Showgirls: It Doesn’t Suck
Adam Nayman
[ECW Press]
Half critical reappraisal, half fan tribute, It Doesn’t Suck takes on the heroic task of rehabilitating Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls. Born of the 1990s vogue for the “erotic thriller”, the film is revered and despised in equal measure, a glitter-drenched paean to Las Vegas, bad perms and neon palm trees. Author Adam Nayman negotiates the film’s central mystery: was it actually intended as camp? He concludes that it was – but only in part. There’s a genuine love for the film as gloriously overwrought American parable. Nayman grounds it in the tradition of the Busby Berkeley musical, asserting its influence over Tarantino and his warrior women as well as David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive – a brave, overdue comparison.
It Doesn’t Suck serves as a study of cinematic afterlife; a look at how cult classics are made. Nayman tracks the film’s turbulent passage from blockbuster to critical flop to reupholstered favourite of the midnight movie circuit, to its afterlife as ananniversary box set sold with Showgirls shot glasses. One complaint might be that anyone dedicated enough to buy this book doesn’t need to be reminded of the plot, and Nayman wastes pages rehashing the film’s events. But the mixture of historical context and analysis strikes an entertaining balance, delivered with humour and style. Nayman concludes that the film is a hybrid creature, a “Masterpiece of Shit”. Next, let’s see him take on Mariah Carey’s Glitter.
Words: Róisín Kiberd
