The Last Showgirl: Why We Should All Be More Jamie Lee
Tracey has a new role model, one who dances to the beat of the older woman
If you have ever had the privilege of watching Rhonda Carrier and myself perform Total Eclipse of the Heart at karaoke, this post will resonate with you. If you haven't, just picture two 50-odd-year old women, not entirely sober, belting out “turn around, bright eyes” at the volume of Axl Rose and with the confidence of Beyoncé, despite lacking even an ounce of musical talent. It is a sight to be seen.
The next best performance of Bonnie Tyler's greatest hit is by Jamie Lee Curtis in The Last Showgirl, the latest film by Gia Coppola, which stars Pamela Anderson. If you haven't seen it, go. Go immediately. Take your girlfriends. And your rage against our patriarchal society.
The movie follows the story of Shelly, a gentle Las Vegas showgirl, played brilliantly by Anderson, who faces the harsh reality of trying to get a new job in your fifties. Her revue show, Le Razzle Dazzle, a Parisian-style burlesque show in which she's performed in for 30 years, closes its curtains forever.
The movie shines a spotlight on the struggle to survive as an older woman in the harsh light of the Vegas stage. The Guardian called it Anderson's performance of a lifetime, and I wholly agree. However, for me, it was Jamie Lee Curtis who stole the show.
Curtis plays Annette, Shelly's best friend and former showgirl turned cocktail waitress who's addicted to gambling, cigs and booze. Dyed red hair, leathery sun-blasted skin, visibly drunk – I could almost smell the tequila fumes through the screen – Curtis is unrecognisable in the movie. And if I'm not careful with the sunscreen and the booze, I fear it’s exactly what I will look like in a few years time.
In an interview with Empire magazine, JLC says she knew exactly who Annette was the second she read the script. “I wanted her to look like someone who’s been in the sun every day of her life for the last 40 years. I knew I wanted her to be a bottle redhead; I wanted it to look like it wasn’t a good dye job… I’m very specific, but I also show up fully loaded,” said Curtis, who has been sober for 25 years.
While I loved every minute of the movie, there was one scene that completely blew me away. Dressed in a high cut body suit and a cheap shiny red tailcoat, Annette climbs up on a podium in the casino where she works and dances to the entirety of Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart. Apparently, it was not in the original script and instead improvised after Coppola and Curtis witnessed a waitress perform on a podium to no one.
JLC does slut drops, power grabs, she drops to her knees at one point and flails to the beat – a move I fully expect Carrier and myself to include in our next performance. Annette gives it her all. But here’s the kicker – not one person pays any attention to the old waitress dancing on a podium. Nobody sees her. For me, it was the most moving scene in the film.
As a fellow “woman of a certain age” - thank you, Gregg Wallace – who will still wear a lace catsuit, Cher wig and walk down Oxford Street – albeit on Halloween – I applaud the "no fucks given" attitude of Annette in that scene. It's a magnificent performance by JLC and yet watching felt like an emotional punch in the gut.
I recognise the feeling of invisibility. I too have been ignored in bars, in shops, on dating apps. It’s the curse of the older woman. We turn 50 and are gifted with a cape of invisibility. There's a line in the movie where Pamela says "Feeling seen, feeling beautiful, that is powerful. And I can't imagine my life without it.” It’s heartbreaking.
In the last scene, Shelly is auditioning in front of a young male casting director who dismisses her, almost immediately. “I’m beautiful. I’m 57, and I’m beautiful, you son of a bitch,” she says, and walks off the stage.
Too fucking right, Pammy. We ARE beautiful. Mic drop.