2003-09-21
Winnebagos, Showgirls, RIP John Ritter
For the past 4 or 5 months, there's been this beat-to-hell old camper in the parking lot of the Sound Museum. Tonight, after band practice, Dave, Tom and I just stood there, observing it with wonder and amusement. What was it doing there? Was somebody living in it? Wouldn't it be cool to own one?
"I seriously want one," Dave said, "I would just tool over the country in it. I mean, I don't know if I wanna leave Boston, it's just that sometimes I just wanna leave, you know?"
"Mm. Yes, that ought to be Winnebago's new ad campaign: 'When you don't want to leave, but you just sometimes want to leave.'"
"We could go on tour. We could all fit in one of those."
"Yup, we could." (I am a veteran of many childhood "camping trips," and I am intimately acquainted with the floor plan of this particular make and model.) "There's a bed up there over the cab, there are two little day-bed thingies on either side of the rear, AND I also happen to know that you can lower the kitchenette table and turn that into a bed."
"For real?"
"We fit me, my parents, my brother, my sister, my aunt and TWO of my cousins into one of those. We drove that fucker all the way to Florida and back."
"I bet that one smells, though."
"Yeah, it probably smells like wet dog."
"It smells like smeg-encrusted shag carpeting!"
"It smells like wet dog, spilled bongwater, and cheese!"
"Yeah!"
Tom, who had been quiet through all of this, piped up, "I would so not go out on the road with you two."
My mom got me the DVD of "Showgirls" for my birthday last weekend, and it is, quite possibly, the GREATEST PRESENT I HAVE EVER RECEIVED (although, Paula got me this, and it's running a very close second).
I LOVE "Showgirls," okay? It's genius. It's genius for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the sheer absurdity of it. I mean, it's so spectacularly awful, and what makes it even more so is the fact that everybody behind it sincerely believed that they were making this edgy, revealing expose of the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas nightlife. My goodness, the dancers are all coked up? They sleep their way to the top? The producers are all backstabbing whores? Shocking.
And then there's this issue of its controversial NC-17 rating. There's nekkid ladies in it, sure, but there's also racy scenes of people doing it. The first time I saw the infamous "pool scene," I literally shrieked with laughter. "WHO has sex like that?! WHO?!"
Elizabeth Berkley. Poor little horsey Elizabeth Berkley. I realize that she's kind of been redeeming herself over the past several years, and that's it old hat to continue to bring this up, but she is so horrible in the movie. Really, she's perversely watchable, she's so bad. My friend Brett, also a big fan of the "Showgirls," put it this way: "It's sort of the way you would feel if you went to the Fleet Center and saw a band that just could not play, yet they're up there doing their thing in a state-of-the-art venue with state-of-the-art equipment." It's awful, yet fascinating, to watch this terrible actress carrying this bloated, big-budget movie.
I won't apologize for loving "Showgirls." I won't, I won't, I won't!
My sister's been on me to at least mention the fact that John Ritter passed away. The tinamcc and I were always big fans of John Ritter, partly because our brother bears an uncanny resemblance to him, partly because my parents owned a lot of old Tex Ritter records, but mostly because he made us laugh.
lisamcc at 8:59 p.m.
7 comments so far
jp
2003-09-21 23:20:23
Your brother looks like John Ritter? You should post a picture!
-------------------------------
Marquis
2003-09-22 11:08:19
Re: Showgirls -- I b-day-prezzied myself this li'l number a couple of months ago (LOVE the 'featurette' on the DVD), and I agree with everything you say. "Shagg-a-delic!" Curiously enough, Showgirls evinced the same (apparent) reaction from me as did Barry Lyndon. Throughout both films and with each scene change, I yelled MOST vociferously at the television, "NOOOOOOO!!!!" -- the difference behind the same reaction is that every scene from Barry Lyndon is such a perfect pastoral painting that you want to ring Kubrick's neck for being such a genius -- whereas Showgirls just sucks crusty poodle ass. WITH dingleberries.
-------------------------------
hage
2003-09-22 14:22:39
how did u get you diary advertised?
-------------------------------
joshua
2003-09-22 19:34:24
when showgirls came out, i remember seeing joe esterhaus on the today show telling katie couric that he thought the movie was a christian movie because 'it deals with themes of redemption'. that's like calling 'the exorcist' a porno movie because she uses that cross on her naughty bits. did the commentary track have anything to say about the excessively gratuitous and fucked up rape scene? i'd LOVE to the reasoning behind cutting back to it AFTER cutting away to the party.
-------------------------------
nikki
2003-09-22 20:36:46
I would so love to go on tour with you guys! That sounds like fun! winnebagos rule like nobody's business
-------------------------------
beatpoetgrrl
2003-09-24 08:19:28
when too many people you see in person start to read about your life, it feels less honest. thus, i have linked you to the brand new diary that nobody knows about yet! and by the way, i actually have (or my parents do) one of those old trailers that gets pulled by a car. not the cool silver kind, the musty white vinyl-siding kind. i have never camped in it. bpg
-------------------------------
steph
2004-02-28 12:29:28
anybody read that piece of drivel by esterhaus, hollywood monster. it is hysterical reminds me why i never did watch any of his movies best sick line in the book, We were sad. he's describing the break up of both he and his present wife's marriages. We were sad. JOE fucking grow up and smell the cigarettes.
-------------------------------
Stumble It!
