History YMMV / Showgirls

* CrossesTheLineTwice: The whole movie is so relentlessly ''sleazy'' that it winds up becoming this trope.

* FetishRetardant: Arguably the TropeCodifier, given the film's reputation. The bad acting and equally bad writing make what was supposed to be a titillating movie the opposite of its intentions. Even disregarding those factors, various scenes in the film, most infamously the pool sex scene, generally just look straight-up awkward to find arousing.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: ''Series/SiskelAndEbert'' tore into the film for completely wasting a chance to show that the NC-17 rating wasn't just a way to slip porn into regular theaters. ''Especially'' since this was the first, and to date the ''only'', NC-17 film to have a wide release in the US.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: ''Showgirls'' was originally supposed to be a pro-feminist commentary about women who work as strippers. Some suspect the movie's [[DarkerAndEdgier dark tone]] is a result of the writers and producers invoking this trope. Part and parcel of why this movie is a CultClassic or filled with BileFascination is that there is SOMETHING this movie wants to say, but it has no idea what stance it wants to take nor does it know how or what it really wants to say. For every point the movie makes, there's about three fingers against why that stance is a bad one/hypocritical/naive.

* CultClassic: Not ''quite'' at ''Film/TheRoom'' level, but it has a devoted following who consider it high {{Camp}} entertainment, and there are still screenings of the film in major cities today. Elizabeth Berkley herself [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk8XR3U71D0 attended a Los Angeles screening in 2015]], and even Creator/KyleMacLachlan was happy that the film took on a strange life of its own.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Definitely. Not only is it the first and so far only NC-17 film to receive a wide theatrical release, but it's full of nudity from Nomi and other characters. Then again, with a film name like ''Showgirls'', there was likely some intention to this.

* FoeYay: Nomi and Cristal mostly, although by the end of the film it's not even subtext anymore.
-->'''Nomi:''' I hate you.
-->'''Cristal:''' ''(smiles)'' I know.

%%* FanPreferredCouple: Nomi and Molly are interpreted to be a couple due to the closeness between them.(Zero context- Does not mention a creator preferred one, which is needed to count as a Fan-Preferred Couple)

* FanPreferredCouple: Nomi and Molly are interpreted to be a couple due to the closeness between them.

* WhatAnIdiot: Andrew Carver is too cruel for his own good when it came to Molly, who was a big fan and was excited to have sex with him.
** '''You'd Expect''': If Carver had some sort of rape fetish, he'd inform Molly, and make sure the whole thing was SafeSaneAndConsensual before going to town.
** '''Instead''': He calls his guards, punches her in the nose, and gang-rapes her like a monster. Needless to say, he got his comeuppance for this part, but this was arguably a WhatAnIdiot moment for Joe Eszterhas, who wrote this scene, since the film helped [[CreatorKiller destroy his career.]][[note]] On a side note, when WebVideo/CinemaSins did this film, they gave '''69 million sins''' for this scene since it was unnecessary, brutal and managed to hit the website's BerserkButton. [[/note]]
** '''However''': This could be TruthInTelevision. A pathological sadist will prefer actual — non-consensual — cruelty over the role-play variety. This type of sadism is part of the dark tetrad, and it’s very different from the fun-loving kinkster variety. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_triad#Dark_tetrad]]

** When James and Nomi first meet, they dance to Music/DavidBowie's "I'm Afraid of Americans," of all songs.