As i looked into a few titles for Pride month, I noticed Burlesque. Is this really a Movie With pride? there’s something so inherently queer about this film, yet it appears to only really have one supporting character that is gay, and is played by a straight actor. Perhaps this comes from living in a metro area where burlesque is an actual thing. i know burlesque performers, and most of them are somewhere on the LGBTQ scale. Not all, but more common than not. this is also a movie I wasn’t a fan of the first time, but it had something. it had “tell Me How You burlesque”, an original song that has stuck with me for fifteen years. I’ve always wanted to include it in with the students I work with, because it is just a cool song. it also is right at the end of the film too, so you have to get through the entire thing to reach it.

Now having seen this with audio description, which while not a perfect track, does make an effort. this is a tough movie to sell, and it can’t quite pull it off. I realize this keeps getting better and better the more I watch it, but it doesn’t The film is the same, my tastes are changing, and I’m now more accepting of the campy nature of this film. it also is apparently the last solid performance we will ever get from Cher. yes, she’s better here than in the mamma Mia sequel. Christina Aguilera also doesn’t really act, but proves she could do more if she wanted. And, an early-ish performance from Kristen Bell is now a bit funnier considering she plays a character who doesn’t sing, but she goes on to voice Anna in frozen. So, Kristen Bell can sing.

Stanley Tucci is once again cast in the gay best friend role, after nailing it in The devil Wears Prada. this is an extentionn of that, and a bit of type casting at this point. the rest of the ensemble is fun, and keeps the pace going, in what is a very typical story of a small town midwestern girl seeking a performing career. This is almost Showgirls. It is almost as campy, and maybe a bit more fun. Plus, it has cast that can sing without auto tune, to which I say thank God.

I don’t know if everyone in the LGBTQ community would put Burlesque into Pride month, but I think it is campy as hell, a ton of fun, and it ages well. Cher makes an excellent Tess, who defiantly refuses to let her club be sold, and Aguilera plays a stubborn singer who growls through her runs perfectly. I wish the audio description captured more of the burlesque visuals, which I remember as this was something I saw before my vision loss, but the track is navigating a lot of musical numbers and trying to figure out where it can and can’t talk.

Know that this grade reflects time, multiple viewings, and the ability to embrace what shouldn’t work about this, and instead feels so very campy instead. I’m fine with people not getting it, but I have let it grow on me. plus, Tucci makes for such a loveable gay man. I think casting agents are trying to tell him something.

Fresh? Final Grade: 77/100