How transvestism drag queens are represented in the movie Rocky Horror Picture Show By Fungyi Huynh Torres INGL 4057OU1 Transvestites or crossdressers are usually heterosexual males that dress up in feminine clothing Generally is a person who wears the clothing of the opposite sex ID: 309852
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Slide1
Theme: Transvestites and Drag Queens
How transvestism/drag queens are represented in the movie Rocky Horror Picture Show.
By: Fungyi Huynh Torres
INGL 4057-OU1Slide2
Transvestites or cross-dressers are usually heterosexual males that dress up in feminine clothing. Generally is a person who wears the clothing of the opposite sex.
A drag queen is a specific transvestite who dresses up as a woman exaggerating in make up and clothes and usually performs in clubs or theaters. This is done usually for entertainment purposes. Satire about femininity by over-feminizing themselves.Transvestite
Drag QueenDifference between a
Transvestite
and a
drag queen
In both cases, being homosexual or heterosexual has nothing to do with it.
A drag queen would most likely be gay but not in the case of a transvestite.Slide3
Ru
PaulSlide4
1975 British- American musical comedy horror film based on a musical stage play.
Directed by Jim Sharman and written by Richard O’Brien.
Synopsis: An engaged couple have car trouble find themselves asking for help in the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a Transylvanian transvestite. A whole series of supernatural adventures and dance sequences occur throughout the movie.
The movie stars Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry
Bostwick
, Richard O’Brien, Meat Loaf and Patricia Quinn.
It is a humorous tribute to science fiction movies and has a large international cult following classifying it a classic cult movie and currently is one of the most successful midnight movies of all time. (midnight movie = airing low budget films as late night programming also known as ‘B movies’ or ‘cult films’.Slide5
Controversy
It can be said that when the movie was first released in 1975, it was ahead of its time. The movie can be described as the epitome of controversy since it features a “homosexual transvestite” who at one point murders people and it is extremely open in the theme of sexuality. It doesn’t hide anything.At the same time, the movie wasn’t that well known since it was a low budget film and since it attracted small audiences it was cancelled in most of the theaters. Thanks to midnight screenings, the movie gained a large cult audience. Midnight screening and actual plays are being still being done nowadays. Slide6
Quotes by articles
Transgender Dekalb by Butler“…transgender people have been erased in ways that are not often uncovered by queer theorists. One way this is accomplished is that transgender people are excluded from public policies that seek to provide rights and privileges to members of a community. For example, because there is no category for transgender discrimination, it cannot be acknowledged.”
The Mediated Society by Larry Gross
“The gender system is supported, in turn, by the mass media’s treatment of sexual minorities. Lesbians and gay men are usually ignored altogether.; but when they do appear, it is in roles that support the “natural” order and they are thus narrowly drawn. Richard Dyer has pointed out that, “What is wrong about these stereotypes is not that they are inaccurate.” They are, after all, often more than a little accurate, at least for some gay people, some of the time…”Slide7
The past and the future of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies by Larry Gross
“The conflict here is a familiar one confronted by minority communities when certain, carefully selected portions of their realities are projected onto the mainstream culture’s big screen.. Is this better than nothing? Will we all be seen in the light of these limited and limiting images? Why are our public images overwhelmingly white and middle class?”Queer Nation by Anthony
Slage“We are informed that if repression has indeed been the fundamental link between power, knowledge, and sexuality since the classical age, it stands to reason that we will not be able to free ourselves from it except at a considerable cost: nothing less than a transgression of laws, a lifting of prohibitions, an irruption of speech, a reinstating of pleasure within reality, and a whole new economy in the mechanisms of power will be required.”
Disciplining the Transgendered by Sloop
“We cannot have a useful blurring of gender and sexual categories when that blurring makes sense of a large array of subjectivities only by understanding them as a kind of deformity or when so many discourses continue to discipline
transgenderism
into a system of bi-
genderism
and heterosexual desire. Hence, not only is the experience of
transgenderism
negatively represented, but also gender and sex are “talked about” in ways that are radically limited.”Slide8
Critic reviews
“A string of hummable songs gives it momentum, Gray's admirably straight-faced narrator holds it together, and a run on black lingerie takes care of almost everything else.”“...the king of the hill of midnight movies, the undisputed champion of camp, the consummate cult classic.”
“One hundred minutes of pure queer celebration that manages to concoct a bizarre cocktail of sincerity and reckless abandon.”
“Great music, over the top acting, extremely original. Without a doubt a one of a kind.”Slide9
Scene from the movie
Sweet Transvestite -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwUjJXxoGy4
Slide10
Social construction or essentialist?
Transvestism falls under a behavioral category rather than being a sexual identity like a transsexual or a homosexual. It can also be classified as some sort of fetishism or gender play instead of just a type of sexuality. Still even when it is practiced by homosexuals, heterosexual participation can be included.In essentialism, the characteristics of a person are influenced by biological factors. Social construction shows the influence that society and culture has on the qualities of a person.
I believe that in this case, it is a social construction. When you are born, you become who you are influenced by your surroundings and cultures. Slide11
Interest
What it says to society
How does/did society receive this
This theme interested me because I don’t think it’s that common. In general, people tend to focus more on gays and lesbians, but there’s a whole other part of the community that is really interesting because even though its inside the gay community, it can also include heterosexuals.
Transvestites and drag queens most of the time belong to a specific hidden night scene.
I believe it’s a contribution instead of being detrimental. There are not many movies where a transvestite is the main character. Even though it fits the stereotypes and a suspected usual behavior, its purpose is to entertain the audience and experience a movie that is open about sexuality and seeing the perspective of a transvestite.
In the case of the movie, as I explained earlier, it was first a controversy and it still is to people who think its wrong and shameful, most of them coming from religious fans. The theme of transvestites and drag queens in general, I believe its still some sort of taboo in society. A certain scene of people actually knows about it and go to the shows, etc. But since it goes against some people’s religious or moral views, it is frowned upon, like homosexuality.