Showgirls - Fact vs. Fiction

There are some AWESOME Vegas movies out there.  Classics like "Casino", "Oceans Eleven" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".  There are also some TERRIBLE Vegas movies out there...like "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone", "3000 Miles To Graceland" and "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2".

I think it's fair to say that the film we're discussing in this episode falls somewhere in the middle.

Considered to be one of the biggest box office bombs of all time, Showgirls (written by Joe Eszterhas, directed by Paul Veerhoven, and starring Elizabeth Berkley) has morphed into a huge cult classic.

Thanks to a steady stream of nudity & gratuitous sex, the film was given an NC-17 rating and to this day, remains the only film with that rating to have had wide release in US movie theaters.  And although Showgirls wasn't based on a true story, Eszterhas and Veerhoven claimed they did "extensive interviews" with people in the Vegas entertainment community to make the portrayal of the showgirl world as accurate as possible.

So, did they get it right?  We're about to find out.

My guest for this episode, making her second appearance on the podcast, is Dani Elizabeth - a legit Showgirl and former cast member of the legendary Vegas shows, "Jubilee" and "Crazy Girls".

Dani shared the story of the first time she saw Showgirls and how it almost led to a career change, we dove into the film with some character analysis & theories on why people watch the film over and over again, and we compared Dani's "showgirl life" to Nomi Malone's.

If you want to dive further into the world of Showgirls - and really, who wouldn't? - check out the documentary You Don't Nomi directed by Jeffrey McHale (available for sale & rent on your favorite streaming service).

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