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The Rocky Horror Picture Show Sociology

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In his paper “The Cinema of Camp (AKA Camp and the Gay Sensibility”, Jack Babuscio states that the gay sensibility is a source of inspiration born out of a view of the world founded on social inequality. Considering this, he argues that the gay sensibility is a response to society's urge to identify and ultimately divide people, which has drawn attention to camp. Despite recognizing that it may be challenging to define camp because it can depend on one's own perspective and preferences, he does highlight elements important to camp that are unchanging, such as: irony, aestheticism, theatricality, and humor. The film The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a relevant example of Babuscio’s arguments in relation to camp and gay sensibility, as it demonstrates …show more content…

According to him, as a byproduct of the gay sensibility, camp has always coexisted with its source subculture on a social level. In other words, just as the inner lives of gay people continue to be kept a secret in the arts, in the media, and in the perception of non-gays overall, camp, its roots, and affiliations have remained hidden in their most significant elements. The Rocky Horror Picture Show was released in 1975, but didn’t become popular until six months or so after, which would have been around the time this essay was written and published. Rocky Horror is a camp film with lots of queer elements that definitely don’t try to stay hidden. However, the film still exemplifies many of the features that Babuscio refers to. The first element of gay sensibility being irony, Babuscio describes it as far as it is possible to juxtapose something or someone incongruously with their setting or association, is what makes camp ironic. The contrast between masculine and feminine is the most obvious. Rocky Horror demonstrates this contrast, as it features a cross-dressing mad scientist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Society would deem this as incongruous. As well, another incongruous contrast Babuscio refers to is the sacred/profane, which would relate to the characters of the innocent Janet versus the hypersexual

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