3.6.13 Rocky Horror and American football

I had something of a get-out-and-see-the-world experience this weekend. Two, related ones, in fact. First, last night Kim talked me (read: pestered me to distraction) into going with my old climbing buddy Mark and his fiance to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I don’t know if you’ve done this, and I rather hope not. I also don’t know if you’ve seen it on tape, which I don’t recommend, but it is something of an an interesting experience. It’s a terrible movie, about transvestites and, umm, space aliens and stuff. It is also a musical, and makes one think of the aesthetic of Wiemar Germany. It’s irrational, anti-value and utterly nihilistic.

But the interesting thing is, audiences have developed a complex ritual associated with the film, involving audience responses to the lines, miming and dancing. It is one of the most elaborate instances of spontaneous ritual generation in this culture that I have ever witnessed. The experience taken as a whole was thus, i admit, not without its amusing moments.

The other thing was, Kim dragged me to a professional football game for the first time in my life. It was, in a number of respects, surprisingly similar to Rocky Horror. I decided that I really don’t like football, for a lot of reasons. I like baseball better (and basketball still better). The level of sportsmanship exhibited by the crowd was absolutely abysmal. Really disgusting.

Based on an email to Steve Clarian
2004.11.1