One of the most iconic movies to come out in the late 90’s is Showgirls, featuring Saved by the Bell actress Elizabeth Berkley Lauren. This infamous movie follows Nomi, who arrives to Las Vegas to become the top showgirl at the Stardust strip club. Nomi eventually gets the job, but at what cost is she willing to keep her spot at the top? Despite being considered a classic by many, Showgirls isn’t viewed in the same light as other 90s movies such as Pulp Fiction or The Shawshank Redemption; Instead, it’s in the vein of The Room or Birdemic, meaning that this is beyond levels of “so bad its good”. Over 20 years later and after a surprising sequel in 2011 that nobody asked for, did audiences misread this 1995 cult classic?
First, Nomi is a horrible character. Within the first ten minutes of the movie, she threatens an Elvis Impersonator who was kind enough to her give a ride all the way down to Las Vegas. She doesn’t get any better throughout the film. Nomi’s character doesn’t seem to truly understand what she is; She acts like a whore for a good portion of the film, grinding and having sex with the boss to climb her way to the top; however, during her scene with top dancer Cristal Connors, she acts all high and mighty stating that she’ll never be what Connors is, even though the only difference between them is that Nomi isn’t into hardcore drugs. At least not until she starts haven’t sex with her boss. Nomi changes, but for the worst. She gets to the top of the strip club and to eliminate her competition, almost breaks Connors neck by pushing her down a flight of stairs. But, all is forgiven because she got revenge on Andrew Carver and shared a passionate kiss with Connors indicating that all is good between the two women. Nomi appears to be the worst written female character to every grace a movie screen. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe Showgirls isn’t about a small town girl’s journey to becoming a top stripper in Las Vegas. Maybe its a cautionary tale for women in the seedy underbelly of the world of stripping and how being greedy and self-fish may get you to the top of the mountain, but it turns you into this ugly and dark human being that no one wants to be. How else would you explain why Nomi is such a horrible character onscreen? She’s essentially a penchant child who clearly has some mental issues going on, but surely, the writers knew this, right?
The storyline as a whole doesn’t particularly make much sense and does appear to be sexist at certain points. I’m no expert on periods (because I have a penis) but stating that you would’ve gotten blood on the floor if you came to work sounds more like a bad medical problem that desperately needs to be checked. Oh, and having a woman tell a guy to check her period is kind of gross. But again, maybe this a satirical take on love in movies. James is…annoying, yet he somehow manages to get Nomi despite calling her a whore and a bitch. Maybe the point of their meaningless story is to mock the romanticized tropes in movies such as Sleepless in Seattle. Otherwise, the purpose of the James storyline doesn’t make any sense because he never impacts her life in any sort of way, nor does he play a role in the ending of the story. The way that Nomi and Molly meet is weird. She throws a fit and vomits on her car, and then there’s a teased sexual romance that ultimately goes nowhere. Maybe this “friendship” is a play on the myth that all women secretly hate each other. This theme is also emphasized when Nomi had no issues pushing Cristal down a flight of stairs or Molly’s random feud with some other dancer at the strip club. As for the showing of the world of a Las Vegas showgirl? It all goes back to this being a cautionary tale for women who dare to dream about becoming a topless dancer. The film’s excessive showcase of nudity highlights just how these women are seen as nothing more than just sexual objects because of their choice of profession. At the end of day, Showgirls seems to be a misunderstood classic that tackles some thought provoking themes in a satirical manner. Or, Showgirls is a horribly written feature with a cast of unlikeable characters, a messy plot and a non-sensical plot with some sexist overtones.
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