Burlesque

Burlesque, starring Cher and Christina Aguilera, is a film made by gay men for gay men. I don’t known about the makers, but the film is surely targetted to a gay audience. Otherwise, how do you explain the stripping of the Jack character? And oh, he uses eyeliners, but he’s not gay. And, who are the Cher fan, other then the gay men? (I like the Roger Ebert comment: “Other people age, Cher becomes a logo.”)

However, it’s little tiring to see Stanley Tucci playing another gay character, and doing the same routine as he did in The Devil Wears Prada. But, this film, targetted at the gay audience, gives him a happy ending, with the gorgeous DJ Mark falling for him.

Ebert also said, the film treats Burlesque as if it died and went to heaven. That’s Hollywood for you. To have a feel what modern Burlesque is really like, please refer to Mathieu Amalric’s 2010 French film Tournée, which features an American Neo-Burlesque troupe, played by genuine performers Mimi Le Meaux, Kitten on the Keys, Dirty Martini, Julie Atlas Muz, Evie Lovelle and Roky Roulette. Amalric won the best director trophy at the Cannes film festival.

Back to Burlesque, it’s a five-minute joke about air right presented as a song and dance fare. However, Aguilera as a small-town girl has certain charm. Her eventual rise and rivalry with fellow dancers reminded me of Black Swan. What a comparison!