Showgirls

Skip the R-rated TV edit. It cuts all the nudity and swearing, which removes the entire point. Go for the unrated director’s cut. And when Nomi screams “I’m gonna be somebody!” at the end, remember: She already is.

Watch Showgirls as a sincere romance? You will hate it. The acting is too big. The dialogue is too weird (“It must be weird not having anyone cum on you”). Showgirls

But here’s the thing: Showgirls is also a multi-million-dollar ballet on Blu-ray, a staple of midnight movie singalongs (complete with pool noodles), and, according to a growing number of critics, a misunderstood masterpiece of satire. Skip the R-rated TV edit

Whether you’re watching it for the first time or the fifteenth, here is your guide to navigating the glitter, the grime, and the infamous pool scene. Paul Verhoeven is the director of RoboCop and Starship Troopers . He does not do subtle. He does not do “nice.” He does extreme, over-the-top satire of American greed, violence, and hypocrisy. And when Nomi screams “I’m gonna be somebody

Let’s talk about Showgirls .

If you only know one thing about Paul Verhoeven’s 1995 Las Vegas epic, it’s probably that it’s “the worst movie ever made.” It won 13 Razzies (including Worst Picture of the Decade). It was a box office bomb so toxic that some theaters offered refunds.