History YMMV / Hustlers

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
** Much like the article that inspired the film, the strippers fall into this considering that they become criminals by drugging and robbing men (including the innocent Doug) and only received light sentences. This is being presented as empowering and inspiring whereas the reaction would've been ''much worse'' if the genders were reversed.
** Ramona moreso because she cons the aforementioned Doug despite all the shit he went through (see MoralEventHorizon above and TheWoobie below). Notably, Destiny turns on her after this.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Destiny and Ramona have a cute moment where they compare themselves to Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, with them arguing over who gets to be Kobe. This became incredibly tragic only months later when Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash, along with his young daughter.

* DracoInLeatherPants: People seem to forget that the vast majority of the men that the strippers in ''Hustlers'' targeted are Wall Street ilk who are shown to indeed be implicated in financial corruption, but get away with it due to their ill-gotten wealth. Although Ramona in particular crosses lines, as with Doug, it's unfair to act as though the girls' targets were garden-variety douchebags. ''At least'' one of their customers was inarguably a rapist (the man who tricked Destiny into giving him oral sex by feeding her lots of coke and a lie about money), and from what we've seen and know, it's not hard to imagine that there was more than one like him.

* RonTheDeathEater: Many go overboard with the hate towards the strippers, ignoring that the reason they turn to robbing is because they were hit extremely hard by a global recession, two of them were single mothers with daughters to provide for and they're shown having difficulties getting honest, responsible work (Ramona and Mercedes have to work in retail for a BadBoss who won't let Ramona switch shifts so she can pick her daughter up from school, Destiny can't even get hired because of her lack of experience). Ramona likewise had a business plan to bring in income for when she was too old to be a stripper (her planned fashion line), which also was derailed by the recession. Similarly, Annabelle was completely disowned by her family after they found out she worked as a stripper and had nowhere else to go. And even in stripping, they still have to deal with customers like the man who cons Destiny out of money. The movie does not ignore the wrongs that the strippers commit, but also shows that their reasons were extremely complicated.

* AwardSnub: Despite the positive critical reception and Oscar buzz surrounding Jennifer Lopez (see SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct below) the movie failed to receive a single Oscar nomination, a snub that was widely criticized by many media outlets.

* RonTheDeathEater: Many go overboard with the hate towards the strippers, ignoring that the reason they turn to robbing is because they were hit extremely hard by a global recession, two of them were single mothers with daughters to provide for and they're shown having difficulties getting honest, responsible work (Ramona and Mercedes have to work in retail for a BadBoss who won't let Ramona switch shifts so she can pick her daughter up from school, Destiny can't even get hired because of her lack of experience). Ramona likewise had a business plan to bring in income for when she was too old to be a stripper (her planned fashion line), which also was derailed by the recession. And even in stripping, they still have to deal with customers like the man who cons Destiny out of money. The movie does not ignore the wrongs that the strippers commit, but also shows that their reasons were extremely complicated.

* AwardSnub: Despite the positive critical reception and Oscar buzz surrounding Jennifer Lopez (see SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct below) the movie failed to receive a single Oscar nomination, a snub that was widely criticised by many media outlets.

** This is the movie about strippers who rob people. Much like ''Film/MagicMike'', much of the story is in fact about the strippers' lives outside their work, but of course the sexy outfits is what drew the most attention.
** Jennifer Lopez does a pole dance routine wearing barely anything. There's a reason it's the movie's signature scene.

* GirlShowGhetto: While the movie's box office return and critical acclaim defies the trope, the fact that this was passed over for any award nominations is questionable. The female centered story revolving around sex work may have been a contributing factor.

** Many of the reviews have praised Creator/JenniferLopez's performance as Ramona, with [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hustlers-movie-review-2019 Christy Lemire's review calling it]] "Lopez’s best screen work since her early heyday of ''Film/{{Selena}}'' and ''Film/OutOfSight''", while [[https://www.indiewire.com/2019/09/tiff-2019-critics-survey-toronto-best-films-performances-parasite-adam-driver-1202174083/ IndieWire's Critics Survey of the 2019 Toronto Film Festival saw it ranked the best female performance (and 4th best performance outright)]], and numerous other outlets suggesting Lopez could be a serious Oscar contender.

** While Lili Reinhart was considered one of the better cast members of ''{{Series/Riverdale}}'', her character was considered an annoying CreatorsPet. As such, it was a pleasant surprise to see her play someone more flawed, funnier and in a generally different type of project.

* HypeBacklash: After all the positive attention towards Jennifer Lopez's performance, many walked away saying that while it was better than her usually panned acting, her work didn't live up to the talk surrounding it.

* RonTheDeathEater: Many go overboard with the hate towards the strippers, ignoring that the reason they turn to robbing is because they were hit extremely hard by a global recession, two of them were single mothers with daughters to provide for and they're shown having difficulties getting honest, responsible work (Ramona and Mercedes have to work in retail for a BadBoss who won't let Ramona switch shifts so she can pick her daughter up from school, Destiny can't even get hired because of her lack of experience). And even in stripping, they still have to deal with customers like the man who cons Destiny out of money. The movie does not ignore the wrongs that the strippers commit, but also shows that their reasons were extremely complicated.

** Romana's motivations are often left ambiguous. Is Destiny her MoralityPet or a tool for her scams? For that matter, are the rest of the women "strays" she's helping or just people more willing to follow her orders? [[spoiler: The ending resolves it. MoralityPet through and through.]]

* UnfortunateImplications: While the film is okay, it also gives off the wrong impression amongst viewers that "all single mothers/strippers are thieves" and that it was still exceptional if men did the drugging and stealing of their victims. The fact that the two main characters are of different ethnicity didn't help either.

** Many of the reviews have praised Creator/JenniferLopez's performance as Ramona, with [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hustlers-movie-review-2019 Christy Lemire's review calling it]] "Lopez’s best screen work since her early heyday of]] ''Film/{{Selena}}'' and ''Film/OutOfSight''", while [[https://www.indiewire.com/2019/09/tiff-2019-critics-survey-toronto-best-films-performances-parasite-adam-driver-1202174083/ IndieWire's Critics Survey of the 2019 Toronto Film Festival saw it ranked the best female performance (and 4th best performance outright)]], and numerous other outlets suggesting Lopez could be a serious Oscar contender.

* SpiritualAdaptation: In some ways, this can be considered a stealth remake of ''Film/TheBlingRing'' - also about real life girls who robbed people, with a FramingDevice being an interview with a magazine reporter. ''Hustlers'' seems to win out, with the higher Box Office return and critical acclaim.

** Destiny spends much of her interview laying out her reasons and justifications for her crimes. Yet the second Elizabeth states that she thinks the strippers were in the right, Destiny admits that what they were doing wasn't as honorable as she likes to pretend. Is she trying to convince Elizabeth or is she trying to convince ''herself.''

* GirlShowGhetto: While the movie's Box Office return and critical acclaim defies the trope, the fact that this was passed over for any award nominations is questionable. The female centered story revolving around sex work may have been a contributing factor.

* [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct She Really Can Act]]: Many of the reviews have praised Creator/JenniferLopez's performance as Ramona, with [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hustlers-movie-review-2019 Christy Lemire's review calling it]] "Lopez’s best screen work since her early heyday of]] ''Film/{{Selena}}'' and ''Film/OutOfSight''", while [[https://www.indiewire.com/2019/09/tiff-2019-critics-survey-toronto-best-films-performances-parasite-adam-driver-1202174083/ IndieWire's Critics Survey of the 2019 Toronto Film Festival saw it ranked the best female performance (and 4th best performance outright)]], and numerous other outlets suggesting Lopez could be a serious Oscar contender.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: The morality of the strippers is a subject of debate both in and out of universe.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Oh yes.

* TheWoobie: Doug. His house burned down, his wife left when she found out [[ParentalAbandonment their son was autistic]], and he only went to the club because his buddies wanted to give him a good night to relax. He's one of the only victims that the audience is intended to empathize with (and out of the main characters only Destiny feels bad about it) and yet [[MoralEventHorizon Ramona cons him all the same.]]

* CriticalDissonance: The film's score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics is 88%, while the audience score is 66%. It's a {{downplayed}} example though, as the audience reception is still 'Fresh'.

* HarsherInHindsight: A movie involving strippers drugging and robbing men is made worse after Cardi B (who is in the movie) faced a lot of backlash for admitting to doing similar things in the past when she was a stripper and justified it by saying that she had to do it to survive.

* [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct She Really Can Act]]: Many of the reviews have praised Jennifer Lopez's performance as Ramona, with [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hustlers-movie-review-2019 Christy Lemire's review calling it 'Lopez’s best screen work since her early heyday of “Selena” and “Out of Sight”']], while [[https://www.indiewire.com/2019/09/tiff-2019-critics-survey-toronto-best-films-performances-parasite-adam-driver-1202174083/ IndieWire's Critics Survey of the 2019 Toronto Film Festival saw it ranked the best female performance (and 4th best performance outright)]], and numerous other outlets suggesting Lopez could be a serious Oscar contender.

* [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct She Really Can Act]]: While her character actions in the film are morally questionable, many of the reviews have praised Jennifer Lopez's performance as Ramona, with [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hustlers-movie-review-2019 Christy Lemire's review calling it 'Lopez’s best screen work since her early heyday of “Selena” and “Out of Sight”']], while [[https://www.indiewire.com/2019/09/tiff-2019-critics-survey-toronto-best-films-performances-parasite-adam-driver-1202174083/ IndieWire's Critics Survey of the 2019 Toronto Film Festival saw it ranked the best female performance (and 4th best performance outright)]], and numerous other outlets suggesting Lopez could be a serious Oscar contender.

* DracoInLeatherPants: People seem to forget that the vast majority of the men that the strippers in ''Hustlers'' targeted are Wall Street ilk who are shown to indeed be implicated in financial corruption, but get away with it due to their ill-gotten wealth. Although Ramona in particular crosses lines, as with Doug, it's unfair to act as though the girls' targets were garden-variety douchebags. ''At least'' one of their customers was inarguably a rapist (the man who tricked Destiny into giving him oral sex by feeding her lots of coke and a lie about money), and from what we've seen and know, it's not hard to imagine that there was more than one like him.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Much like the article that inspired the film, the strippers fall into this considering that they become criminals by drugging and robbing men (including the innocent Doug) and only received light sentences. This is being presented as empowering and inspiring whereas the reaction would've been ''much worse'' if the genders were reversed.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Compare the YMMV page for this movie to that of ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'''s, which focuses on the type of character that the strippers in ''Hustlers'' drugged and robbed. Despite Jordan Belfort being a felon who beats his wife (and is based on a real-life criminal), there's still a lot of admiration for his "[[EvilIsCool coolness]]" even outside TV Tropes. On the other hand, people seem to forget that the vast majority of the men that the strippers in ''Hustlers'' targeted are Wall Street ilk who are shown to indeed be implicated in financial corruption, but get away with it due to their ill-gotten wealth. Although Ramona in particular crosses lines, as with Doug, it's unfair to act as though the girls' targets were garden-variety douchebags. ''At least'' one of their customers was inarguably a rapist (the man who tricked Destiny into giving him oral sex by feeding her lots of coke and a lie about money), and from what we've seen and know, it's not hard to imagine that there was more than one like him.

* KarmaHoudini: Despite stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars over several years, drugging dozens of men (putting their lives in danger), and ruining the life of at least one innocent person, the girls get almost no punishment: Destiny gets no jail time whatsoever, Ramona gets five years probation, and Annabelle and Mercedes get probation plus weekends in jail for four months.

* LesYay: ''So much'' between Ramona and Destiny, with the pair acting more like girlfriends than best friends, their affectionate nicknames like "baby" for each other and several lingering glances from one another. Although neither of them actually like [[GirlOnGirlIsHot having to get sexually intimate with each other,]] and it can be argued that their touchy-feely levels of comfort are the corollary of their line of work (with them wearing scarce clothing on work days, occasionally needing to teach other things that are genuinely valuable in the occupation such as lap-dancing, and the male customers frequently paying for FauxYay).

* LesYay: ''So much'' between Ramona and Destiny, with the pair acting more like girlfriends than best friends, their affectionate nicknames like "baby" for each other and several lingering glances from one another. Although neither of them actually like [[GirlOnGirlIsHot having to get sexually intimate with each other,]] and it can be argued that their touchy-feely levels of comfort are the corollary of their line of work (with them needing to wear scarce clothing, occasionally teach each other things that are genuinely valuable in the occupation such as lap-dancing, and the male customers frequently paying for FauxYay).