2023 FAN EXPO Chicago The Rocky Horror Picture Show Janet Weiss Commission by Brandon Peterson (signed by Susan Sarandon)

This year marks the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a favorite movie of a lot of people, myself included. My initial exposure was in the early '80s, seeing the movie poster at one of the AMC theaters in Houston. I saw those blood red lips against a pitch black background and the word "horror" in the title, and figured it was too scary for me. We weren't properly introduced until 1990, when the 15th anniversary prompted the first VHS release, which my father rented for my half-brother and I. Before that, it had a lengthy afterlife as a midnight movie in theaters, but had not ever previously been made available for home viewing. Despite my little brother and I being confident heterosexuals (that's a Rustlers' Rhapsody reference-- calm down,) we were still comfortable enough with our sexuality to prance around to "Sweet Transvestite" after multiple consecutive viewings. I dubbed a cassette of the original soundtrack off my father's CD, and my brother bought the newly commissioned Caliber Comics movie adaptation (including lyrics sheets that I would largely memorize with repetition.) I caught at least one live showing with friends at an ornate old Bellaire movie theater while dressed as a no-budget Riff Raff, but opted to be secretly de-virginized rather than brave a stage outing. As a bonus, the full "Super Heroes" sequence that was held from the VHS was in that print. I've experienced the movie live quite a few times since, brought in my own virgins, and have bought the majority of every-five-years disc pressings from its first hitting DVD in 2000. I was never going to join a live troupe or anything, but I'm fairly well versed in and quite affectionate towards Rocky Horror.

In 1990, I already knew Susan Sarandon from The Witches of Eastwick at minimum, but she was in a lot of stuff that I'd have at least brushed against, like Bull Durham and White Palace (the latter more from trade coverage, as I was a big fan of Premiere magazine.) I was thus primed for Thelma & Louise (Geena Davis certainly helped,) but I can't say that as a young man that her tendency toward older-skewing dramas kept my attention. She was still a familiar Hollywood figure, plus her politics became somewhat notorious, though I've drifted in the same direction the older I've gotten. She took a stupid amount of heat for an improbable sway that supposedly led to the 2016 presidential results, probably from a lot of people who liked blaming women for a rot that has yet to be properly addressed in this country, including the implied misogyny that fingered her in the first place. Whatever-- no one can take away Sarandon's extraordinary acting career, and I'm a fan of her work.

As with Sigourney Weaver, I was finally spurred on to begin collecting commissions featuring the Rocky Horror cast by the recognition that the odds did not favor my getting another chance to meet an actress of that caliber. Ironically and as kind of a bummer, numerous members of the cast were at a local con in 2015, the year before I started doing this sort of thing with Aliens. Sarandon was one of only two such actors in Chicago when I visited a couple of years ago, and I'm not sure waiting eight years (with performers now pushing into their 80s) qualifies as better late than never, but it's still a major luminary to check off in the bid. The actual mechanics weren't much to speak of, though. The actress was available for signings intermittently throughout the weekend, which was better than the very few chances with an extremely huge line involving a tiered preference system (glad I sprung for a V.I.P. pass) that left a lot of Ripley fans disappointed. I just had to brave a medium-long line and a few tries before finally making it to her booth. This being the 2020s, there was a whole tent system to prevent anyone from snapping a picture from afar, and also a plastic partition to prevent transmission of COVID. It was kind of like interacting with a bank teller with a Cone of Silence engaged. There were a lot of utterances of variations on "what?" and some general befuddlement, but I did eventually communicate that I was getting a signature on an original piece of art, and to please be judicious in signature placement. Also, in the moment, I gave up on getting a sloppy lipstick red sig in favor of pale pink, which suited the character of Janet Weiss, and assuage my fear that I might get my first and only Brandon Peterson piece mauled.

I'm not entirely sure that Sarandon found the likeness flattering, but I think Peterson did an extraordinary job representing the actress. A lot of folks I get work from freeze up at the thought of being beholden to accuracy, and I assure them that I only need the character, but I have to admit that it's a bonus when you can 100% recognize the actor's face, without it being a slavish photocopy. I especially love the dark (maybe mad) eyes, and the crazy amount of detailing in the hair. The "DAMMIT JANET!" is the cherry on top, and I have to say that I really like his hand-coloring, as well. I can't wait for another opportunity to get something else from Peterson, and I really hope that I still get a chance at a Frank-N-Furter, while that's still a possibility.