In honor of the return of P-Valley this weekend, let’s revisit a classic–The Player’s Club. The Player’s Club is that movie that we all saw at time when we KNOW we won’t supposed to be watching it. I know I saw it back when the CW was UPN and I was about…11 or 12. Definitely not supposed to be watching a movie about the trials and tribulations of stripping. Not a lesson I needed to really know at that time but here we are.
Let me start with the basics here. The movie is the age old tale of a girl with a dream, a kid and no money. It’s the age old struggle of the black woman we see in films, especially in the 90’s. Diamond wasn’t like the other strippers. She was trying to get enough money to finish her degree…and then Ebony came to stay with her. Why did her parents tell Ebony’s parents that she would watch her? She didn’t ask for that!
This movie was GOLD! Introducing LisaRaye McCoy, Jamie Foxx, Bernie Mac, Ice Cube, who wrote and directed this film, Monica Calhoun and, the person everyone loves to hate, Chrystale Wison who played Ronnie! There’s a host of other stars but these are the standouts.
I can bet money that you all can recite a line, or two, from this movie. My person favorite is below. Watch the whole video but my favorite like is around 2:09. Trouble…trouble.
I really do miss Bernie Mac. I digress. There’s the scene at the end of the movie where Ebony finally gets her life together, after a traumatic experience that Diamond had to get her out of, and Diamond reminds her, “Make the money. Don’t let the money make you.” This line is a life lesson that anyone can use in any industry. But think about it, The Player’s Club, much like P-Valley, bring us into the world of the strip club. Although there is only one, or two, points of view presented in this movie, the lesson is still the same. Cube wants you to see these women as people, not objects. They are women who have gotten to a point in their life where they have to do what they have to do and they should be respected. P-Valley is an extension of that but I like to think The Player’s Club was the blueprint.
I’ll end this post with the intro of this movie, “Money Can’t Buy You Love” by K-Ci, that NEEDS TO BE A FULL SONG THAT I CAN DOWNLOAD. If anyone knows where I can find that, PLEASE let me know!
So, tell me, did you first watch this movie at the age of like 12 when you had no business watching a “grown folks” movie? Sound off!
BLACK WATCH 