What Hustlers Got Right, According to a Professional Stripper

In this op-ed, writer and professional stripper Carson “Kit” Jordan gives her honest analysis of Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers film. To read more from Kit, follow her on Instagram! Warning: Spoilers ahead!

In its opening weekend, Hustlers made $34 million. The film, based on the life of Roselyn Keo, documented in The Cut’s 2015 “The Hustlers at Scores” story, depicted a tale of capitalism, sex work, deception, and redemption that befell the strip club industry after 2008’s financial recession.

People from all around the country, including strippers, rushed to theaters to see the movie — including myself. There is a lot to be said about the questionable ethics of Hustlers. From the unpaid strippers at Show Palace, where the film was shot, who were unable to work during the filming of the movie to the tone-deaf call for moviegoers to “Tweet Their Hustle” despite sex workers nationwide being affected by censorship bills FOSTA and SESTA, I felt uncomfortable about the integrity of this depiction of strip club culture and life. But even with these ethical shortcomings, I let myself be charmed by the attempts the actors and filmmakers made to make the movie feel genuine.

Hustlers paints a picture of the world strippers live in. Some scenes felt really familiar, even if actors had never really given a lap dance or worked a stage.

As a stripper, I watched this movie the way, I assume, a bouncer would watch the classic Patrick Swayze movie Road House. I tried to stray from the conversation of ethics and look for nuggets of aesthetic accuracy and authenticity. When I spoke to my friend and “stripper mom” Storm, she agreed with me, reminding me that Hollywood crime movies like Hustlers are similar to the mafia-related movies that always lead to family members of real-life criminals being outraged by the exaggerated portrayals of their lives. Obviously, as individuals who work the same jobs that Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) and Dorothy (Constance Wu) are portraying, we can call BS when we see it. “Constance Wu really did embody irritating new girl well,” Storm says.

With lackluster outfits and starry-eyed naivete, Wu really captured the role of “baby stripper.” A couple of things that were accurately presented: Wu did an incredible job of showing what it’s like to be mystified, almost annoyingly so, by the more seasoned strippers of a new club.

Industry veteran and sex-worker activist Spencer, known as Grimkardashian on Instagram, believes the naivete of Wu’s character was genuine, as many strippers start off the same way. “Dorothy, in the first 10 minutes of Hustlers, is the same experience I had as a baby stripper seeing the more experienced women making money with ease,” Spencer says.

On my first day as a stripper, I remember gazing at my coworkers like a freshman in high school surrounded by seniors. I felt total admiration as they joked in the dressing room while getting ready and sat comfortably with customers. Based on the experience I had, I think where Hustlers went wrong was in how quickly Lopez's character Ramona takes to Dorothy. Although I also received lap dances from coworkers and learned pole tricks on slow nights from my friends at work, it took time to develop trust.

Just like any other occupation, boundaries are very important in work friendships. The scene where Dorothy and Ramona share on the roof of their club is so incredibly intimate and beautiful, but it’s also unrealistic after just meeting. While this job does create a very different type of bond between coworkers, it also isn’t like the pillow fighting, sleepover fantasy that movies often make it out to be.

“I think this movie did what every movie does and glorifies a position. Most strippers are just doing a job,” Spencer says. “The most accurate part of the movie was when Dorothy paid out [to the club’s management at the end of her shift] and is left with $42.”

Spencer is absolutely right about that. Some nights are not your night even if every seat on the floor is filled, and some nights are dead for no good reason. About six months into my stripper career, I worked a Sunday night that was so slow and quiet that I left with $20 after paying out. This job, like any job, can have terrible days. And alongside those terrible days, strippers still have responsibilities to their families, finances, and personal goals.

When Dorothy is tipped out the $42, she helps her grandma and goes right back to work. A majority of the strippers I know are family-focused individuals. Today's pop culture can so easily portray strippers as being frivolous with money, but I’ve come across far more strippers who are dedicated to supporting the people they love and fostering skills to better their futures than those with huge collections of designer bags. But I know strippers with those too. The film Hustlers, in its very Hollywood way, does a good job of showing that money isn’t always good at the club.

This industry also requires a lot of etiquette and an ability to read the room. Within the first 15 minutes of the movie, Dorothy approaches Diamond’s stage. Diamond, played by none other than Cardi B., moves close to Dorothy’s ear as she dances and tells her to back off.

Say you work a sales job where you make a commission. You’re speaking to a customer who is engaged and responding well to your pitch. You’re confident that you’re about to make the sale and get your cut. Suddenly, another salesperson walks in front of you, breaking your eye contact with your customer, interrupts your conversation, and starts talking loudly until all the focus is on them. You’d consider that rude, right? Take notes, future strippers of America and beyond. Although I learned the hard way, I learned that lesson quickly. It’s no coincidence that Cardi B., a celebrity with actual strip club experience, portrayed this moment so well.

When I started, strippers and non-strippers warned me about being robbed, bullied, and isolated as a newcomer by my peers. Of course this happens in strip clubs, but it also happened to me at retail and office jobs. Hustlers shows that while, yes, coworkers can hold you accountable for your inappropriate behavior or take away your customer from right under your nose, they also can become your friend with whom you can build trust, loyalty, and camaraderie. Again, just like any other job, it isn’t about making friends — it’s work!

But that doesn’t mean that friends can't come into your life. The scene where Dorothy, Ramona, their coworkers, and families celebrate Christmas touched me. Many strippers, like Anabelle’s character, played by Lili Reinhart, are disowned by their families because of their job. The film does an incredible job of focusing on the concept of chosen family within this industry.

While no one is requiring a film like Hustlers to take up the challenge of being completely ethical or accurate, there is a huge chance that it will be influential in paving the way for an actual stripper to tell their story onscreen. So, no, I didn’t leave the theater jumping for joy in response to the film's portrayal of strip club culture, but I did find Hustlers to be moving in its genuine glimpses into our world. These moments encourage empathy from civilians and pangs of familiarity among fellow strippers. Those feelings are extremely comforting, especially when you work in a job that is so stigmatized by society.

The bone that I will throw Hustlers is this: At the very least, it made me laugh.

“I appreciated that there was some realistic humor that just made me laugh…'cause our job is funny,” Storm says. It’s true. The job of a stripper involves a lot of laughter, and that’s where other depictions of this industry have gone wrong. Other movies have always seemed to boil us down to sad stripper tropes.

Yes, everyone struggles. We are not all wandering souls like Nomi Malone in Showgirls, and we are not all single moms fighting for custody of our kids like Erin Grant in Striptease. Sometimes we’re just strippers laughing in the dressing room with coworkers, having fun together onstage, like a team of servers, bartenders, and hosts at a restaurant. The only real difference is that we’re nearly naked.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue