American Pimp

Last updated
American Pimp
American pimp.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by The Hughes Brothers
Produced byAlbert Hughes
Allen Hughes
Kevin J. Messick
CinematographyAlbert Hughes
Edited byDoug Pray
Distributed bySeventh Art Releasing
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

American Pimp is a 1999 documentary that examines the pimp subculture in the United States. It was directed by the Hughes Brothers, the filmmakers behind Menace II Society and Dead Presidents . [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

The documentary consists of first person interviews of people involved in the pimping lifestyle ("the game"). The interviews are separated by short clips from 1970s blaxploitation films such as Willie Dynamite , The Mack , and Dolemite .

The first portion of the documentary focuses on pimps working illegally. The illegal pimps that are interviewed are from all over the United States, e.g., Charm from Hawaii, Fillmore Slim from San Francisco, and Payroll from Las Vegas. These pimps, and many others, discuss their theories on the history of prostitution. The pimps go on to talk about their philosophy on pimping, and how they live their daily lives.

The film also discusses the legal sector of prostitution. The film also interviewed Dennis Hof, the owner of the Bunny Ranch in Nevada. He feels that Nevada is much smarter than the other states because they have imposed the proper health and background checks on prostitution, instead of trying to suppress prostitution by making it illegal.

The majority of the documentary glorifies the pimping lifestyle. The pimps and prostitutes interviewed mainly discuss the perks of the lifestyle. They talk about the money they have made and the expensive suits and cars they were able to buy. However, near the end of the film, the interviews involve prostitutes that have died from the lifestyle as well as pimps who have retired and hold straight jobs or those who are now in jail.

Interviews

TV adaptation

In a 2009 HBO drama series called Gentlemen of Leisure, The Hughes brothers planned to revisit the themes of American Pimp. Gentlemen of Leisure [5] was to investigate the world of prostitution in Oakland, California, with an emphasis on a 35-year-old notorious pimp and his attempts to leave the business. [6] However, before filming began, the show was slammed by then-Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and other city leaders who were concerned about the show's impact on Oakland's image.

Dellums' Chief of Staff, David Chai, said, "It is the mayor's view that this project goes against our vision of Oakland as a 'model city' and does a disservice to residents and visitors alike", and "while the mayor understands that there are certain benefits to having a major film project in our city, he is not willing to support this project at this time. The people of Oakland have come too far to have our city's name trampled upon in the name of entertainment." [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex worker</span> Person who works in the sex industry

A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Nevada</span> Policies regarding prostitution in the only state where it is permitted in some form

Nevada is the only U.S. state where prostitution is legally permitted in some form. Prostitution is legal in 10 of Nevada's 17 counties, although only six allow it in every municipality. Seven counties have at least one active brothel, which mainly operate in isolated, rural areas. The state's most populated counties, Clark and Washoe, are among those that do not permit prostitution. It is also illegal in Nevada's capital, Carson City, an independent city.

Robert Beck, better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunset Thomas</span> American pornographic actress

Diane Thomas, known professionally as Sunset Thomas, is an American artist and former pornographic actress. She was runner-up for Penthouse Pet of the Year in 1998 and is a member of the AVN, XRCO, and Legends of Erotica halls of fame.

Don "Magic" Juan, is an American former pimp, preacher, hip hop personality, actor, and fashion designer from Chicago. He is also the founder of the Players Ball, an annual celebration of his former "pimp" lifestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moonlite BunnyRanch</span> Brothel in Nevada, United States

The Moonlite BunnyRanch is a legal, licensed brothel in Mound House, Nevada, United States, 6 miles (10 km) east of Carson City. First opened in 1955, it came to national attention under Dennis Hof, who owned the brothel from 1992 until his death in 2018.

Prostitution in Russia is illegal. The punishment for engagement in prostitution is a fine from 1500 up to 2000 rubles. Moreover, organizing prostitution is punishable by a prison term. Prostitution remains a very serious social issue in Russia.

Prostitution in Hong Kong is itself legal, but organised prostitution is illegal, as there are laws against keeping a vice establishment, causing or procuring another to be a prostitute, living on the prostitution of others, or public solicitation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Hof</span> American entrepreneur (1946–2018)

Dennis Leroy Hof was an American brothel owner. He owned seven legal brothels in Nevada, most notably the Moonlite BunnyRanch. Hof was also a Republican candidate in 2018 for the Nevada Assembly, which he was posthumously elected to less than one month after his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Procuring (prostitution)</span> Facilitation or provision of a prostitute

Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp or a madam or a brothel keeper, is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The procurer may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing and possibly monopolizing a location where the prostitute may solicit clients. Like prostitution, the legality of certain actions of a madam or a pimp vary from one region to the next.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Force Amy</span> American female adult model and legal prostitute

Deanne Salinger, known professionally as Air Force Amy, is an American legal prostitute, glamour model, adult model, and reality TV performer. MSNBC has called her "a living legend in the world of sex."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Pakistan</span>

Prostitution in Pakistan is a taboo culture of sex-trade that exists as an open secret but illegal. Prostitution is largely based in organisational setups like brothels or furthered by individual call girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Ukraine</span> Overview of prostitution in Ukraine

Prostitution in Ukraine is illegal but widespread and largely ignored by the government. In recent times, Ukraine has become a popular prostitution and sex trafficking destination. Ukraine is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked transnationally for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Ukraine's dissolution from the Soviet Union, saw the nation attempt to transition from a planned economy to a market economy. The transition process inflicted economic hardship in the nation, with nearly 80% of the population forced into poverty in the decade that followed its independence. Unemployment in Ukraine was growing at an increasing rate, with female unemployment rising to 64% by 1997. The economic decline in Ukraine made the nation vulnerable and forced many to depend on prostitution and trafficking as a source of income. Sex tourism rose as the country attracted greater numbers of foreign tourists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fillmore Slim</span> American blues vocalist, guitarist and pimp

Clarence Sims, best known by his stage name, Fillmore Slim, is an American blues vocalist and guitarist with five albums to his credit. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was also a known pimp in San Francisco, referred to several times as "The West Coast Godfather of the Game" and "The Pope of Pimping".

A pimp is someone who finds and manages clients for prostitutes and engages them in prostitution in order to profit from their earnings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex industry</span> Field of business

The sex industry consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of sex-related services, such as prostitution, strip clubs, host and hostess clubs and sex-related pastimes, such as pornography, sex-oriented men's magazines, sex movies, sex toys and fetish or BDSM paraphernalia. Sex channels for television and pre-paid sex movies for video on demand, are part of the sex industry, as are adult movie theaters, sex shops, peep shows, and strip clubs. The sex industry employs millions of people worldwide, mainly women. These range from the sex worker, also called adult service provider (ASP) or adult sex provider, who provides sexual services, to a multitude of support personnel.

"Butters' Bottom Bitch" is the ninth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 190th overall episode of the series, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 14, 2009. In the episode, Butters pays a girl $5 to give him his first kiss, which prompts Butters to start his own "kissing company" and eventually become a pimp.

Pimps Up, Ho's Down is a 1998 television documentary about pimping in the United States as part of the HBO documentary anthology series America Undercover. The film features interviews with American pimps and explores the modern pimping lifestyle. The film has received some controversy over some pimps using the documentary as an instructional video for their prostitutes, and HBO paying the pimps for rights to film their businesses and the Players Ball.

<i>GhettoPhysics</i> 2010 American film

GhettoPhysics: Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up! is a 2010 docudrama film written and directed by William Arntz and E. Raymond Brown. The film is based on Brown's 2003 book, Will The Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up! — Peeping the Multi-leveled Global Game. The book and the film examine the interplay between Pimps and "Hos" and how that dynamic is the oldest and simplest expression of the ways in which power is wielded in today's world. The film uses documentary footage, animation, satire and dramatization to illustrate examples culled from the "hood" to Wall Street. Whether the players are real-life pimps or corporate executives, they are all playing the “game” and repeating the same power dynamics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Nevada</span>

Human trafficking in Nevada is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor as it occurs in the state of Nevada, and it is widely recognized as a modern-day form of slavery. It includes "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."

References

  1. Chris Gore (2015). "American Pimp (1999)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on 20 April 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  2. "American Pimp (1999)". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  3. American Pimp (2000). ASIN   630601232X.
  4. "American Pimp". metacritic.com. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  5. "Albert and Allen Hughes Are Gentlemen of Leisure". Movieweb. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  6. "Hughes brothers pimp project for HBO". Reuters. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  7. "Oakland mayor miffed his city is setting for HBO drama about a pimp – The Mercury News". The Mercury News. 21 December 2008. Retrieved 2021-06-26.