is symbolic of the pressure around purity culture falling off her soldiers after having 1 and a half positive sexual experiences (i say this because her relationship with Frank is iffy). In the quotation "Reality is here" rather than mirroring 1975 society is showing how she wants to live her life from now on. Yet for me the closing lines "It's a gas that Franky landed, his lust is so sincere" is the most interesting part of her verse. This contrasts the events of planet shamanett as Frank N Furter openly criticised her and the sexual interaction they had with each other. Jannet's rose tint my world is her allowing herself to continue to see no worries to avoid going back to old beliefs.

Based on my analysis of this song i have a convincing argument to show this song definitively show Columbia as being the most tortured character in the play's entirety. Being led down a cycle of abuse only being considered as Frank's plaything.