This movie felt very "grad school" to me. Or even a therapy session. Goldwyn has a lot to learn as a documentarian. Why oh why did she feel the need to show herself so much? If she had only focused the camera on the actual dancers, then we would have gotten an even fuller picture of burlesque history. It would have also been really great to see more of a correlation between sexual and government politics of the era. The archival footage of these beautiful proud women was stunning. When the actual dancers spoke, I was amazed, especially by Zorita and her bluntness. When the film-maker spoke, I cringed. With every word she spoke I knew there was that much more time stolen from the dancers' spotlight. For Christ's sake, when this was filmed, the clock was ticking loudly for these poor women. Didn't Goldwyn understand the sense of urgency to tell their stories as thoroughly as possible? These women were so elderly, and a few died before the film even saw the light of day. Instead of an exploration into the full richness of their lives, we got Goldwyn's failed attempts to be sexy. The film wasn't all bad though. It articulated that pseudo-grace cannot be substituted for god-given grace, even when they wear the same clothes.
