An ambitious young woman hitches a ride to Vegas to pursue her dreams of being a professional dancer and showgirl. In the United States, it was rated NC for "nudity and erotic sexuality throughout, some graphic language, and sexual violence. The R-rated edit runs about 3 minutes shorter, omitting some footage deemed to be more graphic. Showgirls was universally panned upon its cinematic release, and is still consistently ranked as one of the worst films of all time.
Despite this, in the 21st century, it has come to be regarded as a cult film , with a dedicated fanbase ; Showgirls has also been subject to critical re-evaluation, with some notable directors and critics considering it a serious satire worthy of praise. Young drifter Nomi Malone hitchhikes to Las Vegas , where she aspires to make it as a showgirl.
After being robbed by a man who picked her up, Nomi meets Molly Abrams, a young professional in the Las Vegas entertainment industry; Molly ultimately takes Nomi in as a roommate. Molly invites Nomi to visit her at work, backstage at the Stardust Resort and Casino , where she is a seamstress and costume designer for Goddess , the Stardust's traditional Vegas-style, topless dance revue. While there, Nomi meets Cristal Connors, the lead female of the Goddess cast.
While making smalltalk, Nomi mentions to Cristal that she dances at Cheetah's; upon hearing this, Cristal derisively tells Nomi that what she does is akin to " prostitution ". Upset, Nomi refuses to go to work at Cheetah's that night; she and Molly go dancing at the Crave Club. Nomi then starts a fight with James Smith, a bouncer at Crave, and is subsequently arrested. Later, she pays James little mind when he bails her out of jail. Cristal and her boyfriend, Zack Carey the entertainment director at the Stardust Casino , visit Cheetah's to see what Nomi does, with the two requesting a lap dance from her.
Although the bisexual Cristal is attracted to her, the lap dance request is based more on a desire to humiliate Nomi, by insinuating that she truly does engage in a form of prostitution. James, the bouncer at Crave, and who happens to be at Cheetah's that night, gets a peek at Nomi's lap dance; the next day, he visits Nomi's trailer, suggesting, yet again, that what she is doing is no different than prostitution.
