`Showgirls' Moral Depth Lost On Early Audiences

Sep 26, 1995

John Leo

BACK in 1995, MGM released "Showgirls," a movie about sexual activity in Las Vegas, boldly rated NC-17 at the time, now rated NP 1-7 (no problem for kids ages 1 to 7). Amazingly, some critics dismissed this classic film as just another piece of Hollywood junk. Citing "soul-numbing stupidity," Janet Maslin of The New York Times actually called the film "a bare-butted bore."

As all film students know, "Showgirls" was an early work of screenwriter Joe Eszterhas and director Paul Verhoeven, the famed movie duo who first emerged as a major artistic team with "Basic Instinct," a film about a knife-wielding woman of several sexual orientations who confounded authorities by flashing her private parts during a police interrogation.

At the time, studio executives were said to be greatly surprised that moviegoers had focused so narrowly on the flashing scene, since Eszterhas and Verhoeven had plainly intended that the many psychological shadings of the interrogation should draw most of the public's attention.

Worse, many industry observers were said to believe that the $340 million grossed by "Basic Instinct" may actually have had more to do with Ms. Stone's briefly glimpsed private parts than with the subtle psychological probing for which Eszterhas-Verhoeven movies have always been known.

When "Showgirls" came out, the legendary filmmakers were once again badly misunderstood. For whatever reasons, philistine critics kept ignoring all the deeply moving and socially enhancing character development at the very heart of the movie.

The star, Elizabeth Berkley, complained to the press about this, heavily stressing the movie's serious intent shortly after concluding a lap-dance with David Letterman on "The Late Show." Verhoeven had informed her, she said, that the film "is not really about stripping. It's really about women in power."

While Verhoeven stressed female empowerment, Eszterhas pointed to the theme of gradually dawning moral enlightenment amid corrupt surroundings, which he was obliged to examine in some detail in order to make his moral point.

"In my mind, not to allow teen-agers under 17 to hear this film's very moral message, simply because it's set in the world of nude Las Vegas dancing, is pious nonsense," said Eszterhas, who urged children to acquire fake IDs so they too could be exposed to 131 minutes of non-stop moral messages.

With refreshing frankness, he went on to deplore any twisted individuals who might look at his movie and just see perversion, sex and drugs. "They are like a guy who looks at a woman and all he sees is her body. He's ignoring her character, her soul," he said.

Eszterhas said, "It's a spiritual message . . . almost a deeply religious message on a very personal level." As we know now, Eszterhas and Verhoeven went on to make many other films with deeply religious messages on a very personal level, including "Sluts in Space" (1997) and "Lap-Dancing With Wolves" (1998).

While discussing "Sluts in Space" with Eszterhas on the "Today" show, an obviously agitated Bryant Gumbel said, "Some people talk about this movie as if it's some sort of cheesy porno flick. What do you say to these people, Joe?"

"Joe, let's be frank," said Bryant, before Eszterhas could answer. "These people can't see beyond the rapes, the bondage and all that peripheral stuff. All they see is sleaze. But it's really a very ethical journey of self-discovery, isn't it?"

"I guess they just don't get it, Bryant," Eszterhas replied, shaking his head slowly. "In my mind, not to allow teen-agers under 17 to hear this film's very moral message, simply because it's set on the Planet of the Randy Nude Amazons, is pious nonsense."

Another controversy unfolded when critics attacked the masterful "Lap-Dancing With Wolves," still believed to be the first serious examination of traditional inter-gender lap-grinding activity among the Lakota Sioux.

Even more small-minded was the protest that greeted "Gang Rape on Horseback," the second installment of the famous Sioux lap-grinding trilogy and the first Eszterhas-Verhoeven film to be shot entirely on the back of a single horse. (One serious student of the cinema pointed out that the sidesaddle flashing scene appeared to be a subtle homage to Sharon Stone's work in "Basic Instinct").

This is when critical opinion began to change. The Eszterhas-Verhoeven team came to be regarded as master of the cinema. Publication of their joint autobiography, "They Called Us Sleazeballs," completed the triumph. They are currently in Thailand, working on a movie about empowerment and the dawning of moral insight in the teen prostitution industry.

John Leo's column appears Tuesday on editorial pages of The Times.