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gigi-tastic

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Posts posted by gigi-tastic

  1. Posted

    Ok so Demi Moore wasn't a dancer for very long at the start of the movie right? How long was she working before Jerry became obsessed with her? Was he stalking some other poor dancer before her? Is she ok?Did he kill her to clear the way for his new obsession ?How long until he began to stalk Demi and take photos of her ? Is he following her home and taking photos or just when she leaves the club? Is that how he knows she has a daughter ? Did she tell him she lost custody ( If so why then fuck are you telling your patrons that you lost your child? That's just not smart. This woman worked for the FBI she should know basic safety procedures.)

     

    I need to know if his other victims are ok.

    • Like 2

  2. Posted

     

    So I am NO expert, but I did have a close friend who was a stripper while we were in college and can impart SOME of the knowledge I got from her.

     

    I also read Diablo Cody's book - which is not just stripping but is also sex work... and it's a pretty great book. Again - all second hand knowledge.

     

    The Eager Beaver is a strange club in that it does seem to run much more like a Burlesque show than a strip club... seeing that, as Gigitastic pointed out, Demi is never working the floor. That is THE ESSENCE of how you make any money at a club. The scenes where the dancers are just chilling back stage before they go on is not really how it works. You can certainly take breaks but if you want money you have to be wheeling and dealing the crowd. You need to be introducing yourself to customers and asking people if they want private dances and special services. Dancers, like many industries, absolutely rely on regular and returning customers. If you are a dancer, your bills are PAID if you have a guy who returns to see you over and over. My friend had at least one regular who showered her with gifts and money. She always said he was a businessman who did not have time for a girlfriend and preferred to just spend his time and money on strippers. He would get to know her by returning night after night... and also he got to see her naked regularly which apparently was enough for him.

     

    POINT IS - she didn't make very much money on the center stage dances.

     

    I have to reread Candy Girl it's so good. I have a copy around here somewhere in the many piles of books. I guess the one Regular Demi had was her stalker but he clearly was not wealthy. From what I read it's like your friend said Regulars are your lifeblood especially in smaller clubs.

     

    I'm starting to think the Eager Beaver is really more of a bar that has Exotic Dancers instead of a Stripclub . From what I know of burlesque it's more abut putting on a show and it's kind of an act. Like there's showmanship. This is just... there are moves but it's nothing but weird stage dances. So it's almost like extreme Hooters. Come for the booze stay for the naked ladies. Even my beloved Showgirls has a (horrific head banging on a dick) VIP room lap dance scene.

     

    I've never been to any kind of establishment nor would I want to (I personally find it very awkward because I know the women there are doing their job and I would feel weird ogling them and also I would just be like Burt Reynolds but with hand sanitizer because I feel like there must be germs everywhere)

    • Like 3

  3. Posted

    This is one of the things that bummed me out. The women who worked in the club were totally accepting of Demi Moore and they supportive of each other. I can understand why Demi doesn't want her daughter to see her dancing. I can understand not wanting to do this job and wanting out of this life. But she clearly has no respect for this job or these women and that's not the same thing at all as not exposing her daughter to this life.

     

    They were the only good people in the movie which is, completely by accident in my opinion, a great message. I think it's subtly pointing out how life probably is for women in this profession. They have to help each other because of the stigma against erotic dancers. So many people think dancers are shitty people or get easy money. These women have to support each other because no one else will. Even Demi Moore's character who is literally doing this job and should understand their plight. Fuck Demi Moore in this movie

     

    THANK YOU! They really were the best people in this whole dumpster fire of a film. This woman was working with them for what 8 weeks? I wouldn't watch someone's fish much less THEIR CHILD if I knew them from work for 8 weeks. But no they were taking care of that little girl like they had known her her whole life. They were playing stupid games with her making sure she was getting to sleep and had a place to rest, she had snacks she wasn't alone. These women are giving up chances AT MAKING THEIR LIVING FOR DEMI. By staying in the backstage area with her daughter they are forfeiting their time on the floor where they could be earning money. To help this woman who has been with them for a mere 2 months. A woman who thinks she is better than them because she's a pure delicate flower while they are trash for earning a living and not being ashamed.

     

    They put themselves in potential danger by associating with her. They know her ex is a criminal and she clearly fears him and yet they are still there for her. They knew about the deranged congressman and the dead stalker. STILL they stuck by her. Because as you mentioned they know what it's like to be persecuted because of their choice of career. They know that the only people who have their backs are each other. They were so fucking accepting and welcoming of her and I guarantee she thought she was not only better than them throughout this but she would never ever give them a moments thought after this.

     

    I'd rather my child know I was a stripper than feel disgust and shame about women who went above and beyond because they are simply doing a job.

    • Like 4

  4. Posted

    Just out of curiosity (and maybe this should be saved for tomorrow, so maybe I'm jumping the gun), why do you think this film works and something like Magic Mike (where Channing Tatum needs to make money for...reasons) is so popular and pretty well acclaimed and Striptease and Showgirls doesn't?

     

    Is it because they are playing it up (at least the first one) as more of a drama? Is it because it is better written/directed? Is it because it has a better ensemble cast?

     

    The only reason, I bring this up is because of my work as a DJ, I was watching Gabriel Ingelsis in that film because that is my industry so to speak.

     

    I personally think it's because it's about men and not women. Male strippers aren't seen in the same light as female strippers plain and simple. Women are more looked down on and shamed for being in the industry than men so I feel like unless the projects are run by women (particularly women who have been in the industry) you get movies like Showgirls and Striptease where the women are degraded and looked down on. I haven't seen Magic Mike but I don't get the sense that Mike or the boys are gonna be slut shamed, raped, or physically threatened because of their work so the movie seems a lot less depressing?

     

    I also think it helps in Magic Mike's case that Channing Tatum WAS a stripper. The movie is based partly on some of his time (right?) working as an exotic dancer. Or that's where the story started or something. So maybe that's why because it's less booo you're less of a person for working in this industry vibe?

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    She tells the judge that he’s “addicted to pills and a thief.” Considering his apparent ease of access to hospitals and that he becomes an informant for the vice squad, I’m guessing he was stealing medication and selling it.

     

    I was honestly shocked that they let a known drug addict keep a child in his care than an unemployed mother. I feel like his lawyer HAD to have bribed the judge. Maybe he's also a drug DEALER as well as a user? Unless the judge needed a deal on a sweet sweet used wheelchair. Or a wolf dog?

     

    Also outside of using her for cons and spite wouldn't having to care for a kid cramp this kind of losers style?

  6. Posted

    Absolutely. When I mentioned that she could go in with those gross ideas about erotic dancing and the dancers, it would be a learning situation for her and then, by proxy, us the audience as well. Because yes, this movie tries to show these women are good people who jump at the chance to help their fellow dancer (one girl even tries to convince Demi that this is just as much a honest way of living as anything else) but when Demi is our protagonist and therefore the audience's view into this world, it fucking suuuucks to watch her gag at the idea that she herself is topless on that stage.

     

    Also because I believe that is Sandy's view of the pageant world before she goes undercover in MC, but when she comes out of it she has friends and people she now respects because she didn't know what it was like before hand.

     

    THIS THIS THIS A THOUSAND TIMES THIS. These women are just people doing a job giving people a service. I would have loved to have actually gotten to actually get to know the women she worked with like in Miss Congeniality. I love that movie because not only does Sandy's character learn that not every pageant girl is a stereotype we get to actually meet these great interesting fun women through her. Like we get these small moments where they are all very human and real and I personally start to fall in love with these women and like one of my all time favorite moments is when they are all eating pizza and drinking (without the eating disorder joke) I would have loved to see that done for women in a much more hated and looked down upon profession.

     

    I honestly don't think Demi's character will ever think of or speak to those women again in her character's life even though they clearly cared for her and her child. Because she wasn't really a "dancer" she was only doing it because of this awful thing and that means that those other girls who are doing it because ( they want to/ it pays well/ it works with their schedule/ they also have some tragic life thing and sadly had to turn to a form of sex work which is a whole other rant) are therefore inferior. Like that's what this movie is saying. I wish we could have had a different version where instead of being above it and maintaining her perfect purity the movie could have focused more on how this is really just a job like any other and these women are no different than Demi.

    • Like 4

  7. Posted

    So, I messaged a friend of mine from college who works for the FBI.

    aLSeuFk.jpg

    Looks like it's not only plausible, but very likely that this would happen. I think it's interesting to note you can't even be involved with police. While I didn't ask for different rules for agents versus secretaries, I would assume they have similar rules just because they probably have access to a lot of information.

     

    I think we just found this weeks WINNER!

    • Like 2

  9. Posted

    Ok so I've done some googling to see how much an Exotic Dancer can make. I'm determined to try to figure out (or at least give the far smarter people on these boards the info to do so) why Demi was unable to get the money she so desperately needed when what little I know about exotic dancing says that if you work hard and hustle it can be a great way of making money. I know the job can be very feast or famine though so that could account for some of the issues and there was the competing Flesh Farm *shudder*. So I found a bunch of articles but the one I'm using the most comes from a website geared towards exotic dancers. It's called https://www.exoticdanceguide.com/articles/exotic-dancers-make-a-night/ I'm reading several articles because I'm oddly fascinated by this and have nothing but time on my hands today.

     

    Ok so the first thing to keep in mind is how much a dancer has to tip out and how much house fees are. According to this article

    "Depending on the fee schedule a stripper could spend 50-100$ per night on fees and tipout, so in order to get past the red, the goal should be at a bare minimum, 300$ per night." if your working at a smaller club.

    So Demi would have to try to make at least $300 a night so that her time wasn't wasted.

    the article also makes the distinction of a Bikini Club vs a Nude Strip Club because you will make less at the former. I think that the Eager Beaver is a Nude Club ( because nude implies taking your to completely off right?) but if anyone knows the difference please correct me. BUT it says a lot of Nude clubs don't serve booze. So ?

     

    If she's working at a Nude club though they say that " The potential income for a nude strip dancer could reach into the thousands nightly"

     

    "Nude clubs often host feature dancers, and features not only get paid for dances but they also get paid for merchandise, and for their performance on stage. Features often spend a portion of their money for tipout for security and the DJ who helps them to coordinate their stage shows. The average income for a feature stripper could easily be in the thousands, as well just for a few hours at the club."

     

    The Eager Beaver isn't a corporate club which is where you apparently make the most money.

     

    A lot of money can be made on private dances and champagne rooms but I don't think we ever see Demi doing either of those.. which might be why she was having such a hard time coming up with the money. From this article from a Vegas stripper who makes about $300,000 a year (her chosen title) on Thrillist (https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/how-i-make-300k-stripping-in-vegas) she says she makes 80% of her money most nights in the VIP room. she says you can do about 30 lap dances on the floor and end up with less and she likes to know she's getting that $700 up front.

     

    One of the main things I keep seeing in these articles though is that you have to work the customers hard and we don't really see Demi doing that. They talk about how you can;t spend time backstage or talking. You need to consistently be working. Also you want to get as many VIP/ Champagne rooms sold as you can. It's very clear Demi doesn't want to be there and I think that's affecting her earnings.

     

    According to Payscale.com a 33 year old female dancer ( Demi's age when the movie came out) with zero years experience in the field in Miami Fl could make around $16k- 149k a year and her current market worth (whatever that means) is $31,243.

     

    and this Reddit thread is pretty interesting: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/2icstq/strippers_of_reddit_seriously_how_much_money_do/

    • Like 5

  10. Posted

    God, June fuckin NAILED it on her criticisms and did an excellent "This Week in Feminism."

     

    This "movie" is fucking disgusting in every single aspect. From the judges ability to scoff at a single mother who doesn't currently have a job, to the way she scoffs at dancing as a profession, to the way every man turns into a gd Tex Avery cartoon the minute she walks on stage, to Jerry being written off as "harmless" when he full on stalked her (and later we discover built a shrine to her), to Ving blaming Demi being on edge on her fuckin period, to Burt Reynolds referring to her as a creature, to literally every scene in this movie. I can't even go through everything that made me cringe because I'll basically be posting the whole script and highlighting the parts where the other dancers have each other's backs because that's literally the only good thing this movie shows, but then June is right in that not even Demi sticks up for the girls because she is seen as "above" them. I'm so fucking sick of these fucking types of movies that posit themselves as liberating women when they do nothing but shit on them for 2 hours. Yeah I feel super duper liberated now...

     

    So with all of that said I have a few questions:

    • What did Terminator 2 even do to get her fired? Why is it her entire career as a secretary hinges on what this asshole's criminal record is like? Did he do something through her job? Like did he steal something that he wouldn't have gotten hold of if he hadn't been married to the FBI's secretary?
    • She mentions how impossible it seems to get $15,000 for an appeal in 6 weeks, but she also says this is already 8 weeks in to working at the Eager Beaver. Has she not already made some money? Is that the additional money she needs now that she is already so much in?
    • If she truly did not want to be an erotic dancer, then why is she? I understand the hopelessness women can feel and understand that many women do not feel they have a choice when it comes to becoming a dancer or a sex worker, but we don't actually see that kind of hopelessness here. She goes from court to 8 weeks later without the audience being clued in to the fact that she tried to get any other jobs. I know they want us to accept that she felt this was her only option (and I believe she says to the detective that this is the job that will pay her enough in such short of time), but this all just goes back to how fucking awful this movie is to women and to erotic dancers.

    Fuck this fucking movie.

     

     

    I just want to say I have never loved you more. I almost want to unlike this just so I can like it again.

     

    Ok so I asked why she got fired in the mini episode and someone said that at the prison they work at you have to disclose all prior criminal connections. So maybe she somehow manged to get hired and it went under the radar until her divorce and it came out that he was a criminal and they had to fire her? I don't understand why they would fire her though. At most I would think maybe they would ... I don't now put a demerit on her record ? (Though why she should be punished I don't really understand. I guess you could say she lied about her contacts or falsified parts of her background check?)

    She's a secretary though I don't think she's working with much classified stuff but I'm sure since it's technically a government job she would have had some kind of background check. I know on a lot of government forms ( I'm disabled on social security) I fill out they have that box you have to check if you yourself were convicted of a crime but I've never seen one for if you consort with criminals. Maybe there was one of those on her application and she falsified it?

    • She mentions how impossible it seems to get $15,000 for an appeal in 6 weeks, but she also says this is already 8 weeks in to working at the Eager Beaver. Has she not already made some money? Is that the additional money she needs now that she is already so much in?

    THIS!!! If your a decent dancer you can make FUCKING BANK. I think I've already talked a bit about this in the The Hurricane Heist thread. it's a very lucrative career. On a good night I've read you can make about a grand.

    • Like 3

  11. Posted

    I think i know what happened to the monkey...

     

    But it’s not pretty.

     

    In the clip of the monkey Paul showed at the live show, there is pretty clearly a tiny NOOSE in the monkey cage.

     

    ...RIP little monkey

     

    Maybe the monkey is into auto-erotic asphyxiation. Or it's like a little loopy swing thing I've seen for birds and this was a cage originally meant for a bird

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    Regarding the big fake boobs discussion. I actually talked to a porn actress I was internet friends with about her's, so if this is wrong, I'm just going by what she said to me, as it could vary from person to person.

     

    Women with the comically large breast implants don't go comically large straight away. So, they'd start with a 34D for example, allowing the skin to stretch and heal to that new size, and then they'd move up to an E or F cup, and then gradually grow bigger and bigger, to prevent the skin from tearing. It's sort of like those gauges that stretch ears, but with big ass titties.

     

    This kind of has to do with this but I read an article about a stripper who got her implants as a tax write off. She had to go to court to do it but the judge did rule that her implants were like... too large to be seen as anything but for work and not for personal preference. I find this idea that a breast implant size could be seen as only for work as fascinating. I'm honestly not sure I could ever be that dedicated to my job.

    • Like 1

  13. Posted

    I did and I think it's better than the first, but I also don't agree that every second season is a step down cause I still absolutely loved season 2 of Jessica Jones and season 2 of Luke Cage is in my opinion much better than season 1.

     

    i would have to disagree with you . Personally I wished we had less time with Sam this season and more time with some of the other girls. I still loved it though. I LOST it when the brakedancing sequence happened and all i could think was June fuming about how just because something is difficult doesn't make it good! Truly this podcast has helped my me enjoy other things in my life so much more. I saw idiot teens trying to do the little jump hump move in the park the other day and instead of feeling old and"get off my lawn" I felt happy and wanted to scream RAD ( I did not because no one wants to be " that" weird adult. Besides we already have a very nice man who dresses like a full on fucking wizard in my town. I would never be that adult even if I tried)

  14. Posted

    It actually kinda is. When you start work in most jobs related to criminals at all, you have to disclose any possible relationship with a criminal before you start work, otherwise it's grounds for termination. When I started as a librarian at the prison I work at, they gave me a sheet to fill out asking if I knew any inmates currently housed in the facility, so that they could move them to another facility, so there would be no chance of collusion or informality. My supervising librarian recently went through this as her mother-in-law admitted to being a penpal to an inmate in the facility for a very long time. She had to let our supervisor know, the assistant wardens, and the warden, for full transparency and to have the guy removed from the facility. So if it's like that for librarians in a prison, it's much more for someone working for a federal agency like the FBI and CIA.

     

    In regards to woman becoming a stripper to save her kids, the only time I remember it being flipped was in the Dave Barry book which later became the film Big Trouble, where one of the side characters played by Patrick Wharburton when he lost his family because he was fired for running through an airport nude in order to get away from vengeful TSA agents. It's kind of a weird film.

     

    The one thing I remember about this movie was all of the hype about Demi Moore being nude, since she was also then the highest paid actress in history for the role. This then led into the uber-hype for GI Jane when the big deal for that was she was getting her head shaved.

     

    And no real big spoiler, but I just finished season 2 of Luke Cage and the only thing I'm upset by

    is that there was no Usain Bolt cameo, especially with how it's set up throughout the season. I mean really Marvel, you couldn't have had one episode end with him coming to Harlem to see if Cage is truly faster?

     

     

    This is fascinating. But i would assume as it's her Ex husband and she's trying to get sole custody of her child she could tell her job she's trying to cut him out of her life entirely. If she admitted to knowing him she might get maybe a demerit for not disclosing it before but I guess I'm surprised she could be fired for it.

  15. Posted

    The grossest thing about that scene is that I feel like it took zero convincing for him to do it. Like if they hadn't asked him to he might have just done it anyways.

     

    I honestly wonder if he was the one who thought "Oh yes I'll lube up my ENTIRE body INCLUDING FEET" Like maybe the script just meant the chest and stuff we see?

  17. Posted

    I would assume it's based, in part, on how women are treated in the movie. Demi Moore plays a cop (? I don't remember for sure) who loses her kids and decides to become a stripper to get them back. It's a plot that is not only outlandish and completely divorced from reality but would never ever be the plot for a movie following a man winning back his kids.

     

    If it isn't that, I'd prefer to wait until the episode to hear what she talks about

     

    She was an assistant at the FBI who is fired because her ex husband is a criminal (because that's a thing?!) but yeah it was one of the BEST June moments of all time. Along with the moment coming up for the episode after this but that's more along the line of a "What's It's Mission"

  19. Posted

    What makes the SAT conflict even less substantial is that the SATs are an industry, a product that is sold to students and schools, so it behooves them to have as many kids as possible take the test every year. They are also not dumb-dumbs and know that students who are in the process of applying to college are probably KINDA FUCKING BUSY, so there are multiple test-taking opportunities every semester for most school districts. Even if students can't make it to the test session in their own school district, or their school is too small to host one, they are given the opportunity to travel to a neighboring district to take the test.

     

    What would have made Helltrack have more urgency is if there was a SAT session later that afternoon and Cru agreed to take the test after he finished the race, meaning he would have to rush to the nearest school, on his bike, to make it in time. Maybe that was a stipulation that his mom could give him for participation in Helltrack; that he take the the SATs that semester or else she would not sign the consent form. That way, you establish a better relationship between Cru and his mom, make Cru more sympathetic because he is willing to acquiesce to the VERY REASONABLE request from his very patient mother that he at least take the SATs, and you eliminate the unnecessary business of trying to forge his mom's signature. Maybe you still include a gag about his sister saying, "oh, well now I don't have to forge her signature for you AGAIN" or something. Also, you could have the already-exhausted Cru racing to get to the school to take the SATs, which itself would be another test of his endurance and BMXing abilities, above and beyond any of the other Helltrack competitors. Pass one test to take another!

     

    EXACTLY! I didn't take the SAT's but I did take the ACT's and since I had missed the og test date at my school because I was on homebound schooling( I was constantly sick). I just ended up going to a make up date like 3 months later at a nearby school and taking it . When I was there there were several people retaking the test because you can pay to retake the SAT's and ACT's. So even if Cru took the test and flunked it he could technically take it again. In fact it would probably behoove him to take it later because now he has something to write about for his essay portion (depending on the questions available) .

  21. Posted

     

    - The parade they threw before the race was really boring, just a bunch of cars driving down the road

     

    The really small town near my grandparents has a 4th of July parade every year that's pretty much this exact parade but with more John Deere tractors and firetrucks . In fact this parade is probably fancier than our town's parade is. I might actually be working at this year's parade for my local library since it's a part of our library system and we're trying to get people to vote on a millage next month. If only we could get someone to do some sweet sweet bike dancing we would get that vote passed for sure.

  23. Posted

    It's been a couple of years since I've read Diablo Cody's book Candy Girl, but if I remember correctly, she says that she had to pay a fee to the club to dance and a certain percentage of her tips went to the house or maybe it was a percentage of their lap dances went to the house or something.

     

    OZARK also utilized the Strip Club model. They also did a thing where you buy a tank of gas you get a burger for free or something. There was a restaurant that just opened up near me where when you order you get your app, drink, entree and dessert. I think there would be a way to cook the books using that method too.Your moving product but your app and dessert isn't as big or something.

     

    Also from Ozark, a church is a cash heavy industry.

     

    I have friends that are hairdressers and they have to pay a "chair rental" to the salon, that could be another small cash heavy business a person could invest in.

     

    The gym membership though, that's brilliant.

     

    I was just about to grab my copy I bought from one of the library book sales I worked to do even more research while i recover from getting the nerves in my back semi burned (the joys of herniated disc / pressed nerve fun)!

    Sidenote I'm a volunteer of my library's Friend's Association and my god has it enabled my book buying addiction. Four or five sales a year with books at a dollar and 50 cents a pop and half off on Fridays/ a dollar a bag on Saturdays... it's like giving a druggie access to the warehouse that they stash the drugs seized by the cops. PLUS we just started a deal with a local resale shop to sell our nicest books there for a higher price (red a dollar for paper backs and $2 for hard cover up to a whopping $5 for the really nice sometimes super pricey art coffee books we get in) It's a miracle I have room to move in my house. If you want to buy books cheap and help your local library see if they have any sales throughout the year.) What i'm saying is I will soon be found dead hordes style with cats nibbling my exposed limbs after a tragic book avalanche and I'm ok with that.

    • Like 2

  25. Posted

    If I stole $600 million, I'm not looking to work ever again. I'm certainly not managing a strip club. Once I wash enough cash to live the rest of my life, I'd probably throw it into stocks.

     

    I mean you don't have to RUN it. I just think it would be a great way to clean money and make a profit. Open up a bunch all over the country maybe go international and live off yacht cruising from one luxury marina to the next or whatever floats your boat (I had to.. the pun was just THERE). I would give you a reason to have a lot of money coming in and would keep even more money coming in.

    • Like 1
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