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‘Hustlers’ Is Right, America Is A Strip Club
Jennifer Lopez’s new crime drama is about more than strippers striking back
I’d gone to the movies to forget about America. This country had been getting the better of me and I was feeling beaten down. My brain, body, and soul all equally craved distraction. I wanted, no, I needed to go sit in a darkened theater and watch women of color get even. I wanted to see these women drug and rob the Masters of the Universe, aka the bankers of Wall Street.
When I walked out of Hustlers, I did feel better. Much better, in fact. And ironically, I’d also gained a far better understanding of America and why it had been beating me down. Jennifer Lopez summed it up for me: America is a strip club. And my body was sore from all the dancing.
Henry Miller called America an air-conditioned nightmare. I’d often compared America to a casino. The games are rigged, the food is crap, but it’s cheap, and there’s plenty of it. It’s a place that promises a good time but where there are few winners. I changed my mind about America thanks to Hustlers.
When Jennifer Lopez’s character said, “This whole country is a strip club. You’ve got people throwing the money and you’ve got people doing the dance,” I felt that. Because I knew she was right. A strip club is the most apt…