If there is one experience that absolutely must be had in a cinema, it is that of Rocky Horror Picture Show. For almost 50 years, the phenomenon around this cult film made in 1975 by Jim Sharman has refused to die.
For those who don’t know anything about it, this film adaptation of a London musical by Richard O’Brien, notably starring Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon, was a flop upon its release, before quickly becoming the object of an intense appropriation of the public which, over time, added parallel lines and accessories to project on the spectators. Without forgetting that Rocky Horror Picture Showwe ideally arrive disguised, like the characters in the film or however we want.
I participated once or twice in the Rocky Horror Picture Show in the 1990s, singing and shouting obscenities in unison with spectators, while receiving toast, jets of water and plastic gloves. I only remember joy.
It’s a real collective release, a little lustful, but above all fun.
A good memory that came to the surface when I learned that there will be six performances of the film at the chic Cinéma Impérial on October 26, 27 and 28, hosted by Jordan Arseneault, drag artist-activist and MC, whose name Peaches LePoz is well known in the Montreal queer scene.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Peaches LePoz (Jordan Arseneault), photographed here in the Core Fabrics studios, hosts the six performances of the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Imperial Cinema.
While we are worried about cinema attendance since people are subscribed to platforms and addicted to series, we see that the Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of the rare films, if not the only one, to have created this immersive phenomenon in North America. Jordan Arseneault rightly points out that it probably exists much more in Bollywood, and for his part, the discovery happened upon his arrival in Montreal.
“It was a strange and interesting ritual that everyone wanted to show me. I saw how the Rocky Horror Picture Show represents a “safe space” for those who are not performing artists and who do not have a stage. Something between the rite of passage and the participatory workshop, with this grotesque world of the 1970s and rock opera. THE Rocky Horror Picture Show represents a particular moment in Anglo-Saxon culture. »
Indeed, because with the recent heated debates on drag and gender identities, we say that the Rocky Horror Picture Show was at the forefront, or it is our time that has gone backwards. The story still tells how a very heterosexual couple straightvictim of a flat tire in his car one rainy evening, finds refuge in a strange mansion where he will discover pleasure and freedom in contact with a cheerful band of rather unbridled eccentrics who follow their guru, Doctor Frank-N- Furter.
“It was a fairly culturally radical era, where the most important thing for progressive avant-garde culture was to disrupt the mainstream,” explains Jordan Arseneault. It was the same time that Hosanna by Michel Tremblay, we shook the cage. The context of Rocky HorrorIt’s a big fuck you at all performances, it even mocks the idea of a horror film. »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Peaches LePoz (Jordan Arseneault)
It’s a cringeworthy joke within a cringeworthy joke, a perversion of cinema that embraces the sneaky lack of taste, because taste is established by power structures.
Jordan Arseneault, aka Peaches LePoz, who will host the Rocky Horror Picture Show
“The very concept of multiplexes is subverted, because we are in the opposite of a room with moving chairs and hot dogs, and this feeling of experiencing something with people who are not asked to be silent. It’s very joyful, and that explains why it has become a ritual,” Jordan continues.
But through her drag incarnation Peaches LePoz, very socially engaged, Jordan wants to emphasize that the Rocky Horror is a cultural artifact of its time that shows its age a little, because the film contains terms that are no longer used today, such as “transvestite” – except that it is difficult to resist the charm of the song Sweet Transvestite (I can’t do it). Jordan notes that at the time, it was all about shocking and shaking up norms, whereas today, the community is more sensitive to social justice issues. “I feel like all my drag queen friends are called to be spokespeople!” »
This shift in the film, which has always been shifted anyway, is somewhat similar to the famous song Time Warpbecause the experience of Rocky Horror Picture Show is increasingly a twisted journey through time. “I even think it’s very vintage to do this on Halloween,” underlines the artist-activist who is nevertheless very eager to be the hostess of these crazy evenings. His role will be to warm up and cheer the audience, but also to give instructions – rice is now banned, because it is a hassle to clean up afterwards. But for the rest, it remains a celebration of transgression, open to anyone who wants to transform themselves and, above all, to have fun. “I always come back to the words of the song: Don’t dream it, be it ! “, warmly advises Peaches LePoz.
THE Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Cinéma Impérial on October 26, 27 and 28 at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. Tickets on sale on the official event website or at the Cinéma Impérial box office from 5 p.m. on performance evenings.