An excited crowd of movie-goers came to the Putnam Theater, shouting and throwing things, in a “cult-classic” showing hosted by the Keene State Film Society.
On Saturday, October 26, Film Society held its annual showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (RHPS). RHPS, billed as a cult-classic, is a 1975 independent musical comedy film that focused on topics uncommon in popular culture at the time, its main character being a mad scientist who is also a cross-dresser. The movie also contains scenes that imply non-traditional, intimate relationships that were frowned upon during the time of its release, according to an article on equityatlas.com.
Film Society is a student organization at Keene State that hosts weekend movie nights in the Putnam Theater, headed by senior and President Ryan Severn.
“It’s a really fun time. It’s our biggest event [and] we have a lot of people show up,” said Severn. They like to kick off the showing with a costume competition, added Severn. The competition was concluded with an RHPS group costume taking third place, a clown costume taking second place and a catwoman costume taking first place.
There were some familiar faces among the crowd as well, including former e-board member and Keene State graduate Oscar Muñoz Franco and repeat event-goer Julia McGowan. McGowan, a senior, added this is her third time coming to RHPS at the Putnam.
Muñoz Franco, a class of 2024 graduate and former treasurer of the Film Society, talked about his experience with the event and reminisced on the tradition of the annual showing.
“It’s always a new experience, just because it depends on how many people are going to show up,” added Muñoz Franco. He said he was also very appreciative of the community aspect to the RHPS event.
“It’s always a free screening that we do. It was a communal kind of event, to have people from all around Keene come and invite their friends and spread the word about it,” said Muñoz Franco. “I really enjoy the communal aspect of it. It’s always a pleasure to see the costumes and people enjoying the film and the whole ritual of it.”
Aside from the weekend screenings it hosts during the fall and spring terms, students who are interested can join the Film Society in the Putnam Theater on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. for their weekly meetings.
Timothy Fitzpatrick can be contacted at
