MovieChat Forums > Independence Day (1996) Discussion > Why did they make Jasmine a stripper?

Why did they make Jasmine a stripper?

posted 9 years ago by zeekmati
35 replies | jump to latest

What narrative purpose did it serve? The same story beats of her at work, seeing destruction on TV and then trying to sway a co-worker from going to the alien welcome event could have occurred in any work setting. She could have been a receptionist,a teacher or an accountant; anyone with a job where there might be access to a television with co-workers nearby.

But for some reason, she was made into a stripper. Now, I have nothing against strippers or stripping for money in general. It's not like the brief scene where Will Smith's character is reminded that he will never get to fly a space shuttle if he marries a stripper is relevant. The movie is not about a talented fighter pilot who is unfairly held back from becoming an astronaut due to his relationship with a woman NASA finds unsavory in her choice of career. And let's not forget that after Jasmine and her kid survive the initial destruction, she never uses any "stripping" skills to survive. She drives a truck, rescues a few people and tends to a gravely wounded first lady but these skills are not stripper exclusives. Even though there is a brief mention of her stripping (exotic dancing?) during a scene with the first lady, it serves very little to enrich the scene. She could have felt sorry for her all the same for any dead-end job and not necessarily one that society views as shameful.

[–] Times_Up 8 years ago

To show off that big ol ass thats why. I mean did you see all that butt hanging out of her g-string, good God!  Dem bunz...

We’re trying to pretend as if these comic books don’t exist. - David Goyer on the DCEU

[–] Evolution-X 8 years ago

Hey, I never complained about that part. Even my 10-year-old self thought it was a nice sight back then.

All I need is one mic...

[–] Times_Up 8 years ago

 woo woo yea! Dem bunz! 

We’re trying to pretend as if these comic books don’t exist. - David Goyer on the DCEU

[–] crc32 (2584) 6 years ago

Why does every one fawn over big asses?

[–] Dainty (1863) 3 years ago

Men are illogical and mistake them for wide “birthing hips”. Fat or muscular buttocks does not equate wide pelvis.

Women should be skinny. Thin people are better looking and healthier. Not saying she wasn’t thin. She’s thin with breast implants.

[–] Times_Up 8 years ago

I mean just look at dem bootiful booty cheeks https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9f/f4/95/9ff4950d416eed63f62d2f0ce7e47411.jpg

We’re trying to pretend as if these comic books don’t exist. - David Goyer on the DCEU

[–] Klein_Returns 8 years ago

To show off that big ol ass thats why. I mean did you see all that butt hanging out of her g-string, good God! Dem bunz...

^^^This.

[–] ODB82 (2055) 5 years ago

So I could beat my dick to Vivica Fox?

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

It was just to have a "forbidden love" story, one that could be happily resolved in the last act.

It's actually fairly difficult to come up with a story of forbidden love in the modern world, where people feel totally free to marry unwisely or against their family's wishes, and where spouses can only make or break a person's career under a few circumstances. Such as if one person hopes to become a public figure in the context of a image-conscious organization such as NASA. Face it, if other characters married a stripper, like the computer/cable TV geek or the scientist who studies aliens, nobody would care. Some would even congratulate the guy.

[–] bobbydallas (8054) 4 years ago

I'm not sure either... strange choice for her.

[–] Forky (1739) 4 years ago

It was just a plot device, to keep Steve from flying the space shuttle, so that later on he could achieve his dream by piloting the Attacker into space.

[–] FilmBuff (6663) 4 years ago

It fit with a theme that ran through the movie of heroic acts from those you would not expect to make them. Granted, it's been years, maybe decades, since I watched this film, but I recall the president being something of a milktoast who rose to the occasion and inspired the troops to victory, Jeff Goldblum being a non-heroic, unimportant nerd who flew into space to help save the world, Randy Quaid was the unreliable drunk conspiracy theorist who gave his life to save the world, and so on. There were likely other examples. Even Will Smith was the NASA-reject who helped save the world by flying into space. So yeah, a stripper would be expected to be looking out only for herself, but that stereotype is being broken and we see her saving people.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

I guess the first one. I tend to create threads to get a general discussion started about the topic. I don't mind if the discussion leads to related topic or indirectly, as long as there aren't extremely random, distracting concepts or ideas leading to something else entirely the way Lilith and Caveman tend to do within my discussion threads.

I also do not like trolling in my threads either.

Replying to each poster within my thread topics isn't always my goal because that's not my motive. If I have anything more to say to a particular post, I do although I usually just enjoy reading the discussion I've created. I try not to interact too much because that tends to kill the discussion.

On imdb, I would often create thread topics out of boredom and then forget about them. When I returned, the discussion thread grew as if it had a life of its own. It thrived without my interference. I love when that happens and generally the posts were normally on topic with minimal trolling. There was always a couple of random pests who'd use the opportunity to hijack my discussion. I guess that's the nature of PEOPLE. Right?
When enough time passes, the probability of a selfish freaking asshole arriving increases…

I like the purity of it all and loathe corruption of my discussion threads.

[–] Hans-Wilhelm (1320) 4 years ago

I have something against strippers. I personally think they are scum.
That's besides the point, my best guess would be that is just how Hollywood writers are. Smut is just about all they can think up. To further expand on what I'm implying is that, overall, the male writers of Hollywood almost ALWAYS have to write in some little angle in just about every plot and movie that calls for the young female actress to appear naked or almost naked. Often the shots have no purpose or reason, they just require just about any young attractive woman to shed all modesty and privacy for absolutely no reason.

There was a scene with her at the club dancing half naked, correct? That is probably the only reason.
How many films have you seen where a girl is just naked for no reason at all? Just the male writers exploitative whims, to get a woman naked.

There are so, so many examples of this. Three just pop into my head.

Batman vs. Superman. It is a comic book film. Why is nudity in a comic book film at all about super heroes battling each other and villains? There is a scene where Clark/Kal-el is talking with Louis Lane....oh but wait, Lois is naked in the bath tub while they talk. Everyone else in the films keeps there clothes on but for some reason Amy Adams had to get in the buff to have this scene of dialogue with Clark.

Jack Reacher. No sexual element in the whole film. Reacher and the female attorney work together the entire film and the sort of toy with the idea they may have interest in the other but nothing ever comes of it. But at the start of the film Reacher is in a hotel room watching the news about the mass shooting while some nameless woman is naked in the background. Nice acting career. That 2 second, faceless nude scene, that will springboard your career and make the family proud. Writers had to get a woman naked though.

iRobot. Once again, no sexual element. Will Smith and the female lead discover and fight the robot plot and they grow to respect and.....

[–] Hans-Wilhelm (1320) 4 years ago

....admire each other and who knows their characters may go on to have some type of romance after the story ends...they kind of hinted that could happen but during the film, there is no romance between them, it is an action film.

But, for some reason there is a shower scene where the woman is filmed, just showering through a steamy, glass shower door. Her complete, blurry nudity is there on screen. Even though we do not get a full, clear shot, we see enough, enough for the actress to have to disrobe in front of the crew and be filmed, her body on recording forever in the buff....for some meaningless scene.

Women are always filmed showering for some reason.

To sum up, writers and the Hollywood ilk just are obsessed with writing in meaningless, scenes with most young, attractive actresses because they can.

If you are a young, pretty actress, you are almost always going to be pushed to appear naked. It is always meaningless and exploitative. Most of the time the scene is a waste and in many occasions they do not actually need to be shown nude. It can be hinted at that they are nude but it isn't necessary for the audience to get a free peep show and a young actress, it isn't needed to ask a woman to shed all her privacy, shed any modesty just to act.

The writers are obsessed with smut.

[–] maximmm (3033) 4 years ago

Dude, she was living the american dream! What's your problem?!@