You Don't Nomi

The great thing about Showgirls (1995) is that it gives a semi-futuristic image of a wasteland while at the moment it was shot it is taking place in reality. It was history in the making. In fact Paul Verhoeven created a dramatized documentary by hiring actors and a scenario writer. It was not a bad movie but a bad dream about American society. That's against the American Dream. Showing Americans that they are in a Third World Country was in those years the biggest taboo. The documentary You Don't Nomi does not come to this conclusion, it describes the fuzz and confusion from a film press perspective, wondering why after so many years the movie regained respect. Ask Paul Verhoeven to do a movie about the recent Capitol attack and he will show the ugliness of the patriots, including woman. Showgirls is about that. Show the ugliness of the American way of setting up a sex industry and not able to handle it. A third world country, in 1995 nobody in the US was thinking of it this way... only an outsider could see it.

I've never seen Showgirls, and I probably never will. But this movie does a nice job of laying out its history and exploring its cult-movie status. It also gives you all the nudity without having to watch the movie itself.

I see about half the reviews here hate this movie for being "woke," i.e. exploring how the movie portrays women. Having not seen the movie I can't speak to how persuasive the analysis is, but it's pretty interesting and they do make a good case. And I have never heard the opinion of anyone using "woke" or "feminist" as a criticism who wasn't a complete idiot, so that's a point for the movie over its critics.

The talking heads are smart and often witty, there are some interesting personal stories, there are a range of perspectives, its fun to see how the makers tried to spin their disaster, and there are some attractive naked ladies, so all-in-all worth watching.

This documentary puts forward the idea that perhaps Paul Verhoeven's Razzie winning film "Showgirls" needs reappraisal.

If you haven't already seen it I would suggest you watch "Showgirls" first and then wait at least a day, if not a week, before watching this documentary.

My overall impression of the original film was it was a mis-fire from an over the top, intelligent and creative director who likes to provoke and entertain at the same time. The performances throughout the film are so exaggerated that it is not enjoyable to watch, and while there is a lot of nudity this film is not sexy or titillating at all. As with all the Verhoeven films I've seen there is sex and graphic violence.

This documentary takes the viewer on the journey of how the film has been received over the years, and how it has gained cult status. Fans of the original film praise it, books have been written about it.

The use of excerpts from Verhoeven's other films with insert images of Showgirls on TVs and monitors was interesting, as well as cutting excerpts from other films to compliment the narration/interviews from various critics.

Showing how Paul Verhoeven's stance towards "Showgirls" has changed over the years is interesting, but In the end the film is still a bad film and not the masterpiece that some of the participants in this documentary put forward.

I've always loved 'Showgirls' so was delighted to see that a documentary had been released exploring a film dragged through the ringer & accused of being sleazy garbage.

As a queer female, lots of things about Showgirls and Nomi's crazy journey spoke to me such as the concept of 'chosen families'.

'You Don't Nomi' is an absolute must see, putting 'Showgirls' in its rightful spot amongst high camp, delightfully & unashamedly OTT classics including 'Mommie Dearest', 'Valley of the Dolls', 'Cobra Woman', 'The Room', 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' & 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'.

This thoughtful documentary deserves all the awards it will certainly win.

A documentary about a terrible movie. A story about a movie so bad, that it got a cult following. An interpretation of kitsch, making it valuable again.

This is quite a fun watch, because listening to this huge fan of "Showgirls" explain to us viewers why this terrible flop has still got some worth to it, is quite interesting.

Should I watch it again? No, I dont think so. But terrible movies can become great cult movies and they sure can turn into fun documentaries!