When I came across the funky “So Bad It's Worse” comic, I thought, 'Hang on, surely Rocky Horror Picture Show' doesn't fall into that particular category? I mean the one depicted in the comic? I suppose folks will differ on that subject; I'm in the 'movie is pure brilliance' school of thought. Anyway, this made me troll a lot of sites looking for RHPS trivia and I figured I might as well share some of info I found.

Firstly, I find it somewhat hilarious that the movie was initially banned in South Africa. I can see why. It was way out there and the previous oppressive regime was quite antsy about a lot of topics. But the reason why it amused was because now it is quite common to find RHPS on SA TV, especially amongst the late night shows. How the times have changed, all for the better, I must add.

Here's another tidbit. Diehard fans will probably know this but you know the guy who played the Igor-like Riff Raff? That was the same guy who wrote both the stageplay and the screenplay for the movie- Richard O'Brien.

Speaking of pleasant surprises, I'm probably not the only one who sighed in relief when this news was announced. Remember how MTV Films was gung-ho about a remake? And how the original author of the play and movie wasn't involved in it? Incidentally, he didn't seem very pleased with the idea either. According to Wiki, that project has died a quiet death sometime in the September 2009.

I also read on a RHPS FAQ about the number of changes that were made when the story was adapted for the movie. It will be a fun read for fans of the movie. What interested me was the lyrics to the stage version, particularly those of 'I Can Make You a Man'. There aren't any drastic changes made when the transition was made from play to movie i.e. a lot of the overall meaning is maintained. On the other hand, the way the song is put together in the original, it definitely reminds you of something from the 60s-70s. And the last time this came up, it was on that Team Fortress 2 comic. Ye, that's right; the stage version reminds you more of the Charles Atlas muscle building ad than the edited song from the movie. Call me a noob but I only just got that connection. Then again, that's the beauty of it; you're always learning something new about RHPS.

Speaking of pop culture references, how about the ones about movie companies? All the weird paraphernalia scattered throughout the movie, stuff that was supposed to represent an old movie company? IMDB has a whole list of them but let me note a few of the interesting ones. Warner Bros. is supposed to be the shield propped up by the griffin. And the yawning/snarling cat you find in the castle is supposed to be none other than MGM. For the life of me I can't remember the light-up globe but that is meant to be Universal Pictures.