Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Know Your LGBT History

Friday, January 15, 2010

Know Your LGBT History - The Player's Club

The Player's Club (1998), written and directed by rapper Ice Cube, was vile.

I'm sorry but it's the only way I could put it.

It tells the story of a college student Diamond (Lisa Raye) who works her way through school by dancing at a strip club.

Her nemesis is another stripper named Ronnie.

Ronnie is a hateful, soulless, bleached blonde lesbian who talked Diamond into stripping in the first place. She also, in one scene, gets Diamond drunk and rapes her.

Now I had a debate with a good friend of mine who said that Ronnie's sexual orientation had nothing to do with her villainous qualities. I totally disagreed. Ronnie is a hateful individual who uses men for money and holds power over the women at the club like a pimp.

I certainly think that writer Ice Cube was trying to make a point about lesbians - that they aren't "real women" so they have to be monsters.

It is with trepidation that I post this scene because it also includes a nasty rape (Ronnie's brother rapes Diamond's cousin). It is highly misognystic in the fact that it takes place during a bachelor party where everyone hears what's going on and no one does a thing about it.

And one more thing about this rape scene. Ice Cube plays a character in the movie who sets up Diamond's cousin to be raped as a way of getting back at her for an earlier insult.

His character isn't punished. However, Ronnie is in a knockdown, drag out scene punctuated by a comment by Diamond at the end about how "it's bitches like you that make it harder for women like me."

You know a man had to write that mess:

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: ” I totally disagreed. Ronnie is a hateful individual who uses men for money and holds power over the women at the club like a pimp.”?
Is it highly misogynistic in the fact that it takes place during a bachelor party where everyone hears what's going on and no one does a thing about it.”
(YOUR QUOTE)

Have you been in a hetero situation where there are only drunk, naked hetero men and women?

I have.
Diamond was passed out and didnt even know Ronnie was gonna stoop to that level to get a buck. And for Diamond being a stripper..(Do what u do at whatever cost. meaning get drunk to strip to pay the tuition.)

Not too easy to judge from the outside. Not a misogynistic scene. It is real life.

And for Ronnie. No one knows for a fact that Ronnie is an “evil lesbian” she is like a lot of strippers (I’ve met) gay for pay. No one knows her orientation. And as a patron of strip clubs as I am. Ice cube might be a patron of those types of strip clubs also. So is it really fair to automatically think the worse of his screenplay’s intent?
Ignoring the rape is not misogynistic, it is corrupt. There is difference.
Oh and for Jr. he was in the back of the cop car when Ronnie and her girl got busted. (re watch it, I did 1:31:24); 10:14 PM
BlackTsunami said...: I am confused about your entire diatribe. You seem to think that I am passing judgement on strippers in general whereas I was only making the point that The Player's Club was extremely homophobic. And I stand by that.

1. Ronnie's lesbian orientation was clear throughout the movie and it did have a lot to do with her hateful nature.

You forget the exchange in the fight scene where Diamond kicked her and Ronnie said "no balls there." and Diamond said "could have fooled me."

That was an implication that lesbians are "women trying to be men."

And then there was another scene which I did not talk about where Diamond confronts her cousin about going to lesbian parties to strip. The implication there was that taking off her clothes in front of lesbians is a bad thing but the stuff they did at the strip club in front of men is pretty much the same thing. Why is it judged differently?

2. You said "ignoring the rape is not misogynistic but corrupt." would you elaborate on that because your explanation doesn't make any sense.

3. Ice Cube put the movie out there and it's fair to make judgements on his intent.

4. And you were inaccurate regarding Ice Cube's character. Junior was the name of Ronnie's brother and while he was arrested, Ice Cube's character, who set up Diamond's cousin to be raped went off scott free.; 10:37 PM
Anonymous said...: I love u Alvin, u know I do but we just can't see eye to eye on this. What is clear about Ronnie's orentation? ..she had sex with a woman? That does not make it clear. For sure she was a bitch.
I will agree with her being a pimp type. She was a predator. Predators are about power not sex. Like molesters.And yes I have met these gay for pay strippers. I have also met ladies who have said "what's eatin' pussy for the right price is nothing". Joe Francis has mad a lot of money on faux Lesbianism.

2.I said corrupt meaning that entire crazy phenomenon of "don't snitch" so popular among inner city/hip hop culture black males. Misogynistic behavior is a hate of women. The party goers didnt hate, they didnt want to be apart of it.They ignored, didn't hate.

3. You're right it is open to interpretation. And that is why I respect you so much. You debate not insult. :)

4.Ice Cube's character, who set up Diamond's cousin to be raped went off scott free.....yeah he was an immoral ass, he didnt break the law. Those who committed crimes were punished. that's real life. So you are saying he's a misogynistic because of his part? yeah, he wrote it. Ever think he has seen a different life than we have?

4.Oh, I wasnt inaccurate. I didnt address it. I never talked about Ice cube's character. I mistakenly talked about Jr. Ronnie's brother instead.

_Michelle; 1:09 AM
BlackTsunami said...: Hey Michelle,

I think you are running away here. Clearly Ronnie was a personification of Ice Cube's perception of lesbians. There are too many instances in the movie that hints on Ronnie being a lesbian.

2. Your don't snitch explanation doesn't wash. Clearly someone snitched or there wouldn't have been arrests (i.e. Junior, etc.) My point was that at a party full of men, no one went into the room and stopped him from raping Diamond's cousin. They all walked away.

3. If Ice Cube wrote was he did to voice a "different view," I would like to hear what exactly that view was. Other than that, I won't try to speculate out of the box to somehow justify what he wrote.; 5:14 AM