Vaguely Halloween Related

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Maybe this is one of those things which was obvious to everyone else, but it only clicked for me today when I saw a still of The Wicked Witch Of The West from "The Wizard Of Oz" in an article about Halloween.  It's quite a while since I've seen the film, but I just remembered that she uses the same name for Dorothy - "My pretty" - as Low Rimmer does for Lister in "Demons & Angels".

Admittedly Rob and Doug may have come up with that independently, but given how ingrained that film is in the collective (English-speaking, at least) consciousness, it seems more likely to me that they subconsciously remembered it as convenient shorthand for "This character is evil.  Just to emphasise that, have a broad hint that they have a homosexual interest in our protagonist and aren't particularly bothered whether or not it's returned.  You got that, right?  Evil?"

From what I remember of the film, the Wicked Witch is one of the characters who has a counterpart in Dorothy's regular life in Kansas - sinister spinster Miss Gulch, who can be read as a (stereotyped) lesbian.  I notice these things more than the average viewer, being gay myself, but the parallels with Low Rimmer and the idea of someone's repressed sexuality emerging when they undergo a magical transformation just seems too obvious to be entirely coincidental.  It may be, of course.

So that's my "Well, duh!" moment regarding pop culture references in RD.  Feel free to add your own.

Comments

[felineranger.livejournal.com]

When I was a teenager I wrote part of a 'Dwarfers in Oz' story with Lister as Dorothy landing Starbug on the Wicked Witch, leading to the line 'I'll get you, my pretty. And your little Cat too!'. Cue Cat turning angrily to Lister saying 'Well, thanks a lot bud!' and Lister standing there in a pair of red shoes and a WTF expression like 'this could only happen to me'.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Lol, that sounds hilarious. The Dwarfers actually fit that film really well. Lister wants to go home (like Dorothy), Kryten wants to break his programming, Rimmer wants a body and Cat wants - well, sex. :)

There's actually an amusing WIP on AO3 with that concept too, written by http://merzky-nadsat.livejournal.com/

[derien.livejournal.com]

What should I search for on AO3 to find this? I searched for 'merzky' and got nothing, searched for 'nadsat' and it came up not as an author but as some kind of warnings reference. I'm baffled. What does it mean?

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Merzky-nadsat is her LJ name. On AO3 she's Bloomoonbaby. :)

[lordvalerymimes.livejournal.com]

I would love to read this! :)