The heroine, the scientist, and the transvestite

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To complement the new Cinema Studies minor in the English department, students have created a new club.

Thus far, the cinema studies club has sponsored two cult-film screenings, Evil Dead 2 and Dr. Strangelove. This Thursday, the club, along with the Gay-Straight Alliance, will show the classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the LA building. The screening is free and open to the public.

Dressing up as a character from the film is strongly encouraged by the club. “People can dress up as whatever they’d like, but the tradition is to dress up as characters from the film, … or at least in some sort of cross-dressing outfit,” said Tyler Barnum, president of the club.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is rated R, is a celebrated kitschy salute to both horror movies and sexual liberation. You’ll recognize Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon, as well as Meat Loaf (yes, that Meat Loaf) in a cameo.

The Gay-Straight Alliance is co-sponsoring the event, giving it their unofficial “stamp of approval,” according to Rob Steffen, vice president of the club.

Earlier this year, the cinema studies minor sponsored the Reel Film Screenings, which focused on international film. The last of these screenings was in April, and now the cinema studies club is superseding the function of the Reel Film Screenings.

“I originally wanted to show it at UVU because as far as I know it has never been shown here, and is only shown at the Tower Theater in Salt Lake, so we needed a second showing at the next major population hub in Utah,” Barnum said of The Rocky Horror .