I'm one of the riff raff: O'Brien

ICONIC FIGURE: The Riff Raff statue is unveiled next month.

RICHARD O'BRIEN: "I am a deeply flawed human." (JEFF BRASS/WAIKATO TIMES)

Source: Waikato Times print edition

16 October 2004
By LUCY REED

Rocky Horror Show creator Richard O'Brien says the Riff Raff statue is a monument to rock 'n' roll and people who dared to turn their daydreams into something real.

He says the statue should not be a tribute to him at all.
In a letter to the Times, Mr O'Brien said that councillors Roger Hennebry and (ex-councillor) Jocelyn Marshall, who had voted against the statue because O'Brien did not deserve it, were right.

"I am a deeply flawed human being, psychologically disturbed, gender-confused, childish, bad-tempered, slothful and cursed with many other negative characteristics," he said.

"I beg you not to put me up upon a pedestal, for I am not worthy of such an honour."
Mr O'Brien said it was ironic that Riff Raff's politics and opinions were very similar to those of the "dissenting councillors".

He said it was better to view the bronze statue as a monument to rock 'n' roll, Johnny Devlin, Herma Keil and The Keil Isles, Sir Howard Morrison, The Cravats, The Four Fours, and all others those who dared to turn their daydreams into something more tangible. The former Hamilton man said that New Zealand was a beacon of hope in a world gone mad, and he was grateful for his New Zealand upbringing.

"It was my upbringing in this truly classless society that allowed me to knock on doors which others were too intimidated to even approach," he said.

"I am deeply grateful for that start."

The statue will be unveiled on November 26.