The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a perennial favorite, one of the few movies still playing at some theaters decades after its initial release (though maybe not right at the moment). The movie bombed when it debuted in 1975, but quickly became the definition of the cult classic. Midnight shows and Halloween showings with audience participation have become an industry this film pioneered.
Part of its success lies with its amazing songs, and some of it has to do with its characters. A retinue of strange and intriguing characters populates the remote house of Dr. Frank N. Furter (just one of the essential roles of the iconic Tim Curry), and one of the most popular is his servant, Columbia.
Little Nell
Rocky Horror Picture Show is full of actors and actresses who went on to become household names. Not all of them did, unfortunately. Little Nell played Columbia both in the original 1973 musical production in London, and the 1975 film.
Little Nell achieved the peak of her acting career with this film, though she went on to act and sing on both stage and screen. She also had a brief career as a pop singer, recording and releasing albums through A&M Records in the late 70s and early 80s. She was born in Sydney, Australia as Nell Campbell.
That Costume
One of the most iconic things about Columbia is her glittering costume from the classic song "Time Warp." Sci-fi cosplayers who love a challenge have made it one of the most ubiquitous looks over the last four decades, and it's easy to see why.
The entire outfit is sequined in bright colors, with a bright yellow top hat and jacket. She has a pink bow tie and a gold-ish leotard. Columbia's fun, infectious energy comes through in this great costume, which is one of the few deliberately colorful outfits in the entire film.
Devoted Servant
Columbia is one of the many servants of Dr. Frank N. Furter, though she's easily the most complicated. She's essentially a groupie like Magenta, though she was truly in love with the good doctor at one point (well, she arguably still is). She came into his orbit randomly.
As she said in "Time Warp" in one of her most iconic lines, "I was walking down the street just a-having a think." Columbia clearly enjoys the trippy reality inside the house, though it's not always that simple for her, and it's not always fun and games.
Eddie!
Columbia fell in love with Dr. Frank N. Furter, but her heart eventually wandered. That's mostly because he dumped her for the delivery boy, Eddie, as the doctor is wont to do. To complicate matters even more, Columbia fell in love with Eddie as well. Everything was going great until Dr. Frank N. Furter took half of Eddie's brain for a new hunk of burning love.
Actor and singer Meatloaf played Eddie in the 1975 film, though he was only in it for a brief time before Dr. Frank N. Furter killed him out of jealousy.
Privileged Position
Columbia is torn between her privileged position inside the house and her own heartbreak. She tells the perfect couple Brad and Janet that visiting the doctor's secret lab is a 'great honor' that few have (and she does).
Despite the strife between Columbia, Eddie, and Dr. Frank N. Furter, she remains an essential part of his staff. She continues to work with him after Eddie's death and helps prepare for the creation of Rocky, who uses half of Eddie's brain for his own. This starts to grate on her, though.
No Crime In What You Are
A great insight into Columbia's character is her reaction to Rocky. It would be natural for her to be antagonistic or indifferent toward him considering her heartbreak over Eddie, but she's remarkably warm. Rocky struggles greatly with the realization that he's a laboratory creation designed for really only one thing.
He thinks of himself as a monster, but Columbia tells him "there's no crime in what you are," one of the best quotes from the movie. Her comion and acceptance underly the film's basic respect for LGBTQ people, even if the subtext is pretty buried beneath all the glitz and glam.
Not Really That Evil
All of this adds up to the fact that Columbia is not as maniacal as Dr. Frank N. Furter. She's not even that depraved compared to the rest of his staff, which includes Magenta and Riff Raff. She's one of the few - she might be the only - character in the film to have an actual arc and that starts to bend when she discovers the chopped-up body of Eddie served for dinner.
Dr. Frank N. Furter cares only about his new plaything, but Columbia hasn't forgotten Eddie or who she is.
Rose Tint My World
Things really go sideways when Dr. Frank N. Furter announces his plans to rule the world. Columbia's trauma and general regret erupt into a confrontation where she does something it seems no one has ever done before: she challenges him. Columbia onishes him for treating people like dirt and throwing them away like garbage.
She laments her pain in the song "Rose Tint My World," a great showcase for the character. Ultimately, it doesn't produce any positive results for her or the rest of the staff.
Shocking Death
After freezing people and then unfreezing people, the plot turns on everyone. Riff Raff and Magenta stage a coup to get Dr. Frank N. Furter to return to their home planet of Transylvania. In the process, they kill him and Columbia. She was really only an innocent bystander and a victim of his hubris.
She is actually only one of two characters in the film to die. The other is Eddie, her doomed lover. It was a sad but interesting conclusion for a character who didn't exist in the stage musical.
Legacy
Columbia was an addition of sorts for the 1975 movie, but she has become a critical part of the film's legacy both on the big screen and on stage. She has been featured in subsequent stage versions of the show, as well as television adaptations.
Boni Enten played her in the 1975 Broadway production. Joan Jett played her in the 2001 Broadway revival. Sophie Linder-Lee played her in the 2015 live broadcast, and Ashleigh Ashford played her in the 2016 remake. There was even a Glee version.
