This program is about life in a strip club, but there isn't much erotic about it. It's mostly about the sad lives of many of the men who frequent them and about the women who are paid to please them. Many of these men are total jerks. Many of the women have become hardened to the situation they're in. This is an interesting and realistic look at a subject that's titillating on the surface (pardon the pun), but which is deep and dark when you dig into it.
Very similar to the hbo g string divas show popular right now. Less titalating and more informational without that shows visuals. It's suitable listening for public airways at any hour, but for topic alone probably should be played after 10 pm.
Confessions from people who are on opposite sides of the business. The piece is dark, but the interviewees talking candidly makes it a very revealing one. Misconceptions are discussed and feelings are shared, among others, but resulting in a well balanced piece.
Helen Borten takes us into the world of the strip joint, examining its customs and rituals—the buying of drinks, the attempts to date dancers—and she brings to her subject the same curiosity and care that an anthropologist studying tribal customs might. Borten’s technique is to bounce around between all the people that populate the world she is exploring—the bouncers, the strippers, the clients—in order to create a sort of multi-perspectived, almost cubist rendering of her subject. But Strip Club USA is at its strongest when it zeros in on one particular person’s story and stays with them long enough to draw a full portrait, and when this occurs, she manages to make us care about them. “I like getting compliments from men my father’s age,” says one young stripper in a moment that just freezes you. Certain parts are structured as a kind of she said/ he said testimonial that shifts between strippers and their clients and, at their best, the revelations that pour forth transcend the world of the strip joint and say something about human sexual, emotional relationships. Strip Club really digs out all kinds of possible perspectives, never stopping to rest on any one pat point-of-view… like, say, all men are jerks, which would be valid, but also easier than what Strip Club aspires to do. It keeps searching out new ground and Borten is never judgmental. She has chosen articulate subjects and she allows them to speak for themselves. In so doing, they succeed in sucking you into their world. Their stories, while sad, are also funny. One stripper tells of her days as a dominatrix and the one client she had who paid for a 100 lemon pies to be thrown in his face. Another guy paid her to pretend she was drowning in quicksand. Strip Club could run as a part of a series dealing with women in the work force, human sexuality and economics… or just a series about sex. People like sex.
Comments for Strip Club USA Part One
This piece belongs to the series "A Sense of Place"
Produced by Helen Borten
Other pieces by Helen Borten
Rating Summary
4 comments
Doug Nadvornick
Posted on November 10, 2005 at 02:36 PM | Permalink
Review of Strip Club USA Part One
This program is about life in a strip club, but there isn't much erotic about it. It's mostly about the sad lives of many of the men who frequent them and about the women who are paid to please them. Many of these men are total jerks. Many of the women have become hardened to the situation they're in. This is an interesting and realistic look at a subject that's titillating on the surface (pardon the pun), but which is deep and dark when you dig into it.
matt kanninen
Posted on July 08, 2005 at 02:36 PM | Permalink
Review of Strip Club USA Part One
Very similar to the hbo g string divas show popular right now. Less titalating and more informational without that shows visuals. It's suitable listening for public airways at any hour, but for topic alone probably should be played after 10 pm.
Emon Hassan
Posted on June 25, 2005 at 07:44 PM | Permalink
Review of Strip Club USA Part One
Confessions from people who are on opposite sides of the business. The piece is dark, but the interviewees talking candidly makes it a very revealing one. Misconceptions are discussed and feelings are shared, among others, but resulting in a well balanced piece.
Jonathan Goldstein
Posted on April 11, 2004 at 05:58 PM | Permalink
Review of Strip Club USA Part One
Helen Borten takes us into the world of the strip joint, examining its customs and rituals—the buying of drinks, the attempts to date dancers—and she brings to her subject the same curiosity and care that an anthropologist studying tribal customs might. Borten’s technique is to bounce around between all the people that populate the world she is exploring—the bouncers, the strippers, the clients—in order to create a sort of multi-perspectived, almost cubist rendering of her subject. But Strip Club USA is at its strongest when it zeros in on one particular person’s story and stays with them long enough to draw a full portrait, and when this occurs, she manages to make us care about them. “I like getting compliments from men my father’s age,” says one young stripper in a moment that just freezes you. Certain parts are structured as a kind of she said/ he said testimonial that shifts between strippers and their clients and, at their best, the revelations that pour forth transcend the world of the strip joint and say something about human sexual, emotional relationships. Strip Club really digs out all kinds of possible perspectives, never stopping to rest on any one pat point-of-view… like, say, all men are jerks, which would be valid, but also easier than what Strip Club aspires to do. It keeps searching out new ground and Borten is never judgmental. She has chosen articulate subjects and she allows them to speak for themselves. In so doing, they succeed in sucking you into their world. Their stories, while sad, are also funny. One stripper tells of her days as a dominatrix and the one client she had who paid for a 100 lemon pies to be thrown in his face. Another guy paid her to pretend she was drowning in quicksand. Strip Club could run as a part of a series dealing with women in the work force, human sexuality and economics… or just a series about sex. People like sex.