History Film / Showgirls

* SexForService: Most women, apparently, use this to achieve something in life. A few standout examples include Nomi and her boss, James and Penny and implied with Cristal.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Nomi. See AtLeastIAdmitItAbove.

* SexForFavour: The movie is rife with it. A few standout examples include Nomi and her boss, James and Penny and implied with Cristal.

* CrapsackWorld: Las Vegas

%%* {{Fanservice}}: The movie's sole ''raison d'être''.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted. James doesn't believe Nomi has her period, so she challenges him to check... and he does. ''With his fingers''. She wasn't lying.

* SleepingWithTheBoss: Nomi eventually sleeps with her new stage boss to get ahead (she had already given him a lapdance when she was still a stripper and not employed by him). The other girls call her out on this, because they have an unwritten rule against it.

''Showgirls'' was a 1995 sexploitation film written by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Creator/PaulVerhoeven. The only movie to receive a wide release under the NC-17 rating, this tale of the lives of Vegas strippers set to the plot of ''[[FortySecondStreet 42nd Street]]'' may have been partially responsible for the rating's decline; it was basically an X-rated movie that went through the ratings process (which actually isn't required for an X rating; anyone wanting to make an X-rated movie will gladly release it as such on their own). That said, however, when compared to the explicitness of today's cable television series even the unrated version of the movie would barely qualify for an R-rating today.

The film tells the tale of [[PunnyName Nomi Malone]] (Elizabeth Berkley), a country girl who hitchhikes to [[VivaLasVegas Las Vegas]] in hopes of becoming "a dancer" and eventually (after a lot of nudity, a lot of sleaze, a little violence, and a lot of choreographed numbers) making her way to the top.

* StaircaseTumble: [[e.ytmnd.com/ The one in this film]] ('''NSFW''') is infamous. [[spoiler:Cristal is shoved down the stairs by Nomi in a fit of pique.]]

* GratuitousRape: Molly is beaten and raped by a client right before she would have had sex with him anyway.

* ItsNotPornItsArt: This movie was originally intended to be a social commentary about women who work in the seedy underbelly of Vegas. That's not the reason [[ADateWithRosiePalms most]] [[SoBadItsGood people]] watch the movie, however.

%%* CampGay: Several of the male dancers

* MeaningfulName: Nomi Malone. Because she's trying to hide her past (No Me) and she feels all alone in the world (Malone).

* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: Nomi. [[Spoiler:We find out at the end of the film that her father killed her mother and then himself.]]

* StaircaseTumblel: e.ytmnd.com/ The one in this film]] ('''NSFW''') is infamous. [[spoiler:Cristal is shoved down the stairs by Nomi in a fit of pique.]]

%%* BlackBestFriend: Molly.

%%* BreakTheCutie: Poor, poor Molly.

%%* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: Nomi
%%* CrapsackWorld

%%* LameComeback: "''You're'' gonna jump to ''your'' conclusion!"

%%* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Andrew Carver is obviously inspired by Michael Bolton.

%%* StaircaseTumblele.ytmnd.com/ The one in this film]] ('''NSFW''') is infamous.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Andrew Carver whom Nomi viciously beats up because he and his bodyguard raped Molly.]]

Common reactions are split between thinking it's a campy, SoBadItsGood, CultClassic or just plain bad. On the one hand, it's fun and sexy and full of ridiculous dialogue; on the other hand, it's got a gratuitous brutal rape scene near the end for no discernible reason. It doesn't quite seem to know if it's a comedy or drama or a combination of the two or something else entirely, although some have called it a satire of the human condition and the relationships between women, a non-trashy movie about trashy people, a StealthParody of misogynistic exploitation films, [[OccamsRazor or simply a bad movie]].

''Showgirls'' was a 1995 sexploitation film written by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Creator/PaulVerhoeven. The only movie to receive a wide release under the NC-17 rating, this tale of the lives of Vegas strippers set to the plot of ''[[FortySecondStreet 42nd Street]]'' may have been partially responsible for the rating's decline; it was basically an X-rated movie that went through the ratings process (which actually isn't required for an X rating; anyone wanting to make an X-rated movie will gladly release it as such on their own).

* BelligerentSexualTension: A possible reason for the way Nomi and Cristal interact with each other.

%%* StaircaseTumble
* StrawMisogynist: Most men, apparently, only see women as sex objects.
%%* TwoPersonPoolParty: [[http://showgirlsualuealuealeuale.ytmnd.com/ The one in this film]] ('''NSFW''') is infamous.
%%* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: James with Nomi and Hope.

%%* AssholeVictim: Andrew Carver
%%* BabyTrap: Apparently, happened to James.

* GratuitousRape: Molly is beaten and raped by a client right before she would have had sex with him anyway. And the whole incident is irrelevant to the rest of the plot.
** What? No. The movie is terrible, but the rape scene has a very heavy load on the plot. It's what triggers Nomi to realize how deep in shit she is and decide to leave.