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[REVIEWS
> LIVE NUDE GIRLS UNITE!]
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| 06/11/2001 |
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LIVE
NUDE GIRLS UNITE!
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Well
Worth a peek!
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Reviewed by D. Dammet
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| The members of a new chapter of the Service
Employees International Union Local 790 bring a new twist
to the meaning of service. They strip! The establishment
of the Exotic Dancers Union back in 1997 brings nude dancers
under the aegis of the SEIU, a union mostly known for
protecting the labor rights of janitors, nurses and security
guards. But work is work, and the dancers at San Francisco's
Lusty Lady Theater deserve paid sick days and job security
as much as any mop-wielding clock-puncher. Prior to the
formation of the Exotic Dancers Union, the dancers at
the Lusty Lady were regularly fired when it came time
for pay raises and were discriminated against on the basis
of race, big-breasted blondes being the top of the food
chain in the eyes of management. |
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| Aspiring stand-up comedian Julia Query, who
also worked as a stripper to pay her rent, and Bay Area
filmmaker Vicky Funari joined forces to create Live Nude
Girls Unite!, a chronicle of the lengthy labor negotiations
that lead to the formation the country's first unionized
strip club. Watching the stripper's struggle is both informative
in terms of the rigors and determination it takes to unionize,
and amusing. Where else will you hear workers on a picket
line chanting "No contract, no pussy?" The quirky, contradictory
relationship between the earnestness at the bargaining
table and the flamboyance of the work keeps us engaged
and interested. |
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"Live
Nude Girls Unite!"
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| Query's running voice-over offers a wry,
comedic perspective as she guides us through the developments
of the struggle, but what is truly involving in "Live
Nude Girls, Unite!" is the drama that unfolds between
Query and her mother, Dr. Joyce Wallace, a well-known
activist promoting safe sex among New York prostitutes.
Although Query had no problem telling her mother about
being a lesbian, she is agonized over letting her mother
know she is a sex worker. Keeping her day job a secret
from her mother becomes increasingly difficult in light
of Query's vocal status as quasi-leader of the strippers'
labor movement. Query finally spills the beans during
a conference on sex workers that both have been invited
to address. We watch the poignant emotional aftermath
between mother and daughter following the disclosure,
a situation not lacking in irony due to Wallace's activism
for sex workers. |
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"Live Nude Girls Unite!" blends the serious
with the comedic in exploring the issue of empowerment
on many levels, between management and labor, between
mother and daughter, between sex work and exploitation
that is well worth a peek..jpg) |
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Now
in theatrical release
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| New York: June 17-18, MoMA |
| Chicago: June 22-July 1, Facets |
| Pittsburgh: June 29-30, Pittsburgh
Filmmakers |
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Official
Website
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Distributor's
Website
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