Moulin Rouge!
Release date: June 1st, 2001 (US)
Review date: March 31st, 2016
Reviewer: Talia
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All You Need is Love… and Beauty, Truth, and Freedom. But Mainly Love.
...or so the bohemians say.
According to Satine, the Moulin Rouge’s resident star, there are other things you need to survive: a roof over your head, and a living, for instance. She could also do with modern medicine and doctors to treat her consumption - unless this consumption is less a disease, and more society’s consumption of her.
Satine is a glamorous courtesan who eagerly tries to seduce the duke, at the recommendation of the Moulin Rouge’s man-in-charge Harold Zidler, to encourage his investment in the club and to work towards her dream of becoming an actress rather than a cancan dancer. I say “tries” because she mistakes Christian, a bohemian, penniless poet hoping to gain her sponsorship, for the wealthy duke.
In her attempted seduction of whom she thinks is the Duke, Satine is over the top: moaning and crying out for more while rolling about the sheets, to Christian presenting her with his poetry. Christian frankly looks confused by her intense excitement at his every word, before she realizes he is not there to have sex with her, but indeed to discuss his poetry… at which time she de-sexualizes her behaviour, listens to him sing, and then tells him she’s fallen in love with him. There is later debate about whether she told him of her love because she still thought he was the duke and wanted him to invest, or if she’d actually fallen in love with him at that specific moment. She certainly is in love with Daniel later in the film. This somewhat irrational and ridiculous behaviour is not representative of sex workers as a whole; they are as smart and subtle and cunning and strong and varied as non-sex-worker populations.
A positive thing to take from this particular scene is the complex emotional labour Satine attempts (though in a parody). She goes to lengths to find out what Daniel likes and give it to him, putting her own likes and dislikes to the side, to be what she thinks he wants her to be. This is much like the emotional labour done by exotic dancers (Deshotels & Forsyth, 2006, p.226).
The language surrounding Satine and her services is also somewhat problematic; her services are described both as selling herself and as selling her body. I would personally argue that she is selling a service that has nothing to do with selling her soul/identity/self to clients.
Furthermore, the movie glamourizes leaving the sex industry – from the beginning, Satine speaks of her desire to become an actress. The duke doesn’t want her to see clients (or any other men) after connecting with him. Daniel has a hard time handling her seeing the duke, albeit the professional nature of that relationship: though we don’t see Satine receiving money for seeing the duke, we know she will benefit financially through the Moulin Rouge’s success from her servicing the duke and encouraging his investment.
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Safety
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No explicit sex scenes, so no safe sex practices are shown
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Chocolat stops the Duke from attacking/attempting to rape Satine; but we are unsure if this is his role (as a bodyguard for courtesans) or if he is just doing this as a good person/friend
Word Choice
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Words like “whore,” “courtesan,” “prostitute,” and “cancan dancer” are used to describe Satine and some of the other women at the Moulin Rouge
Inclusiveness
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The narrator of the movie - Christian - is not a sex worker. Satine, a sex worker, is the second main character, but it is important to note that she dies at the end
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No other sex workers have significant roles
Facts
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It is implied that there is a hierarchy of cancan dancers – especially when one woman overtly hints to the Duke that his beloved Satine loves not him, but Christian. This implies a lack of solidarity between the dancers.
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It is implied that it is impossible for Satine to have a normal relationship while being a courtesan
Type
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Satine dies at the end; this is the stereotypical ending for sex workers in popular movies
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Harold Zidler has immense influence over Satine’s actions; this plays into the stereotype that pimps or men control sex workers, even to the sex workers’ detriment
Overall SWIFT Rating:
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This movie earns 3/5 red umbrellas because it does humanize a sex worker and show her as a somewhat non-stigmatized individual, a lesson we could all learn from. She is a celebrated individual. This is a step in the right direction.
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The fact that Satine dies at the end, like sex workers in many popular movies, prevents it from earning a higher rating. As do issues with unrealness (especially concerning safety).
