Big Spender

Big Spend is one of my posts on You Tube. I love this sequence. Sweet Charity is a film that as a whole is dumb and contains all of the things we hate about old fashioned musicals ie bursting into song for no reason in public settings. However, this has some of the most intriguing choreography ever. It is when Fosse truly became Fosse on the screen.



The brilliance of this sequence is that Fosse has taken all of the seductive expressions of women, the things that drive us guys crazy and exaggerates them together into a set of visuals that both reveals the pathetic mechanics of the sexual come on and the mind numbing routine for these women. To them, Its a job. They can't wait to get it over and go back to their lives. While they are here, their minds have checked out. There is no involvement with their mark. It is a transaction. For all intents and purposes, they may as well be robots.

It both shows extreme sadness, both for the girls, for whom this is a "job" and the losers who waste their time with these leeches.

This reminds of a sequence from "The Grifters" in which Annette Benning when confronted with coming up for the rent money in her apartment, takes the property manager in for a "ride". As they are engaged in the act, the guy asks her, "What are you thinking?" As she stares at the ceiling while he does his thing, she says "The menu at" some restaurant.

Next time you see a Victoria's Secrets ad, think of Big Spender and know all are being manipulated.

JWS