A tribute to Sal Piro and the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” community

Last semester, the 5Cs had two live performances of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” followed by an exclusive TSL interview with some of the most important names attached to making the original show into a reality.

The “Rocky Horror Picture Show” began as a film that evolved to be accompanied by a live performance. It is known for its chaotic and raunchy behavior as well as the interactive audience participation that it creates. The community is one of the most unique aspects of the show, and on Jan. 21, 2023 the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” Fan Club announced the loss of founder and president Sal Piro. Members of the “Rocky Horror” community have come together to honor his memory.

Piro’s energy was unique and necessary to bring “Rocky Horror” to audiences as it is seen today. Tim Deegan is a 20th Century Fox advertising manager and a good friend of Piro’s.

“The movie would never have reached the status of the longest continuously running movie in history without Sal Piro and the ‘Rocky Horror’ Fan Club, and all of the loyal fans around the country,” Deegan said via email. His devotion to the show and the community that it created was never-ending. Piro explained in the interview with TSL last semester that his connection with the film “became a lifestyle.”

He worked with others in the Fan Club to spread handwritten letters sharing important “Rocky Horror” information, such as performances and updates, with people across the globe.

“What turns me on is the group, the family,” Piro said in his past interview. “Everybody’s sharing this movie with each other.” could never,” jokes SNL in a recent skit. Thanks to Gen Z humor, villains are becoming celebrities. As Lady Gaga said on the red carpet of the “House of Gucci” premiere, “I don’t believe in the glorification of murder. I do believe in the empowerment of women.” Horror is ushering a new era, and M3gan is a prime fulfillment of this subversive adoration. Look at how fan-culture has exploded for her: there’s think-pieces from Refinery 29 about how “M3gan’s polished look plays at our society’s respectability politics, tricking us into thinking that she’s just another Barbie doll safe to take to class (spoiler: she’s not).” Tiktok has exploded trying to recreate her dance. M3gan lookalikes have flooded talk-shows and The Empire State Building. Actress Aubrey Plaza plays her in a recent SNL skit.

His love for the show was seen in everything he did and will never be forgotten.

Yet what happens when other cinematic villains – actors playing real-life killers in biopics – are praised?

We are living in an age where cinematic villainy is celebrated, an era of Golden Globe awards and Tiktok thirst-traps awarded to “Dahmer” actor Evan Peters despite the pain and pushback from victims’ families, Vogue articles like “What’s Anna Delvey reading right now?” and ship edits and Glamour interviews between Zac Efron and Lily Collins on Ted Bundy biopics. Yet all of these figures have real life victims, and fan-culture continues to perpetuate violence and pain against them.

What separates M3gan from other contemporary villains is her fictitiousness: M3gan has no realworld prey. While her crimes range from encouraging Cady not to eat her vegetables to murdering dogs, schoolyard bullies and heads of huge Seattle-based tech startups, M3gan’s crimes live inside the movie. There are no real parents still visiting graves or celebrating missed birthdays while America streams their childrens’ murders. Each of M3gan’s victims makes it to press junkets and red carpets and future movie roles.

Now, a new era of horror: where queer-coded villains are celebrated instead of mocked, where female villains are lauded as girlbosses, where murderers serve and slay. But let’s celebrate villainy in a fictitious, imaginative world. When fanculture excitedly latches onto the newest white male villain on screen, it becomes messy to untangle celebrity adoration from criminal glorification, despite insistent pleading from family members who continue to be retraumatized. So if you’re looking for a villain to celebrate, choose M3gan over true crime. Even if she did kill the dog.

Eliza Powers PO ’25 is from New Orleans, Louisiana. She loves Phoebe Bridgers, reality television and searching for the perfect avocado toast recipe.