Embedded Files
Dr. Frank N. Furter, played by Tim Curry
Primary Source
I have chosen to research The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a film that I have only recently come across but that dates back many years and has a diverse set of analyses behind it. A theme of trans experience immediately caught my eye when I first watched the film, and I found fuller analysis both in the scholarly conversation and in my own thinking when I began to dig into the film as a potential research topic. Now I would like to fully articulate my reading of the film as a piece of trans media.
Riff Raff, played by Richard O'Brien, screenwriter
Research Questions
How can the conception of protagonism in Rocky illuminate the theme a viewer reaps from the film?
How does the film portray trans experience in Britain prior to the 1970s, and to what degree does this portrayal extend readily to the real world?
Finally, how successful is the film at conveying a productive message to both its trans and non-trans audiences about trans experiences?
Scholarly Conversation
I was pleased not to find any secondary sources that exactly covered the questions I plan to cover in my research project. I was also glad to see many articles that focused on filmic aspects, as I plan to, rather than primarily on the film's status as a cult object, which I had suspected would be the most interesting focus for many scholars in the conversation.
Research Symposium
Listening to the speakers at the symposium made me feel much more relaxed and sure about the research and writing processes, especially their advice to choose a topic in which one has genuine interest. I especially took note of Park's framework for art analysis as going by levels from the form to the self, the context, and the world.
Fan and Ruberg
I have learned from Professors Fan and Ruberg that it is often fruitful to pursue areas of research in which one has a personal interest. They also share identities with their areas of research. I think I will find the research project much more enjoyable because I have chosen a topic related to queerness and especially to transness.
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