2. It Would Have To Be An R-rated Film And Thats Pointless
If
Showgirls had any worth whatsoever, it was conveyed by how just nasty it was. Verhoeven has recently defended the film, saying that audiences reacted so badly to it because they couldnt deal with its completely misanthropic, mean-spirited worldview. Regardless of whether you buy that claim (Im kind of on the fence),
Showgirls deserved its NC-17 rating at a time when distributors were still willing to view that rating as a grown-up category, much like the 18 certificate in Britain. Since
Showgirls changed peoples perceptions of the NC-17, the majority of films which have come near it in terms of explicitness have been trimmed for R ratings. But while giving the remake an NC-17 would be box office poison, toning things down for an R would defeat the whole purpose. Making an R version of
Showgirls would have the effect of at least partially sanitising or taming the finished product, when the whole point of the original was to depict Las Vegas in the most graphic way possible. If you want an idea of how compromised an R-rated
Showgirls would look, watch
Burlesque, and then ask yourself: can we really afford another one of those?