Impact The Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet taught scien-
tists a great deal about Jupiter and also illustrated
how the strong gravitational field of Jupiter helps it
serve as a magnet for small comets and asteroids,
which frequently collide with the planet. Without Ju-
piter, the probability of asteroid impacts with the so-
lar system’s inner planets would be much greater.
Fragmented comets have collided with Jupiter and
its satellites as shown by the Voyager missions to Jupi-
ter that revealed several crater chains on two of Jupi-
ter’s moons.
Further Reading
Beatty, J. Kelly, and Stuart J. Goldman. “The Great
Crash of 1994.”Sky and Telescope, October, 1994,
p. 18-23.
Levy, David H. “Pearls on a String.”Sky and Telescope,
July, 1993, p. 38-39.
Noll, Keith S., Harold A. Weaver, and Paul D.
Feldman, eds.The Collision of Shoemaker-Levy 9 and
Jupiter. New York: Cambridge University Press,
1996.
Michael A. Buratovich
See also Astronomy; Hale-Bopp comet; Science
and technology.
Showgirls
Identification Sexually explicit film
Director Paul Verhoeven (1938- )
Date Released on September 22, 1995
As the first big-budget production to earn an NC-17 rating,
this film was released amid massive publicity and high ex-
pectations for box-office success. However, the reviews were
near-unanimous in condemning it as one of the worst films
ever made.
Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas and director Paul Ver-
hoeven had previously collaborated onBasic Instinct
(1992), a highly successful erotic thriller that pushed
the acceptable boundaries of sex and violence for an
R-rated film. When they decided to make a new film
about showgirls and strippers in Las Vegas, they
agreed that they would expose sexuality and sexual
power in ways so graphic that an NC-17 rating—rare
in Hollywood, and unprecedented for a film costing
$40 million to make—would be inevitable.
The film follows the rise of Nomi Malone (Eliza-
beth Berkley), who hitchhikes to Las Vegas hoping
to become a professional dancer in an elaborate
stage show. Paralleling the plot of other backstage
musicals, as well as All About Eve (1950), Nomi
thrusts her way to the top. However, just when she fi-
nally achieves her dream and becomes the star of the
show, her best friend is brutally raped. Realizing the
price one must pay to reach the pinnacle of success
in Las Vegas, Nomi forsakes her newly won fame and
hitchhikes to Los Angeles.
Upon its release,Showgirlsplayed on 1,388 U.S.
screens—more than any other film rated NC-17, ei-
ther before or since. Although Metro-Goldwyn-
Mayer/United Artists had whetted audience appe-
tites with advertising and promotions that were both
salacious and shrewd, the film bombed at the box of-
fice. Its gross ticket sales in the United States were
just over $20 million domestically, well below expec-
tations. Moreover, film critics were merciless, calling
it sleazy, vulgar, tawdry, laughable, shallow, trite,
dull, joyless, cynical, manipulative, and even un-
erotic. The film also set a record for the most Golden
Raspberries, or Razzies, awarded annually to the
most egregious films made each year in Hollywood,
including Worst Picture, Worst Actress, Worst Direc-
tor, and Worst Screenplay.Impact The box-office failure of Showgirlscon-
firmed for the Hollywood studios that films rated
NC-17 were financially risky at best. However, by the
end of the 1990’s, the film was being reevaluated by
both scholars and fans, who were admiring it in sev-
eral ways: as a camp classic, as a postmodern comedy,
and as an ironic critique of American capitalism and
consumer culture.Further Reading
Lippit, Akira Mizuta, et al. “Round Table:Showgirls.”
Film Quarterly56, no. 3 (Spring, 2003): 32-46.
Sandler, Kevin S. “The Naked Truth:Showgirlsand
the Fate of the X/NC-17 Rating.”Cinema Journal
40, no. 3 (Spring, 2001): 69-93.
Verhoeven, Paul.Showgirls: Portrait of a Film. New
York: Newmarket Press, 1995.
James I. DeutschSee also Basic Instinct; Film in the United States;
Las Vegas megaresorts; NC-17 rating.The Nineties in America Showgirls 771