Macho Dancer is a 1988 Filipino drama film directed by Lino Brocka.
It focuses on Pol, a poor teenager from the rural Philippines who moves to Manila to provide for his family after his American lover abandons him. He becomes drawn into the world of gay prostitution through the mentorship of his call boy roommate Noel. Beneath all the campy, glittering dancing and shows, as well as Pol's growing love affair with a practical call girl named Bambi, something dark lurks. Noel tells Pol he is looking for his sister Pining and suspects that she has been sold into sexual slavery.
The film's depiction of sensitive topics caused it to be censored in the Philippines. Brocka personally smuggled a copy to Canada, where it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Tropes:
- This Bed of Rose's: After Pol is beaten by Kid, he is nursed back to health by his call girl dalliance Bambi.
- Bittersweet Ending: By the end of the film, Noel dies, but Pol is able to avenge him by killing Kid. Noel's sister Pining receives the money with which she can pursue an education. Pol returns back home, separated from Bambi but away from the seediness of Manila.
- But Now I Must Go: Disillusioned by his experiences in Manila, Pol decides to leave and return to the province at the end of the film. He asks Bambi to come with him, but she refuses.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Noel dies in the arms of his friend Pol during a dramatic rainstorm/shootout.
- Dirty Cop: Kid, a bigshot cop who acts as a local kingpin. He also owns a brothel where women are forced to become prostitutes.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Dismayed at his sister's apparent fate and jealous of Pol and Bambi's relationship, Noel engages in drugs and self-harm with other dancers.
- Guy on Guy Is Hot: Unsurprisingly featured in a film about the gay prostitute world. Many of the shows at Mama Charlie's rely on homoeroticism, such as Noel and Pol's routine where they bathe each other while simulating sex.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Both Noel and Bambi are good-hearted and practical sex workers.
- Red Light District: The film is set in a seedy area of Manila with a lot of brothels.
- Reset Button: Noel dies, Pining is freed, and Kid is killed, but the club Noel and Pol worked out of is simply rebranded, with no indication that the systemic abuse suffered by its dancers will stop.
- Sex Slave: Noel's suspicions are right: his sister was kidnapped and works as a sex slave in a brothel. The main characters free her but Noel dies in the attempt.
- Sex Tourism: Mama Charlie's is a Filipino gay brothel often frequented by white and Japanese expats and tourists.
