Hustlers powers into theaters
By: Omsalama Ayoub
Staff Writer
“Hustlers” is a mold of the working class revolt against corporate Wall Street. The star powerhouse film features Julia Stiles, Cardi B, Lizzo and Jennifer Lopez. The movie confronts standards of unhappiness in a time of recession and stripped down social values.
Lorene Scafaria reimagines a world of objectification, exploitation and friendship. The director’s symbolic choices in exciting moments piece together a strong story that threatens any expectations you might have. The diversity of the cast lends itself to a chemistry that breathes life into the true investigative New York Magazine story written by Jessica Pressler that appeared in the December 28, 2015 issue.
The fictionalized investigative piece takes us along as Ramona, played by Jennifer Lopez, and Destiny, played by Constance Wu, bond in the 2007 New York City strip club scene. The close up shots remove you from your seat and take you back 11 years.
We see Destiny’s humiliation as a new dancer when she gives up her entire night’s worth of work by tipping the managers, bartenders and DJs, causing her to end up with only $40, even after all the indignities she suffered.
The character development of Destiny colors in the life of a timid girl with a troubled home life who simply wants to take care of her grandmother. Ramona introduces Destiny to her white collar regulars who spend $15,000 in one night as a way of taking her in.
Although the story sounds unappealing, the film outlines a life of glamour and even growth that defies any indignity that you could possibly try to attach to the notion of stripping. This is due to how the director explores the friendship between Ramona and Destiny, who dubbed themselves “Kobe and Shaq.”
Every line of work has its own hazard, the more psychological and offensive, the worse it is. To the dancers at Score, the entitled Wall Street white collars who wouldn’t want to be caught dead at those strip clubs, but said the most terrible things were their hazards. The girls would hear things such as, “Your daddy abused you didn’t he?” This nature of the girl’s employment compounded a desire for a vendetta.
While news of the September 28, 2008 recession broke, Destiny’s reality comes crashing down in an entirely different way when she finds out she’s pregnant.
When Destiny returns to Score to make ends meet for her daughter she finds that Score has lost its soul due to the financial crisis during 2007-2010. Ramona catches up with Destiny and explains how the dynamics of their market have changed. The girls now have to go “fishing” for customers.
Ramona and Destiny put up ads on Craigslist to find an entourage for their schemes. Since business was stagnant due to the economic crisis, the regulars that had no issue dropping hundreds of thousands now had tighter purse strings. Ramona justified sprinkling the men’s drinks with Ketamine and MDMA, citing the economic recession and their abuse of the dancers.
The story outlines Destiny’s perspective as a part of the scheme’s mastermind and follows the frustrations of partnering up in business with untrustworthy people, while still expecting things to work out.
Although the story is morally bankrupt, the underlying context of friendship, sisterhood and family makes the R-rated film sure to be a cult favorite.