Rocky Horror Picture Show = Rave of Yesterday

I have been in a number of heated discussions with people over the last few days. People who have been talking about the massacre on Capitol Hill. People who say, "What was a 14 year-old doing at a house with adults?" "What was a 15 year-old doing at a rave?" "Should we have a curfew for teens?"

I say, no curfew. You might think the rave community seems weird from the outside, but you don't know what it's like to be part of a group encompassing all ages. I do.

My parents were extremely strict. I wasn't allowed to go on a "car date" until I was 16. I could go out with friends, yes, but not a date. My parents always checked when I spent the night at a friends. I wasn't allowed to attend parties without adult supervision, or even go to co-ed parties when I was 14. My parents weren't religious, just protective. What did I do?

I snuck out my window. A lot. I was never caught. My parents never suspected. The punishment would have been bad. It didn't matter, out the window I would go; the night was mine. I met my friends. I met boys a lot older than me. I rode in cars with people I didn't know. It was a risky time. I was VERY lucky I didn't get raped, crashed, or even killed.

When I was 15, my best friend, who was a year older, took me to see the midnight movie"Rocky Horror Picture Show". The first time I got in trouble - ALTHOUGH I had told my parents it was a midnight movie, they didn't realize I meant a movie starting at midnight. The cops were called.

Once they calmed down, and realized I was fine, and realized I had told them exactly the truth, they decided it was okay for me to go again. Of course, they had to meet the friends I went with and their parents.

Our group of friends went "Rocky" a lot. We dressed up in makeup and costumes. We got to know the other regular "Rocky" go-ers. We had a lot of fun. Our group ranged in age from me, to a 19 year-old. Sure, most of the people who went were between 17 and 22 or 23, but there were quite a few younger, and quite a few older. Afterward we would go to Denny's and chill for awhile. Wait for the drunks to get off the road before we headed home. Have breakfast. Chill.

If we had known anyone who lived nearby and had been invited to their house afterward, we would have gone, some of us. Older than us? Not a big deal. No, I wouldn't have gone alone, but with friends, or a friend especially if THEY knew them well, it would have been totally fine. Our love for "Rocky", for whatever reason, united us, gave us something in common. Always good to get to know people who are into the same things you are.

As far as substance abuse goes, it happened. We were teenagers. We were immortal. Some of us did drugs. Some of us didn't. Some of us drank. Most of us didn't. Most of our friends were at keggers in the woods while we were at the theatre.

I didn't sneak out my window anymore. I didn't need to. I had something to do at night on the weekends and people who accepted me for who I was. My parents knew where I was and I had a great time.

Was it a community accepted by most of mainstream America? Not Even Close. But we accepted everyone. If they were there to see the movie, they were one of us.

That seems to be the message of the Rave community too. The acceptance. The mixing of ages. The watching out for each other - that part even more so from the Rave community.


I think all the backlash against the rave community is uncalled for. When people start ranting, I say, "Hey, I was part of a group like that." Of course, things were different then. Just like they were in the 60's, and the 50's, and the 30's, and the 20's.

Teenagers have been sneaking out forever. Far better they attend events where drugs and alcohol aren't allowed, that have security. Where they can be with their friends, and be as safe as teenagers will ever be.

The community has nothing to do with the tragedy. I wish people could separate them.