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Amber has a son, not a daughter.
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* TeamMom: Amber takes many of the younger stars in Jack's employ under her wing and mothers them, in what is all but outright stated to be a substitute for her own custodial battles over and MissingMom nature towards her own daughter. Takes on a slightly weird edge when it comes to Dirk, in that she appears to view herself as a mother-figure to him while simultaneously kind of falling in love with him at the same time.
to:
* TeamMom: Amber takes many of the younger stars in Jack's employ under her wing and mothers them, in what is all but outright stated to be a substitute for her own custodial battles over and MissingMom nature towards her own daughter.son. Takes on a slightly weird edge when it comes to Dirk, in that she appears to view herself as a mother-figure to him while simultaneously kind of falling in love with him at the same time.
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None
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* TrueCompanions: In the "replacement family" sense - albeit quite an [[{{Squick}} incestuous]] one. Amber and Jack act as TeamMom and [[TeamDad Dad]], [[BigBrotherMentor Reed]] and [[BigLittleBrother Dirk]] are the brothers who [[SiblingRivalry start out wary of each other]] but [[SiblingTeam end up working together]], and Rollergirl is the daughter that never cleans her room. Kurt's the HonoraryUncle. All work out their respective issues with their birth families through this shared bond. These deeply meaningful bonds [[spoiler:are especially clear at the end of the movie after they've settled their differences and reunited.]]
to:
* TrueCompanions: In the "replacement family" sense - albeit quite an [[{{Squick}} incestuous]] one. Amber and Jack act as TeamMom and [[TeamDad Dad]], [[BigBrotherMentor Reed]] and [[BigLittleBrother Dirk]] are the brothers who [[SiblingRivalry start out wary of each other]] but [[SiblingTeam end up working together]], and Rollergirl is the daughter that never cleans her room. Kurt's the HonoraryUncle. All work out their respective issues with their birth families through this shared bond. These deeply meaningful bonds felt relationships [[spoiler:are especially clear at the end of the movie after they've settled their differences and reunited.]]
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* TrueCompanions: All the main characters share a close bond, with many of them working out their respective family issues through this shared bond. Considering what they all do, it ''should'' be slightly {{squick}}y, but it's done so well that, at the end, you really just feel happy for all of them having each other.
to:
* TrueCompanions: All In the main characters share a close bond, with many "replacement family" sense - albeit quite an [[{{Squick}} incestuous]] one. Amber and Jack act as TeamMom and [[TeamDad Dad]], [[BigBrotherMentor Reed]] and [[BigLittleBrother Dirk]] are the brothers who [[SiblingRivalry start out wary of them each other]] but [[SiblingTeam end up working together]], and Rollergirl is the daughter that never cleans her room. Kurt's the HonoraryUncle. All work out their respective family issues with their birth families through this shared bond. Considering what they all do, it ''should'' be slightly {{squick}}y, but it's done so well that, These deeply meaningful bonds [[spoiler:are especially clear at the end, you really just feel happy for all end of them having each other.the movie after they've settled their differences and reunited.]]
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Let\'s make this less argumentative and preachy and more informative and trope-relevant.
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* TechnologyMarchesOn: Horner has a problem using videotape to film. The rest of the industry doesn't.
** It's not that he doesn't know how to use it; it's that it limits the quality of the image and he feels it "cheapens" the whole industry, and in truth, he kind of has a point. Even if it's porn, they are FILM makers. With hand held cam corders any monkey can make movies. In-universe it's shown that his studio cares to have actual plots even tough they stick to making porn, videotape opened the doors to just showing people having sex.
** It's not that he doesn't know how to use it; it's that it limits the quality of the image and he feels it "cheapens" the whole industry, and in truth, he kind of has a point. Even if it's porn, they are FILM makers. With hand held cam corders any monkey can make movies. In-universe it's shown that his studio cares to have actual plots even tough they stick to making porn, videotape opened the doors to just showing people having sex.
to:
* TechnologyMarchesOn: Horner has a problem distaste for using videotape to film. The rest of the industry doesn't.
** It's notHe dislikes that he doesn't know how to use it; it's that it video limits the quality of the image and he feels image, as well as the fact that it "cheapens" opens the market up to any amateur that can stick a cassette in a camera, cheapening the whole industry, and in truth, he kind of has a point. Even if it's porn, they are FILM makers. With hand held cam corders any monkey can make movies. In-universe it's shown that his studio cares to have actual plots even tough they stick to making porn, videotape opened the doors to just showing people having sex.industry.
** It's not
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** Amber's documentary about Dirk also qualifies.
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** Amber's documentary about Dirk also qualifies.
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* IncestSubtext: Very heavy between Amber and Dirk.
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* HookersAndBlow: It's a story set in the porn industry covering the years 1976 to 1984. What did you expect? Sunshine and lollipops?
to:
* HookersAndBlow: It's a story set in the porn industry covering the years 1976 1977 to 1984. What did you expect? Sunshine and lollipops?
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None
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** Several elements of the film (including settings) were from a documentary called "Exhausted": the John Holmes story. [[Here is Anderson commentating over that film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUEvkk_-lSA&feature=player_embedded]].
to:
** Several elements of the film (including settings) were from a documentary called "Exhausted": the John Holmes story. [[Here is Anderson commentating over that film http://www.[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUEvkk_-lSA&feature=player_embedded]].com/watch?v=ZUEvkk_-lSA Here is Anderson commentating over that film]].
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** Several elements of the film (including settings) were from a documentary called "Exhausted": the John Holmes story. [[Here is Anderson commentating over that film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUEvkk_-lSA&feature=player_embedded]].
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* AllStarCast: MarkWahlberg, Burt Reynolds, JulianneMoore, HeatherGraham, Don Cheadle and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
to:
* AllStarCast: MarkWahlberg, Burt Reynolds, JulianneMoore, HeatherGraham, Don Cheadle Cheadle, John C. Reilly, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
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None
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''Boogie Nights'' (1997) is PaulThomasAnderson's exploration of the [[TheSeventies '70s]] and [[TheEighties 80's]] porn industry, focusing on a John Holmes {{expy}} named Dirk Diggler (MarkWahlberg).
to:
''Boogie Nights'' (1997) is PaulThomasAnderson's Creator/PaulThomasAnderson's exploration of the [[TheSeventies '70s]] and [[TheEighties 80's]] porn industry, focusing on a John Holmes {{expy}} named Dirk Diggler (MarkWahlberg).
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trope names in trope lists are not supposed to be potholed
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* [[RunningGag Running]] [[IncrediblyLamePun Gag]] [[GagPenis Penis]]: Dirk's.
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* [[RunningGag Running]] [[IncrediblyLamePun Gag]] RunningGag [[GagPenis Penis]]: Dirk's.
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* DisposableSexWorker: The film is centred around sex workers, and the story explores them as three dimensional characters. However, while the story itself doesn't view sex workers as disposable an in-universe example has some suggestions about the porn industry as a whole could (can?) display a tendency towards this mindset; a girl, heavily implied to be both underage and either a sex worker herself or one of the Colonel's regular girlfriends, suffers a bad reaction to some bad drugs she's given during the early party scene, and while the guy who gave her the drugs freaks out, everyone else seems to view the fact that she's on the floor bleeding copiously as a minor inconvenience at most. She's last seen being carried away from the party as if she were trash to be disposed of.
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None
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* TheWoobie: Scotty J.
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Not a gag
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* GagPenis: The whole story begins thanks to Diggler's larger than average junk, which the camera cuts away from everytime they are about to show it. [[spoiler: The audience gets a good half minute of seeing it at the end]].
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No - from good to bad
Deleted line(s) 35 (click to see context) :
* FromBadToWorse: The advent of home video in the 80s ushers in a very dark period for everyone.
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* FromBadToWorse: The advent of home video in the 80s ushers in a very dark period for everyone.
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* ItGotWorse: The advent of home video in the 80s ushers in a very dark period for everyone.
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** It's not that he doesn't know how to use it; it's that it limits the quality of the image and he feels it "cheapens" the whole industry, and in truth, he kind of has a point. Even if it's porn, they are FILM makers. With hand held cam corders any monkey can make movies. In-universe it's shown that his studio cares to have actual plots even tough they stick to making porn, videotape opened the doors to just showing people having sex.
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Added Star Wars shoutout
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** The TK-421 Hi-Fi installation Buck Rogers tries to sell is named after the Stormtrooper guarding the Millenium Falcon in StarWars, which is later discussed by Dirk and Reed.
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** In a non-porn related example, Reed Rothchild shows off his magic skills to Kurt, who seems less than impressed. Kurt is played by Ricky Jay, a professional magician.
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* DomesticAbuse: A deleted subplot featured one of the porn stars, Becky, get out of the industry through marriage only for her husband to turn out to be a violently insecure man who would beat her. It was removed after the director felt that seeing ''all'' of the characters have horrible lives would have been too depressing.
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None
* GutPunch: The movie is rather light-hearted and comedic for the first half, until the 1979-1980 New Year's Party scene [[spoiler: where Amber introduces Dirk to cocaine, and Little Bill finally snaps and shoots his philandering wife, her lover and himself dead]]. From this point on, things get a lot darker.
Deleted line(s) 70 (click to see context) :
* ToneShift: The movie is rather light-hearted and comedic for the first half, until the 1979-1980 New Year's Party scene [[spoiler: where Amber introduces Dirk to cocaine, and Little Bill finally snaps and shoots his philandering wife, her lover and himself dead]]. From this point on, things get a lot darker.
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None
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* AllStarCast
to:
* AllStarCastAllStarCast: MarkWahlberg, Burt Reynolds, JulianneMoore, HeatherGraham, Don Cheadle and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
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* PornNames: Dirk's original name was Eddie Adams.
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* PornNames: Dirk's original name was Eddie Adams. There's also Amber Waves (her real name is Maggie).
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* StalkerWithACrush: Scotty J towards Dirk. Unlike most examples of this trope, however, [[spoiler: he doesn't turn psychotic when Dirk turns him down]].
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None
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''BoogieNights'' (1997) is PaulThomasAnderson's exploration of the [[TheSeventies '70s]] and [[TheEighties 80's]] porn industry, focusing on a John Holmes {{expy}} named Dirk Diggler (MarkWahlberg).
to:
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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/l_148873_0118749_959bd040_3330.jpg]]
->''"[[ArcWords I'm a star. I am a big, bright, shining star]]."''
-->-- '''[[AlliterativeName Dirk]] [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Diggler]]'''
''BoogieNights'' (1997) is PaulThomasAnderson's exploration of the [[TheSeventies '70s]] and [[TheEighties 80's]] porn industry, focusing on a John Holmes {{expy}} named Dirk Diggler (MarkWahlberg).
----
!!This film provides examples of:
* AbusiveParents: Eddie/Dirk's mom (and his dad for not interfering).
* ActorAllusion: Several RealLife porn performers had [[TheCameo cameos]]. Nina Hartley appeared in several scenes as Little Bill's faithless wife. Veronica Hart is the judge at Amber Waves' custody hearing. More recent porn star Lil' Cinderella (credited as Amber Hunter) and Lexi Leigh have bit parts. Summer Cummings and Skye Blue share a Jacuzzi.
* AllStarCast
* {{Angrish}}:
-->'''Little Bill''': My fucking wife has an ass in her cock over in the driveway, alright?
* AteHisGun: Little Bill.
* BadBadActing: All the characters in their movie-within-a-movie porn performances, Amber Waves' affectless "that is a giant cock" being a good example.
* BerserkButton: Never insult Jack Horner's films.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Rollergirl.
* BiggusDickus: Basically the only thing Dirk has going for him, despite his constant attempts to prove otherwise.
* ClusterFBomb
* CoitusUninterruptus: {{Subverted}} with Little Bill's wife.
* CulturalRebel: Buck Swope, Don Cheadle's character, is a fan of country/western music, to the point that he wears cowboy hats and shirts with fringes (the whole Roy Rogers getup). Remember, he's played by Don Cheadle
* CurbStompBattle: Literally. [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown With roller skates]]. [[LaserGuidedKarma Asshole deserved it]].
* DeusExMachina: In a donut shop!
* DirtyOldMan: Colonel James. [[spoiler: This point is driven home rather well when we see him in prison.]]
* DoingItForTheArt: What Horner wants to do… or at least get people to stay in their seats after they've finished what they came for.
* DoNotCallMePaul: After Eddie Adams takes the stage name of "Dirk Diggler" he insists that everyone call him that all the time.
* DumbIsGood: Almost all of Jack Horner's cast members exude sweetness and amiable natures. But none of them are the sharpest tools in the box. Especially not the bumbling, loveable oaf that is Reed Rothchild.
* DrugsAreBad: ''Especially'' if you have to give handjobs and get the crap kicked out of you to feed your habit.
* EndOfAnAge: How the changing porn industry is depicted.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Rollergirl.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: 'Evil' might be a bit strong, but while Jack Horner has little problem with the Colonel's obvious penchant for teenage girls who are clearly somewhere below the statutory age-of-consent limit, he is utterly disgusted and breaks with him completely upon discovering that the Colonel's tastes extend to pre-pubescent children.
* FanService: God bless you, HeatherGraham. And God bless you, as well, JulianneMoore.
* GagPenis: The whole story begins thanks to Diggler's larger than average junk, which the camera cuts away from everytime they are about to show it. [[spoiler: The audience gets a good half minute of seeing it at the end]].
* HookersAndBlow: It's a story set in the porn industry covering the years 1976 to 1984. What did you expect? Sunshine and lollipops?
* IHaveManyNames: Eddie Adams > Dirk Diggler > Brock Landers.
* IconicItem: Rollergirl's skates.
* [[IKnowKarate I Know Fucking Karate]]: He's an actor in action themed porn movies. ''Of course'' Dirk Diggler knows karate.
** His BruceLee posters tips off the viewer.
* ItGotWorse: The advent of home video in the 80s ushers in a very dark period for everyone.
* IWasBornReady: Dirk says this twice.
* JerkAss: Most, if not, all of the characters. But especially Dirk and Jack.
* KitschyLocalCommercial: The audio store commercial.
* KubrickStare: In the lead-up to the botched drug heist, Dirk has one of these.
* MaleFrontalNudity
* MeaningfulName: Of course they're meaningful. They're ''porn'' names.
* MedleyExit: Set to [[TheBeachBoys ''God Only Knows'']].
* MoodDissonance: The Drug Heist scene is a masterclass in MoodDissonance, managing to be unbearably tense, terrifying, surreal and hilarious all at the same time.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Dirk Diggler is clearly based upon John Holmes, from his prodigious member, to the botched drug heist that was an allusion to the Wonderland murders. Dirk even mentions Holmes at one point.
** Similarly, Amber Waves' custodial problems were inspired by those that Veronica Hart went through. Hart even has a cameo as the judge presiding over Amber's case.
* OhCrap: The look on Rollergirl's face when, after kneeling to give Eddie Adams a blow job, she unzips his fly and sees what she has to deal with.
** "You're Brandy, right?"
* TheOner: The opening shot of the movie, and the next-to-last shot, forming BookEnds. Other long takes in the movie include the pool party scene and the end-of-the-70s New Year's party.
* PornNames: Dirk's original name was Eddie Adams.
** Inverted when Buck opens his stereo store called "Buck's Super Cool Stereo Store" and Maurice opens the "Rodriques Brothers Night Club". Both have very unclever names.
* RemakeCameo: Michael Stein, who appears as the stereo store customer, played Dirk Diggler in ''The Dirk Diggler Story'', P.T. Anderson's 1988 short film that was expanded into this movie (also, Robert Ridgely played Jack Horner in the short).
* [[RunningGag Running]] [[IncrediblyLamePun Gag]] [[GagPenis Penis]]: Dirk's.
* RoundTableShot: The scene where Dirk, Reed, and Todd plot their visit to Rahad Jackson's house.
* ShapedLikeItself: "See this system here? This is Hi-Fi... high fidelity. What that means is that it's the highest quality fidelity"
* ShoutOut:
** The party scene where the camera wanders through Jack's home and dives into the pool is a homage to a similar sequence in ''I Am Cuba/Soy Cuba''.
** The final shot of this movie is basically the same as the final shot of RagingBull, just in color, with Mark Wahlberg instead of De Niro, and featuring a GagPenis.
** At one point of the movie, Dirk joins a group disco dance lifted straight from ''SaturdayNightFever''.
* ShowWithinAShow: Several of Dirk's starring vehicles; also, ''The Dirk Diggler Story''.
* StylisticSuck: Dirk's ill-advised foray into music, made funnier when you bear in mind Mark Wahlberg's previous life in The Funky Bunch.
** Not to mention that the clips from the porn movies being filmed are absolutely dripping with this trope, which is to be expected when you consider that they're making porn here.
* SurvivalMantra: ''"I'm a star. I'm a star. I'm a big, bright, shining star."''
* TeamMom: Amber takes many of the younger stars in Jack's employ under her wing and mothers them, in what is all but outright stated to be a substitute for her own custodial battles over and MissingMom nature towards her own daughter. Takes on a slightly weird edge when it comes to Dirk, in that she appears to view herself as a mother-figure to him while simultaneously kind of falling in love with him at the same time.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: Horner has a problem using videotape to film. The rest of the industry doesn't.
* ToneShift: The movie is rather light-hearted and comedic for the first half, until the 1979-1980 New Year's Party scene [[spoiler: where Amber introduces Dirk to cocaine, and Little Bill finally snaps and shoots his philandering wife, her lover and himself dead]]. From this point on, things get a lot darker.
* TrueCompanions: All the main characters share a close bond, with many of them working out their respective family issues through this shared bond. Considering what they all do, it ''should'' be slightly {{squick}}y, but it's done so well that, at the end, you really just feel happy for all of them having each other.
** TruthInTelevision: Due to all the prejudice they face, most porn stars only have friends in the business, and many of them can't even talk to their families anymore. Note that this is still true as of right now.
----
->''"[[ArcWords I'm a star. I am a big, bright, shining star]]."''
-->-- '''[[AlliterativeName Dirk]] [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Diggler]]'''
''BoogieNights'' (1997) is PaulThomasAnderson's exploration of the [[TheSeventies '70s]] and [[TheEighties 80's]] porn industry, focusing on a John Holmes {{expy}} named Dirk Diggler (MarkWahlberg).
----
!!This film provides examples of:
* AbusiveParents: Eddie/Dirk's mom (and his dad for not interfering).
* ActorAllusion: Several RealLife porn performers had [[TheCameo cameos]]. Nina Hartley appeared in several scenes as Little Bill's faithless wife. Veronica Hart is the judge at Amber Waves' custody hearing. More recent porn star Lil' Cinderella (credited as Amber Hunter) and Lexi Leigh have bit parts. Summer Cummings and Skye Blue share a Jacuzzi.
* AllStarCast
* {{Angrish}}:
-->'''Little Bill''': My fucking wife has an ass in her cock over in the driveway, alright?
* AteHisGun: Little Bill.
* BadBadActing: All the characters in their movie-within-a-movie porn performances, Amber Waves' affectless "that is a giant cock" being a good example.
* BerserkButton: Never insult Jack Horner's films.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Rollergirl.
* BiggusDickus: Basically the only thing Dirk has going for him, despite his constant attempts to prove otherwise.
* ClusterFBomb
* CoitusUninterruptus: {{Subverted}} with Little Bill's wife.
* CulturalRebel: Buck Swope, Don Cheadle's character, is a fan of country/western music, to the point that he wears cowboy hats and shirts with fringes (the whole Roy Rogers getup). Remember, he's played by Don Cheadle
* CurbStompBattle: Literally. [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown With roller skates]]. [[LaserGuidedKarma Asshole deserved it]].
* DeusExMachina: In a donut shop!
* DirtyOldMan: Colonel James. [[spoiler: This point is driven home rather well when we see him in prison.]]
* DoingItForTheArt: What Horner wants to do… or at least get people to stay in their seats after they've finished what they came for.
* DoNotCallMePaul: After Eddie Adams takes the stage name of "Dirk Diggler" he insists that everyone call him that all the time.
* DumbIsGood: Almost all of Jack Horner's cast members exude sweetness and amiable natures. But none of them are the sharpest tools in the box. Especially not the bumbling, loveable oaf that is Reed Rothchild.
* DrugsAreBad: ''Especially'' if you have to give handjobs and get the crap kicked out of you to feed your habit.
* EndOfAnAge: How the changing porn industry is depicted.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Rollergirl.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: 'Evil' might be a bit strong, but while Jack Horner has little problem with the Colonel's obvious penchant for teenage girls who are clearly somewhere below the statutory age-of-consent limit, he is utterly disgusted and breaks with him completely upon discovering that the Colonel's tastes extend to pre-pubescent children.
* FanService: God bless you, HeatherGraham. And God bless you, as well, JulianneMoore.
* GagPenis: The whole story begins thanks to Diggler's larger than average junk, which the camera cuts away from everytime they are about to show it. [[spoiler: The audience gets a good half minute of seeing it at the end]].
* HookersAndBlow: It's a story set in the porn industry covering the years 1976 to 1984. What did you expect? Sunshine and lollipops?
* IHaveManyNames: Eddie Adams > Dirk Diggler > Brock Landers.
* IconicItem: Rollergirl's skates.
* [[IKnowKarate I Know Fucking Karate]]: He's an actor in action themed porn movies. ''Of course'' Dirk Diggler knows karate.
** His BruceLee posters tips off the viewer.
* ItGotWorse: The advent of home video in the 80s ushers in a very dark period for everyone.
* IWasBornReady: Dirk says this twice.
* JerkAss: Most, if not, all of the characters. But especially Dirk and Jack.
* KitschyLocalCommercial: The audio store commercial.
* KubrickStare: In the lead-up to the botched drug heist, Dirk has one of these.
* MaleFrontalNudity
* MeaningfulName: Of course they're meaningful. They're ''porn'' names.
* MedleyExit: Set to [[TheBeachBoys ''God Only Knows'']].
* MoodDissonance: The Drug Heist scene is a masterclass in MoodDissonance, managing to be unbearably tense, terrifying, surreal and hilarious all at the same time.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Dirk Diggler is clearly based upon John Holmes, from his prodigious member, to the botched drug heist that was an allusion to the Wonderland murders. Dirk even mentions Holmes at one point.
** Similarly, Amber Waves' custodial problems were inspired by those that Veronica Hart went through. Hart even has a cameo as the judge presiding over Amber's case.
* OhCrap: The look on Rollergirl's face when, after kneeling to give Eddie Adams a blow job, she unzips his fly and sees what she has to deal with.
** "You're Brandy, right?"
* TheOner: The opening shot of the movie, and the next-to-last shot, forming BookEnds. Other long takes in the movie include the pool party scene and the end-of-the-70s New Year's party.
* PornNames: Dirk's original name was Eddie Adams.
** Inverted when Buck opens his stereo store called "Buck's Super Cool Stereo Store" and Maurice opens the "Rodriques Brothers Night Club". Both have very unclever names.
* RemakeCameo: Michael Stein, who appears as the stereo store customer, played Dirk Diggler in ''The Dirk Diggler Story'', P.T. Anderson's 1988 short film that was expanded into this movie (also, Robert Ridgely played Jack Horner in the short).
* [[RunningGag Running]] [[IncrediblyLamePun Gag]] [[GagPenis Penis]]: Dirk's.
* RoundTableShot: The scene where Dirk, Reed, and Todd plot their visit to Rahad Jackson's house.
* ShapedLikeItself: "See this system here? This is Hi-Fi... high fidelity. What that means is that it's the highest quality fidelity"
* ShoutOut:
** The party scene where the camera wanders through Jack's home and dives into the pool is a homage to a similar sequence in ''I Am Cuba/Soy Cuba''.
** The final shot of this movie is basically the same as the final shot of RagingBull, just in color, with Mark Wahlberg instead of De Niro, and featuring a GagPenis.
** At one point of the movie, Dirk joins a group disco dance lifted straight from ''SaturdayNightFever''.
* ShowWithinAShow: Several of Dirk's starring vehicles; also, ''The Dirk Diggler Story''.
* StylisticSuck: Dirk's ill-advised foray into music, made funnier when you bear in mind Mark Wahlberg's previous life in The Funky Bunch.
** Not to mention that the clips from the porn movies being filmed are absolutely dripping with this trope, which is to be expected when you consider that they're making porn here.
* SurvivalMantra: ''"I'm a star. I'm a star. I'm a big, bright, shining star."''
* TeamMom: Amber takes many of the younger stars in Jack's employ under her wing and mothers them, in what is all but outright stated to be a substitute for her own custodial battles over and MissingMom nature towards her own daughter. Takes on a slightly weird edge when it comes to Dirk, in that she appears to view herself as a mother-figure to him while simultaneously kind of falling in love with him at the same time.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: Horner has a problem using videotape to film. The rest of the industry doesn't.
* ToneShift: The movie is rather light-hearted and comedic for the first half, until the 1979-1980 New Year's Party scene [[spoiler: where Amber introduces Dirk to cocaine, and Little Bill finally snaps and shoots his philandering wife, her lover and himself dead]]. From this point on, things get a lot darker.
* TrueCompanions: All the main characters share a close bond, with many of them working out their respective family issues through this shared bond. Considering what they all do, it ''should'' be slightly {{squick}}y, but it's done so well that, at the end, you really just feel happy for all of them having each other.
** TruthInTelevision: Due to all the prejudice they face, most porn stars only have friends in the business, and many of them can't even talk to their families anymore. Note that this is still true as of right now.
----
