Everyone has their obsessions.

Some are obsessed with work, others with family and others with the controversial 1970’s cult film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

Since the movie’s beginnings, the show has gained an enormous fan club with members from all over America.

“The president of the Rocky Horror Fan Club has seen the movie over 1,000 times,” said Jen Hoffman, Iowa State senior and Iowa’s Rocky Horror Fan Club representative.

Although Hoffman can’t exactly boast that she’s seen the movie 1,000 times, she said viewing the show has become a weekly event for her and many of her Rocky Horror friends.

“I’m just right under 160 times in the theater,” Hoffman said, though her tally of 160 isn’t counting how many times she’s seen it on TV.

It may seem that watching the same movie every weekend would become tiresome. But attending a showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” doesn’t necessarily mean sitting motionless in a bucket seat with a tub of popcorn for two hours.

For the past few years, Hoffman has been involved with a group called “Time Warp,” a troupe of Rocky Horror enthusiasts who acts out parts of the movie in front of the audience as it is being shown. When the group got started in 1996, Hoffman said the title was chosen because the group “felt it described the cast and the audience.”

During the movie, the cast members basically try to “enhance” the production by acting out specific characters and promoting audience interaction.

“Everybody has their own little way of doing it. Some people take a character and develop it themselves,” Hoffman said. “I’ve found my own niche in Rocky Horror.”

Although Hoffman has played exciting characters such as Frank-N-Furter and Eddie over the years, she said her favorite character to play will always be Janet.

Hoffman doesn’t play the character of Janet anymore, but the license plate on her car still reads “IMJANET,” and the signature on her e-mail is signed “Janet, disguised as a transvestite.”

When Hoffman acts out the characters, she tries to imitate her character’s moves as closely as possible. However, she said there are some actors who imitate their character so closely that their eye movements match.

“I know this guy who actually blinked when Frank blinked,” Hoffman said.

One of the ways Hoffman has gotten better at playing her part and learning more about the show is by attending national Rocky Horror Picture Show conventions. Last April, Hoffman attended a convention in New York City and was able to meet the woman who played Columbia in the movie.

Dressed up as a character from the show, Hoffman said she was deeply flattered when Columbia complimented her costume. Hoffman said she vividly remembers the exact words Hoffman used to compliment her costume.

“She told me ‘you look great’,” Hoffman said.

Even though Hoffman is a senior and will be leaving Ames soon, she plans to remain an active Rocky Horror participant. In fact, she has already been looking beyond Ames for a new group to be involved with.

“I already have a cast picked out that would be wonderful,” Hoffman said.

Even though the cast is in Chicago, Hoffman said they are a lot like her cast in Ames because they basically strive to keep Rocky Horror traditions and themes alive.

“[Rocky Horror] has developed into a thing where people can be their own,” Hoffman said. “If they want to be different, they can, and people will accept them.”

Time Warp will perform tonight and Friday night at showings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at midnight at the Varsity Theater in Campustown. Admission to the show is $5.50.