Dressing up in drag and throwing rice is probably seen by some students as a good time. For others, the question of “why” remains.

Students can experience this spectacle Friday when the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” will be shown in the Council Fire Room of Davies Center as a part of the university’s Winter Carnival.

For people who have not seen the movie starring Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick and Tim Curry, it may not seem like a big deal, as stated on rockyhorror.com. They may think it’s an ordinary movie with the usual quiet theater setting.

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is a special kind of movie that is in no way ordinary due to its crazy audience participation, according to the Web site.

The R-rated film has not always been popular, the site stated. The film premiered at the Westwood Theater in Los Angeles in September 1975, and it was a flop, as stated on the Web site.

In attempts to gain popularity, a young advertising executive begged the owner of the Waverly Theater in Greenwich Village to replace its midnight movie with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on April Fool’s Day, 1976, according to the Web site.

From there, the film took off, gaining audience participation — fans dressing up as characters, throwing props at the screen and yelling certain lines.

The objects thrown at the screen are not random. There are certain parts in the movie where the audience throws particular objects, such as toilet paper, rice, water, toast, cards and confetti, the site stated.

Aside from throwing objects, fans of the movie also dress up as their favorite characters, said junior Jeanna Allen, a longtime fan of the film. These fans also will act out what is happening on the screen behind them.

The usual group of people who act with the movie typically have seen the movie so many times that there is no need for practice, Allen said.

Although she probably is not dressing up this year, Allen said most participants simply pull their costumes together with things they have already.

People who have not seen the movie are called “virgins” by the regular moviegoers, Allen said. People who have not seen the movie in a theater setting are still virgins, she said. The showing this year may include a “virgin game” before the movie, she added, which will give newcomers a warm welcome.

For those who have not seen the film, rockyhorror.com lists some advice to the virgins who plan to see it. The site warns that the film is not actually a horror movie; it is a rock-musical send-up of old science-fiction and horror films.

There also is no need to worry about which props to bring the first time seeing it, because the “virgin” will want to sit back and enjoy the excitement, according to the Web site. The safest things for a “virgin” to bring are rice, toast, toilet paper and a deck of cards. The Web site also asks that no one bring wet food products.