Swapping the grime of 1970's NYC for the gleam of LA, 1980's "American Gigolo" shows writer-director Paul Schrader's continued fascination with the country's underbelly, and it fits in a long history of portraying the world of American sex work on screen. Your patriotic co-hosts discuss the Los Angeles aesthetic, the story's morality, social hierarchies, and superficiality. (recorded January 20, 2021)
References:
"Los Angeles in the ‘70s: The Place & Time That Won’t Behave" (HuffPost)
"Richard Gere: Heart-Breaker" (Rolling Stone)
