Analysis of the Film Showgirls Essay

Showgirls has been described by Rita Kempley of the Washington Post as an overcoat movie for men who dont want to be seen going into a porno. Upon its initial release in 1995, Showgirls gained attention not only for its controversial NC-17 rating but also for dissatisfactory reviews from critics and audiences alike. Despite its commercial and critical failure at the time, popularity in DVD sales and later reexamination has offered a new appreciation for what Kempley called a portrait of one saucy strippers attempt to writhe her way to the top of the heap. When properly examined, Showgirls has proved to be not only a well-made film in terms of depicting vulgar and stylized Las Vegas, but also as an ultimate homage to the sexploitation film genre and a satire of American culture. Initial criticisms of Showgirls for excessive nudity and confusing plotcharacter development are actually what make it intellectual and worthy of such reexaminations it uses explicit content and over-the-top performances for a greater purpose than the soft-core pornography genre to which it is compared, and also provides more depth than your typical drama.One aspect of Showgirls is the abundant use of explicit and sexual scenes, was one of its largest criticisms, although this was also one of its greatest strengths. Linda Williams from the University of California, Berkeley, best sums up the error of this critique by saying it may very well be that the pretentious European art house sexis the only kind of sex that Americans can accept and continuing with It is very easy to condemn movies that attempt to have trashy fun with sex (Lippit 41). The author concludes her piece with these statements after demonstrating that the trashiness of the movie was necessary to depict its subject a showgirl the work of this subject is very vulgar and explicit in nature, full of nudity and eroticism, and American society has generally deemed it too low-brow to appreciate why...