Something that I really wish would no longer be shown in movies from now on

This one just came to me in the last hour, bear with me, it's gonna be a serious topic this time.

I'm talking about rape. In movies, on TV, in real life. It really sucks that it even happens in the first place, but the fact that it does is really tragic. The fact that sexual assault exists in the world and that sometimes the woman is so terrified of her attacker that she will not even report to the police that she was raped. The fact that the man wields so much power over her life that even if he wouldn't really kill her if she tells anyone what happened, that she believes him and does nothing about it. In fact, that particular plot was even used on a recent ABC drama where the doctor knew what happened to the assaulted woman who did not want the police to get involved, she was just going to "suffer in silence". I ask you, what kind of world is this where anyone who is hurt by someone, either physically, mentally or psychologically, cannot get help for their wounds and be able to bring the assailant to justice?

Well, that's exactly what happened in "Showgirls" from 1995, written by Joe Esterhaz and directed by Paul Verhoeven. I once said that Verhoven had directed movies which I liked, some I thought were OK, and others which I hated. This is one that I REALLY hate. For one thing, I don't know what Esterhaz was thinking when he thought up the thoroughly ludicrous dialogue the characters in this movie had to deliver as well as the really stupid scenarios the characters were involved in. This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen, and it pretty much destroyed the career of it's star, a former teen-sitcom actress. The fact that a young woman named Nomi comes to Las Vegas and becomes a star practically overnight is bad enough, but the fact that virtually every character she encounters are complete scumbags without an ounce of likability about any of them. The exception is Nomi's roommate, who got her the audition for dancing in a famous showgirl club in the first place, so she is not that bad, she at least has some ethics and morals. Anyway, after Nomi has eliminated her competition by pushing her down the stairs, taken her place and become the star of the show, and has had sex with her boss, (essentially becoming the very thing she hated in the first place) she and the roommate attend a party where a Michael Bolton-esque singer is present. He almost immediately crudely hits on Nomi, who is disgusted by this, but her roommate has had a major thing for the Fabio-wannabe and goes upstairs to his suite. She kisses him at first, but then wanders what his two muscular bodyguards are doing there, blocking the door. She senses danger and tries to get away, they catch her, the singer slaps her face really hard, they throw her down on the bed, and.....

I really wonder what the filmmakers were thinking when they wrote this scene, how they felt when they filmed it, and how the actors felt about having to participate in it.

So, Nomi's friend comes staggering and bleeding dowstairs and collapses. Nomi gets her to the hospital, but is then told by her slimeball boss (the one she fucked earlier) that the cops are not coming. And guess why this is? It turns out that this singer has done this sort of thing before, going from one Las Vegas nightclub to another, seducing and sexually assaulting women, and the authorities just look the other way. The asshole boss explains it's because "he's part of a team" and that the victimized women are paid off in order to keep everything under wraps. How the hell would that work exactly? We find out that in Vegas, the scumbags in charge of everything protect their own, but I wonder, just how much hush money would be required to keep a woman quiet in this situation?!

In retaliation, Nomi promises her friend that she will avenge her. She calls up Mr. Date Rape and says shes changed her mind about his advances. She goes to his penthouse and his two bodyguards are stationed outside, and who were just as responsible for the assault as he was. What the singer does not know is that Nomi always carries a switchblade, and when he thinks that she is ready to do him, she whips it out and puts it on his neck and says that if he makes a sound she'll kill him. She proceeds to kick the shit out of him for a full minute and even stomps on his face for good measure. She leaves telling the hired muscle that she tired him out and that he's asleep.

Well, I once said that I believed in "an eye for an eye", as well as revenge and retaliation. This is exactly what happened in this shitstain of a movie. Even if the cops had taken him in, his lawyers would have manipulated the system enough so that he would have hardly any punishment to speak of. But when Nomi went medieval on his ass, holy shit, it's something he would never forget. Provided that he even survived the beating, he was probably scarred and brain damaged for life!

Interestingly, the actor who played "Mr. Date Rape", William Shockley, had a small role in another Paul Verhoven movie "Robocop", as an attempted rapist. Typecasting, anyone? Anyway, Robocop shoots him in the balls to protect the woman. That was a real powerful message Hollywood was sending, I felt, and it was a long time coming! This guy probably won't be able to even get it up anymore, and he'll be a soprano for life as well!

There are other examples of this overall theme of movie rape to speak of, but I think I will save that for my next blog entry. Stay tuned for Part Two, coming soon.

(Like I said, I made a few jokes throughout this post, but the overall theme is dead serious. Believe that!)