The film portrays a kind of strange transposition of sexual exploitation from the visual realm (she is continually asked to show her tits on auditions) to the realm of the voice and speech. The main character, Judy, also known as Girl Six at her phone sex job feels empowered by her ability to exploit her sexual power on the phone, whereas she refuses to have to show her body in order to get a part in a film.
Ultimately, Girl Six is forced to confront her complicity in other forms of exploitation, such as giving her boyfriend his rent money and the way she too easily falls for the lies (fantasies) she is told by her phone sex clients. The film seems to ask, can the telephone be a site of feminist sexual liberation, or is it just one more trap that vulnerable women must be protect themselves against. In the end, her decision to move to LA is a kind of indictment against the New York hustle and/or a place where she can continue to nurture her dreams of a film acting career.
The film features an amazing array of costume and hair look changes. The soundtrack, composed entirely of songs written by Prince, presents a kind of mid 1990s, 3rd wave feminist embrace of sexuality This is the first film directed by Lee in which he did not write the screenplay.-S.T.
