Showgirls

Em: 00:03:13

Hi, everyone. I'm Em. And welcome to Verbal Diorama, episode 312, Showgirls.

This is a podcast that's all about the history and legacy of Movies you Know and Movies you Don't. That doesn't suck. Welcome to Verbal Diorama.

Whether you're a brand-new listener to this podcast, whether you're a regular returning listener, thank you for being here. Thank you for choosing to listen to this podcast. I am so Happy to have you here for the history and legacy of Showgirls.

And if you are a regular returning listener, thank you so much for continuing to return to this podcast to support this podcast. And it genuinely means so much to have you back with us.

And if you're a brand-new listener, well, there's a lot of episodes for you to catch up on, so hop to it.

This, again has been one of those episodes that I've wanted to do for some time, and I've always held off doing it because I wanted to give it the attention it deserved. And last month, the month of August, I specifically wanted to focus on female fronted movies.

I did episodes on Black Widow Red, Sonja Barbie, and also a special episode on my favorite, Pride of Prejudice.

And this episode was originally supposed to come out in August, but I got ill in July and then everything was pushed back a week, and so it just kind of plopped into September. But out of all of those, this movie is the most notorious. It's the biggest flop, and it's also the most divisive.

This is one of those movies where if you mention the name Showgirls to someone, they're either gonna turn around and say they love it because it's a camp cult classic, or they're gonna say, oh, I really don't like that movie. That movie is rubbish. So over the top. But I think that's kind of the point.

Whether you love it, hate it, whether you think it's a satirical masterpiece or the biggest pile of doggy chow poop there is, there are bad movies and there are bad movies. Showgirls ostensibly isn't a good movie, so you could say it's bad.

However, the difference between a bad movie and a bad movie is one is forgettable and one is not. Showgirls is never boring, never tedious, and never, ever forgettable. I hope you like this episode. I bought it at Versace.

Here's the trailer for Showgirls.

Em: 00:07:31

Noni Malone hitchhikes to Las Vegas, determined to make a name for herself after being robbed and almost hit by a car. She befriends Molly Abrams, a young seamstress who agrees to take Nomi in for a few weeks until she gets a job.

Nomi finds work at Cheetahs, a local strip joint, but dreams of joining the Goddess show at the Stardust. When Molly works, Nomi is offered the opportunity to dance in the Chorus Line, but dreams of only being in one place, the star of the show.

Unfortunately for Nomi, that part is already taken by the one, the only, Ms. Crystal Connors. Nomi makes it her mission to make it big at the Stardust, no matter the price. Let's run through the cast of this movie.

We have Elizabeth Berkley as Nomi Malone, Gina Gershon as Crystal Connors, Kyle McLachlan as Zack Carey, Glenn Plummer as James Smith, Robert Davi as Al Torres, Alan Rushins as Tony Moss, and Gina Ravera as Molly Abrams. Showgirls was written by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Paul Verhoeven. Now, I'll admit straight up, I misunderstood and misjudged Showgirls.

I originally saw it for the reasons mostly everyone else saw.

The over the top acting, the bad script, the weird choices for direction, the tonal whiplash culminating in a sexual assault scene so atrocious that I felt like any grace the movie did have had been eradicated by showing that degree of violence to a character that is literally the nicest one in the entire movie.

But the thing about being a movie podcaster, and specifically a film history podcaster, means that it's my job to go beyond that and honestly, Showgirls is more than worthy of an episode because Showgirls has a unique place in cinema history that goes beyond the drama and the sex and the and the exploitation. I have grown to become quite fond of Showgirls for everything it is, for everything it tried to be, and for everything it isn't.

But to tell the story of Showgirls, we need to tell the stories of Paul Verhoeven and Joe Ezsterhas.

Both have been featured on this podcast before, together for Basic Instinct, which is episode 167 and Verhoeven for Starship Troopers which is episode 147. Verhoeven have made his name with sexually explicit dramas in his native the Netherlands like Spetters and the Oscar nominated Turkish Delight.

Verhoeven came to Hollywood in the 80s and became the go to director for big budget violent satirical visual effects layered in science fiction like Robocop and Total Recall.

the highest grossing films of: 1983

st grossing film worldwide of: 1992

The problem was the pair had had a falling out over Basic Instinct.

Joe Ezsterhas had a reputation as the writer of provocative sexually explicit screenplays, but when Verhoeven suggested changes to the script, including a lesbian sex scene, Ezsterhas strongly disagreed with the changes and he thought them exploitative.

Verhoeven wanted to amplify the script's most controversial elements, but Ezsterhas felt that Verhoeven was pushing the sexual content beyond what was necessary for the story and into exploitative territory.

With Verhoeven and willing to budge, Eszterhas and producer Erwin Winkler left the movie a year later though after Basic Instinct had become a huge success, it was all water under the bridge for the pair and they went to lunch in Los Angeles with indie producer Ben Myron, with Ezsterhas presenting Verhoeven with a couple of film ideas for the pair to work on, one of which was based on an idea by Myron, formerly the head of Roland Joffe's production company Lightmotif, about a movie set in Vegas with a young female protagonist who starts working as a lap dancer and then gets into one of the big casino shows. And the idea was for a big, extravagant Las Vegas musical. Verhoeven loved the idea of emulating the Busby Berkeley musicals that he loved.

million advance in November: 1992

Ezsterhas also confirmed Paul dehoven was interested to direct pending his approval of the script.

And November: 1992

Up until Shane Black's record breaking $4 million for the long Kiss Good Night Ezsterhas held the record for the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood. The script that Ezsterhas would show Verhoeven initially wouldn't excite the director, though he found it an original.

So he went off to do something else. Carolco Pictures were making a big movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Verhoeven was keen to reunite because Total Recall star and signed on to direct.

Now, if you've listened to my episode on Cutthroat island, which was a few episodes ago, you'll know what's coming next because yes, it is the movie that you are thinking it is. The movie in question was Crusade.

They'd started building sets of Jerusalem in Spain, but Carolco was also spending lots of money on its big budget pirate adventure, historical epic or Pirate Schwarzenegger or Geena Davis. Now Crusade was more expensive. So Crusade was eventually cancelled. But with the cancellation, Verhoeven became available once more.

And despite Carolco being in extreme financial dire straits, he agreed to direct Shun Girls as a favor to Carolco co founder Mario Kassar because he wanted to help save Carolco from bankruptcy. What would eventually happen is Carolco ditching the NC17 showgirls in favor of their crowd pleasing PG13 pirate adventure.

I would suggest listening to Cutthroat island for more on what happened to that crowd pleasing PG13 pirate adventure. Try saying that really fast. But Carolco really had no choice but to sell Showgirls to try and get out of its Crippling debt.

lco would then go bankrupt in: 1995

But back to Showgirls because Paul Verhoeven wasn't taken with the original story and insisted on rewrites with the story instead being loosely based on 12 time Academy Award nominated, six time winning all about Eve, which starred Bette Davis and Anne Baxter as well as Marilyn Monroe in one of her early roles.

The idea for it being a musical was nixed when it became obvious that the real lives of Showgirls wasn't all fun, upbeat musicals, but often consisted of abuse, physical, mental and sexual. And each day they were just living their day, taking the cash, cashing the checks and showing the paying customers what they wanted to see.

Ezsterhas got in touch with a Las Vegas reporter and explained they were making a movie about Las Vegas Showgirls and she got him in touch with a variety of young women who worked in the industry.

He and Verhoeven had interviewed around 40 to 50 women from choreographers, producers, lap dancers, show dancers and erotic dancers who worked in Vegas clubs, shows, strip clubs and on dance shows. The stories from these women directly influenced the direction of the script.

And while music is still important to the shows in the movie, the idea of it being a full blown musical was quickly dropped. That didn't mean the musical influences were dropped.

The number where the character Annie was injured was directly based on the look and style of the Busby Berkeley musicals that Verhoeven loved. And in a script so full of characters who would have it out for Nomi and Troy to break out.

The character of Molly was introduced in a later script to be the one person truly on Nomi's side, ignoring the fact that no one ever invites an erratic, strange person to live with them after only knowing them for 10 minutes. Molly is a precious, precious soul.

And while her rape scene is honestly the worst part of the whole movie, Ezsterhas was so horrified by all of the Vegas women's reported assaults and rapes that he knew he needed to represent that horrific side of their life because it was speaking from the experiences of so many dancers and artists in Vegas. And here's the thing. I've been to Vegas. Yes, it's brightly colored, vivid, loud, and it gives everything you could possibly want or need.

And families do holiday there with children. But there is a blatantly obvious adult side to Vegas.

It's apparent as soon as you get out onto the streets with the vans advertising strippers, the sex workers huddled in the corners of casinos and the leafletters smacking their leaflets on their hands to entice you to take one. They can't give them to you, but you can take them. And they are usually advertising new dance shows.

Bear in mind it has been 15 years since I went to Vegas, so it may be different now, but that's the side of Vegas people who watch movies don't usually see. And Showgirls is at least attempting to expose that side of the city. After doing all this research, Ezsterhas went off to write a script in Hawaii.

He admits to being a bit high on marijuana at the time, but he crafted a story about a gritty and ambitious woman who wants to become an A list stripper in Las Vegas. Esterhaus imagined a gritty and grounded film based in the real life experiences of the various women he'd met.

Verhoeven obviously viewed it slightly differently.

He wanted to make a satire of the entertainment industry with his previous movies like Total Recall and Robocop being extremely violent and this movie in particular, showing that we as a film go public seem to be fine with violence on screen, but not with sex and nudity. And to explore why that was, Verhoeven ended up deferring 70% of his $6 million director's fee, depending on if the film turned a profit or not.

And many of the movie's weirdest and most criticized parts were based on those real life experiences, from ice cubes on nipples and even the Doggy Chow conversation. One of the dancers Esterhaas interviewed was struggling for money and would eat dog food just to be able to eat.

But once the script was finished and everyone was remotely happy with it, they had to start casting and any actress who wanted the lead role had to be many things. They had to be in their early 20s, be able to act and dance and be okay with full frontal nudity.

And not just a fleeting glance of full frontal, but be almost constantly full frontal nude. Verhoeven specifically wanted someone a list.

An incredible list of big name actors auditioned for the role of Nomi, including Pamela Anderson, Drew Barrymore, Denise Richards, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez and Charlize Theron. Theron was turned down for the role, which in hindsight was probably a good thing. Richards was instead cast for Verhoeven's Starship Troopers.

Barrymore turned the role down due to the excessive nudity. And the name on the mirror at the Stardust that's ripped off in favor of Naomi is Drew, presumably in reference to Barrymore.

Jennifer Lopez's failed audition for Showgirls would lead to her getting her flowers for hustlers 24 years later, as would Pamela Anderson for the Last Showgirl.

Producer Charles Evans would be responsible for finding the then 22 year old Elizabeth Berkley, fresh off her starring role in teen sitcom Saved by the Bell.

She had impressed producers of that show enough in her audition for the role of Kelly Kapowski that they created the character of Jessie Spano just for her. Berkley had heard of the role of Nomi, but her agent wasn't happy for her to audition and advised her not to do it.

Berkley felt a connection to the character and personally called Evans, introduced herself as Nomi and auditioned for him.

Evans was so impressed he recommended her to Verhoeven, who was impressed by her confidence and the fact she told Verhoeven his search was over and she was their Nomi. Verhoeven had struck gold with an unknown Sharon Stone for Basic Instinct and lightning can indeed strike twice.

Berkley even conducted her own research, visiting strip clubs in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York and interviewing strippers at venues like Stringfellows, Palomino and scores. Despite resistance from her agent, Berkley met with Verhoeven again and she was hired as Nomi.

Interestingly, Verhoeven had never seen Saved by the Bell prior to casting her and admits that he probably should have because casting her in a part so different to how audiences knew her likely affected not only the box office for the movie, but also Berkley's own reputation. But this is a movie where the men in charge on screen have no concern for any woman's reputation, so why should the ones off have it right?

Berkley would go on to sign with Creative Artists Agency and begin an intensive 12 week rehearsal period with choreographer Marguerite Derricks and the dance ensemble hired for the film.

During this preparational phase, she ran into Demi Moore at one of the clubs in Los Angeles where Moore was conducting research for her role in Striptease. And obviously at the time Demi Moore was one of the biggest names in Hollywood.

But you also have to understand that this was a pretty good role for a young woman. At the time, every young actress in Hollywood had tried to get this role.

Berkley's mother was certain that her daughter would get an Oscar nomination.

And that sounds silly to say in retrospect, but it genuinely seemed to Elizabeth Berkley that this was going to be a breakthrough for her acting career. And it's also safe to say she would be totally unprepared and blindsided by what would happen to her after the release of this movie.

While Madonna and Sharon Stone were eyed for the role of the erstwhile bisexual star of the show, Crystal Connors, that role would go to Gina Gershon.

Dylan McDermott was the first choice for Zack, but he turned the role down and Kyle MacLachlan, who was a huge fan of Verhoeven, specifically Robocop, was cast in a movie he thought would be dark and edgy and disturbing and real. Speaking of dark, edgy, disturbing and real, Gina Ravera was sent the script by her agent while working as a classically trained dancer.

She thought it would be a drama like Basic Instinct, but said in Vegas she was supposed to audition for the role of Cristal, but as an Afro Latina actor, she knew the casting director would never cast a woman of color as the co lead, so instead she read for the part of Molly a well of the black myth's friend trope. She was cast as Nomi's only true friend.

Showgirls once, at the film's: 1995

She found the scene incredibly traumatic to film and ended up shooting for nine hours in a deeply unpleasant and painful experience that left her bruised and vulnerable.

Even as the film became embraced as a cult favorite, she purposely remained on the sidelines, declining to appear at public events or even discuss her experience in the press. She claims she would never have taken the movie if she understood the ordeal she would have to go through.

Verhoeven wanted the scene to feel raw and brutal.

He directed the male actors, encouraging them to be rough and overzealous with Ravera, which led to William Shockley playing Andrew Carver, accidentally hitting Ravera on camera. Her jaw was injured and remained so for years afterwards.

started in Nevada in October: 1994

sino, which was demolished in: 2017

The Stardust was closed in: 2006

During this time, Berkley reportedly danced for up to 16 hours a day, often either completely nude or partially nude seven days a week. And she also reportedly never used Body double. Considering this is a movie known for its full frontal nudity and barrage of bare breasts.

It also contains some incredible costume design including the fringe leather jacket and high waisted jeans worn by Nomi when we meet her hitchhiking, the stage looks dripping in crystals and of course the iconic black mini Versace dress. The costume designer was Ellen Mirojnik who also worked on Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction as well as Speed. I'm sure that won't come up in a bit.

She designed elaborate chiffon trimmed gowns, rhinestone cowboy hats and chainmail halter sets. For Cristal. She gave Molly cute dungarees and sundresses.

Mirojnik and her team visited Vegas before filming started to get an idea of what people in the city wore and noted how gritty the city felt. They took inspiration from early 90s Versace creating elaborate jeweled see through body stockings.

And even then Verhoeven thought they were too covered up and ripped the body stockings up. Versace actually refused to supply the black dress.

There was no product placement agreement in place and no big name actress to persuade them to do it. So Mirojnik went out and bought the dress out of the budget from the boutique the Bellagio Hotel.

ian photographer Tono Stano's: 1992

Sense is said to symbolize the reemergence of Eastern Europe from behind the iron curtain. The image was bought by MGM Studios and they commissioned a similar photo as the poster for Showgirls.

Anyway, it is time to segue into the obligatory Keanu reference of this episode and if you don't know what that is, it's where I link the movie that are featuring with Keanu Reeves for no reason other than he is genuinely the best of men. And this was so remarkably easy. Not only did I mention Ellen Mirojnik, and Speed. But also Glenn Plummer is in this movie.

And if you don't know the link between Keanu and Glenn Plummer, Glenn Plummer is in Speed. He is the guy in the convertible car that Jack Traven commandeers on the freeway in order to get to the bus.

And Glenn Plummer is genuinely one of the most memorable side characters in the movie. I don't believe he's even given a name in the first Speed movie.

I think he gets a name in Speed too, but that is the easiest way to link Keanu to this movie. There were initial rumors that Prince was going to be writing songs for the Showgirl soundtrack.

However, Prince would only supply some of his existing songs for the movie, namely 319 and I'm not Going to be able to pronounce this Ripop the Goddess Zipper. I have no idea if I got that right, but neither appeared on the official movie soundtrack.

Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics composed the film's score as well as writing the music for the big Stardust shows, and the soundtrack also includes a version of David Bowie's I'm Afraid of Americans and New Skin by Siousxie and the Banshees. So this is where this episode's gonna get a bit risque, shall we say. And this is why we're gonna talk about the marketing for this movie.

Because this is kind of where the story starts to get a little bit delicious.

Because not only do we have this incredibly vivacious and over the top and interesting movie, the marketing for this movie was also something else entirely. Some movies are planned to be a bit risque, but they purposefully avoid the dreaded R rating in the US to accommodate the family market.

But then there's other movies that basically eschew the PG13 rating and decide to go for an R rating on purpose.

Showgirls is the rare movie that was not only released as NC17 in the US which is generally considered box office poison, but it was always planned to be NC17.

Paul Verhoeven refused to do the movie if it wasn't, and the reason was because he had such a nightmare with the MPAA over the rating of Basic Instinct. Basic Instinct had to be submitted to the MPAA eight times to get the required R rating.

Verhoeven had a long conversation with head of tristar Mike Medavoy, who told him they could make Basic Instinct NC17 and it might make money, or they could rate it R and it would definitely make money. Now obviously, Basic Instinct went on to gross $352 million worldwide.

But the process of cutting and resubmitting was an unpleasant experience for Verhoeven, an experience he wasn't keen to repeat. And so Showgirls was designed to be NC17.

was originally created in: 1990

But since then studios have been terrified of those initials which stand for no children under 17. Basically because it alienate a huge chunk of the movie going population. Many studios have actually contractually obligated directors to avoid it.

MGM was certain the rating wouldn't put people off because this was the latest Paul Verhoeven movie.

They never insisted it was cut any further for Showgirls, MGM decided to go all in on that NC17 rating, releasing a trailer suggesting the movie was too risque to tempt people to go watch it. Joe ESA House would also encourage youngsters to get a fake ID to watch it, which obviously sunk like a lead balloon.

MGM wore the NC17 rating like a badge of honor, wanting to turn it into a marketing bonanza, including shipping 250,000 8 minute sneak preview tapes featuring scenes too naughty to show in theater trailers, two video stores to give away as free rentals.

There was also an interactive adults only website, one of the first in the relative infancy of the Internet, which had 1 million clicks a day to look at racy on set photos that probably took several minutes to download on a dial up modem. The site regularly crashed and they had to create new service to deal with the demand.

The website carried a warning that the material was for over 17s. However, people quickly clicked, no pun intended, that all they needed to do was click to see photos that they wanted to see.

And with that, Showgirls also drew several protests on its release, including by morality in media, with its president stating, quote, great drama often deals with life's underside, but it is a truly great story, producer and performers that make for great drama. Not wall to wall nudity, vulgarity and hardcore sex, unquote.

He added that the protest probably would attract more attention to the movie, but ended quote, I think people should protest to mgm, to local theaters, and to the newspapers and television stations that run the ad. What finally got me to speak out on this is the way they're marketing the film.

Even if the film has some legitimacy to it, they're marketing it for its trash. I'm not contesting someone's right to make the film. What I'm contesting is MGM's decision to promote it and market it like a porno film, unquote.

rating since: 1990

September: 1995

Less than a year later in: 1996

Girls and Showgirls had gained a certain notoriety that the home video market was prime to flaunt.

Thanks to the home video market, Showgirls is no longer a box office flop, grossing over $100 million in rentals and purchases, including the one I made for this podcast. But there was still the issue over stores that wouldn't stock NC17 VHS tapes.

January: 1996

ls. It was released on DVD in: 2000

Of all of the DVDs MGMs that were released, Showgirls is the highest grossing MGM DVD of all time.

eleased as the VIP edition in: 2004

had fully exposed edition in: 2007

It currently has a 24% on rotten tomatoes, summarized as vile, contemptible, garish and misogynistic. And that might just exactly be Showgirl's point. Roger Ebert would give it a 2 out of 4, but state it was a waste of a perfectly good NC17 rating.

Empire wrote Showgirls would be offensive if it hadn't been hyped, but it has.

The Washington Post's Rita Kempley called the film an overcoat movie for men who don't want to be seen going to a Porno theater, and Variety's Todd McCarthy said watching the film was akin to being knee hauled through cesspool for a movie. I understand not liking something, but really dramatic much. Did you study film criticism at the Nomi Malone School of Overreaction?

It was no time at all, though, before people did find a way to enjoy Showgirls.

In her review of the film, the New York Times Janet Maslin suggested Showgirls was an instant camp classic, and it's worth noting that many of the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are actually fairly recent reviews.

It is also worth adding that Showgirls was the winner of A then record seven Golden Raspberry Awards from a record 13 nominations, which still stands, including Worst Picture, Worst Actress for Elizabeth Berkley, Worst Director for Paul Verhoeven, Worst Screenplay for Joe Ezsterhas, Worst New Star for Elizabeth Berkley, Worst Screen Couple for any combination of two people or two body Parts, and Worst Original Song Walk into the Wind. Paul Verhoeven surprised everyone by appearing in person at the Razzies ceremony to accept his award for Worst Director.

picture of the last decade in: 2000

ived three nominations at the: 1995

Rena Riffle starred in Showgirls as the character Penny Hope, the new girl who starts at Cheetahs and who ends up dancing with the character of James after Nomi turns him down. At the end of Showgirls, Penny and James are engaged and expecting a baby. The sequel follows Penny as she relocates to la.

Showgirl's 2: Penny's From Heaven was funded by a Kickstarter campaign, and just like Showgirls got midnight showings before being released on DVD and VOD.

The: 2019

Outside of the toxicity of its release, it talks about its cult following, its queer fandom, the musical that has been born of it, which Rena Riffle starred as Penny in for a month.

It's a fun documentary that really shines a light on how it feels different 30 years later, how Elizabeth Berkley will always be associated with it, but how she has actually turned a corner on it and just how much positivity is out there for the movie.

documentary that came out in: 2023

Gina Ravera described the tone of Showgirls perfectly in her Yahoo interview. She said, quote, verhoeven had so many styles going on simultaneously. It was like too many types of pepper.

You got white pepper, chili pepper, cayenne. It's going to be too hot. The wardrobe was big, the makeup was huge, the acting was huge, and the drive of the Nomi character was huge.

It's all hyperbolic and I think it's set at such a high level you couldn't perceive the subtlety of what he was trying to say. But the quest for stardom and how fame is monstrous.

He could have brought in some other hues so he could highlight specific elements about the culture that he was trying to communicate to the audience. Unfortunately, it was all bright and loud, unquote. Now you could just say, well, that's Vegas, baby. Bright and loud.

As Verhoeven says he intended, it also explains why many moviegoers at the time rejected the film's outlandish extra portrayal of Sin City. He wanted to bring something to the screen that commented on stardom, Hollywood, Las Vegas, greed and ambition.

It's only after re evaluation that you start to appreciate Showgirls.

Something that you don't know me goes into is the effect of mirrors, which are everywhere in the movie and a tool to reflect women's sexuality back at them, but also show the character's narcissism and the crafting of multiple Personas.

Verhoeven also mirrors certain scenes like the opening and closing of Nomi hitchhiking, the introduction of Crystal as the star of Goddess versus the introduction of Naomi as the star of Goddess after Crystal's quote unquote accident. Even the infamous pool scene is mirrored from her lap dance with Zack earlier in the movie. It's almost as if everything here happens on purpose.

And that shock horror, despite the crazed direction and erratic lead performance, that it might actually be trying to say something, but I don't know, something like history repeats itself. It's looking at the American Dream in a dark twisted mirror, showing the misogynistic rot of show business.

The dark reality of a patriarchal society that on the surface claims to love, idolize and promote women, that actually exploit and degrades women in the name of entertainment. Speaking of which, this film does have many questionable elements.

Nomi seemingly lives in a world where black people meet her and instantly abandoned their own best interests to serve her whims. Characters like James and Molly are given no character of their own, but live to serve and revolve around Nomi.

It is worth adding that Molly was not specifically written as a black character, but the optics aren't great.

Despite the casting of an Afro Latina woman and a dark skinned black man as the best friend and love interest respectively, the brutal treatment of Molly, the movie's sole major black female character, is a horrific culmination of the movie's racism and misogyny. But despite all of this, Showgirls has been given a second life.

Not only is it no longer a bomb, having earned $100 million in VHS and DVD sales, it's also beginning to have a cultural re evaluation as a satire of the entertainment industry. MGM were fully capitalizing on the bawdiness and camp classic reputation.

It's become quite the cult success on the level of the Rocky Horror Picture show or being embraced as so bad it's good like the Room, but it nonetheless emulates that cult classic status. Showgirls 30 years on still get shown in cinemas and most importantly, people are still talking about it.

Unlike something like Striptease as an example, which is a similar theme, came out the year after and starred a much bigger star, Demi Moore. Speaking of the star, Elizabeth Berkeley was blamed primarily as the reason why this movie failed.

She was just a 22 year old woman starting out her film career as she was treated abysmally by the mostly rich white men in charge. Oh, the irony.

ation, her involvement and in: 2015

o attended, saying, quote, In: 1995

because of you guys. In March: 2024

She would say, quote, showgirls really pushed the boundaries at the time that have now been embraced. Not misunderstood, but truly embraced.

And I'm so grateful that the film has found its way not only into your hearts, but especially the LGBTQ community. You stood by the film, you always believed, as did I, and for that I'm eternally grateful.

She also joked that she was finally thanking the Academy Museum. At least she has a sense of humor about it all now.

But it's safe to say that Elizabeth Berkley and her career were thrown to the wolves after this movie. And Paul Verhoeven has admitted that much of the vitriol that went Berkeley's way was purely down to his decisions on how to direct her.

th of October: 2025

That's later on this year as of this episode's release for a special 30th anniversary screening of Showgirls.

th of October: 2025

I see what Verhoeven was trying to do, what Esterhouse was trying to say in his script. And just like with Basic Instinct, the vision of two very different men led to a bit of a falling out.

But this time with a tonally wild cult classic erotic movie with zero eroticism, with outlandish performances, immensely quotable lines, many of which I can't repeat on a family friendly podcast, and a legacy that just goes beyond almost any other movie of its ilk, it is wholly unique in so many ways.

It makes some mistakes for definite. Joe Ezsterhas has said it's about a young woman's journey to a life she thinks she wants and then seeing it for what it really is and then turning her back on that life and also turning her back on her friend. But clearly Naomi wasn't thinking of Molly when she was thinking of avenging Molly.

As Jessie Spano might say, Hollywood is full of sexist pigs, but these women have come out on top and have made all the money they need to survive and to thrive. Maybe sex really does sell, as long as it's flailing about in a swimming pool. Thank you for listening.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on Showgirls. And as always, thank you for your continued support of this podcast.

If you enjoy this podcast, please take a moment to tell your friends, tell your family, leave a rating or review wherever you found this podcast. And if you want to get in touch with me or you want to follow me on social media, I am erbaldiorama wherever you do your social media.

And you can like post, share post, comment on posts, or you can DM me and let's talk about Showgirls. If you like this episode on Showgirls, you might also like a similar episode that I did a little while back.

Episode 205 of this podcast is on the movie Hustlers, which obviously doesn't have quite so much sex as Showgirls does, but it is a very interesting movie about strippers and it does star Jennifer Lopez in arguably the best Jennifer Lopez performance that ever exists.

I would highly recommend Hustlers as a companion piece to Shown Girls, because Hustlers is basically the women taking charge and getting back at those rich white men. So it would be really good, I think, to watch Showgirls first and then watch Hustlers and then see the rich white men get their comeuppance.

oing to be another movie from: 1995

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You can make a one off donation@verbaldiorama.com tips or you can subscribe to the patreon@verbaldiorama.com patreon and all money made goes back into this podcast for paying for software subscriptions, website hosting or new equipment.

Huge thank you to the patrons of this podcast to Simon, Laurel, Derek, Kat, Andy, Mike, Luke, Michael, Scott, Brendan, Ian, Lisa, Sam, Jack, Dave, Stuart, Nicholas, so, Kev, Heather, Danny, Stu, Brett, Philip M. Zenos, Sean, Rhino, Philip K, Adam, Elaine, Kyle, Aaron and brand new patron, Connor. Welcome Connor. Thank you for joining the Patreon. You are most welcome.

If you want to get in touch, you can email verbal dioramail.com you can go to the website verbal diorama.com and fill out the little contact form. You can say hi, give feedback or suggestions.

Or you can get in touch with me on social media and talk to me about Showgirls or any movie that I featured. Please feel free to get in touch, say hi and let's talk about movies. And finally,

Em: 00:53:33

Bye.