A “guilty pleasure” is delight taken in something “bad.” In movies a guilty pleasure is either a film so bad that it’s entertaining (like an Ed Wood movie), or an exploitation film. The latter includes women-in-prison, “Blacksploitation,” naughty nurses (or nuns) and “splatter” movies. They are usually bereft of lofty aspirations. Social convention dictates you’re supposed to be embarrassed if you enjoy them.
Don’t.
The New Yorker‘s Jennifer Szalai lambasted the practice of concurrently praising and damning something as a guilty pleasure. I have used the phrase myself, but mostly as a means of contextualizing a creative work. It’s a bit conceited to enjoy something and then criticize yourself for it. It’s like saying, “I really enjoy this movie but I know I shouldn’t.” It smacks of faux moral superiority.
Ask yourself, “Why shouldn’t I enjoy this?”
Some filmmakers are hacks who exploit sex or violence to attract an audience because that’s all they have to offer. Others would like to go deeper but either don’t know how to or think they can’t afford to deliver depth. And some filmmakers enjoy producing crowd pleasers because they themselves are pleased by those movies. Good for them!
The “B” in B-movie actually stands for “budget” not “bad.” Breaking out of the “B” movie realm is mostly too expensive. Success means making the most of what you have and delivering enough pure entertainment to be able to finance your next picture. There’s no shame in that. So why should anyone feel guilt for enjoying an entertaining if not quite edifying motion picture?
The answer: they shouldn’t.
I adore B films especially if some care is put into them. The legendary Roger Corman fostered a long string of award-winning filmmakers. They all proved their ability with B-movies. Most of them went on to win major awards, and their Corman films show that promise. A small budget doesn’t necessarily mean “Bad.” And to be honest, I also enjoy well-made, fun, unapologetic sleazefests like Zombie Strippers.
I’m not so generous to A-List films with the budget to be good yet fail to deliver. “Disaster” films—what an ironic name for that genre—are a great example. Many aspire to be lofty but fall short. The Towering Inferno has overblown salaries and egos competing for screen time, yet the real stars are the stunts and special effects. Now there’s some well-placed guilt if ever any was deserved.
The takeaway here is that guilt and pleasure should rarely be associated. So go ahead and plug in Showgirls or Piranha 3DD or Zombie Strippers or any 1970-80s exploitation flick. I won’t tell on you if you like it. My video library has plenty of them and I don’t feel bad about it at all.
P.S. Of the Corman directors’ exploitation films, I’d recommend The Lady in Red, Boxcar Bertha, Jackson County Jail, Caged Heat, and Streets as examples where exploitation reached to become More while being made on “B” budgets and schedules. Bravo, gentlemen and lady.
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