Strip Clubs and Their Theatrical Presence

For a long time, strip clubs have been a common staple in the entertainment industry and Hollywood. Directors use these entertainment palaces as a natural setting in which their characters can get together, enjoy the show, and talk about other matters. The milieu is often used in crime dramas, perhaps to give the viewer a sense of debauchery and immorality. While strip clubs in the real world are consistently mired in controversy, with some residents wanting them closed down and others fighting for free speech and the right to legal entertainment, they won’t be going anywhere soon.

One of the first films to bring strip clubs into the mainstream was the 1983 romantic fantasy Flashdance. It starred Jennifer Beals as a steel welder who moonlighted as a stripper late at night. Much like Pretty Woman would do later in the decade for prostitutes, Flashdance showed the world that these girls had lives, aspirations, and well rounded worlds and were not the cardboard characters people on both sides of the debate tended to see them as. As expected, the movie was not without its controversy. Some saw the film as trying to lower the morality bar in mainstream America, while others saw it as a clear beacon for those who had dreams beyond their current station. Still others saw it for what it likely was: a harmless piece of fluff propped up by some stellar 80s pop music.

In wasn’t until the mid 90s that strip clubs hit the screen again in a big way. First out of the gate was the notorious Showgirls, one of the first major motion pictures in the United States to be slapped with an NC-17 rating, meaning children under the age of 17 could not gain admission with or without a parent or guardian present. The film starred Elizabeth Berkley of “Saved by the Bell” fame and was mercilessly trashed by nearly every critic who got their hands on a pen. Owing to its over the top sexuality and extraordinarily cheesy dialogue, the film has become something of a cult classic in the intervening years.

Taking a more directly comedic approach was 1996’s Striptease, which starred Demi Moore and was based on the novel by Carl Hiassen. The film was noted for Moore’s stunning physique, Burt Reynolds decidedly different turn as a corrupt politician, and not much else. Scoring only moderately higher with the critics than Showgirls, Striptease marked for some the gradual decline of Moore’s once amazing box office domination.

In the intervening years, shows such as The Sopranos and films such as I Know Who Killed Me, Closer, and Dancing at the Green Iguana have shown that strip clubs are still a viable subject for the silver screen and are likely to remain such for some time.