In the 2005 documentary “The Strip Game”, rapper Method Man visits clubs in five American cities and interviews dancers about their lives. It starts at a NY club called Sue’s Rendezvous. The rapper Redman joins Method Man in the club, and two dancers are interviewed at home. One dancer is cooking for her family while explaining that the job is like any other, and that there’s nothing sexual about it for her. Another dancer describes how her profession has negatively affected her family relationships and her dating life, as she is perceived as a slut.
The second club is Strokers in Atlanta (as well as the barbershop next to it). Method Man asks dancers about the money they make, good and bad customers, celebrities who don’t tip, the pros and cons of dating a customer, and whether the dancers prefer relationships with men or women. One dancer confesses that she’s in a relationship with a customer (a “dope boy” who is locked up in the Atlanta City Detention Center). The camera crew accompanies two dancers on a shopping trip to Phipps Plaza. There are also visits with the rapper Scarface and Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker (who says he thinks a strip club is a good place to take a first date.)
The next city is Miami, where Method Man meets up with fellow Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah. They visit the clubs Rollexx and Solid Gold. Method Man mentions the difficulty in getting permission to film in clubs, even though his crew “called ahead”. (During the Atlanta segment, there’s a shot of the exterior of Magic City, but it’s apparently one of the clubs that did not participate.) One dancer is interviewed at her parents’ home. She is known as “Freaky Red”, and she does a routine (which is filmed at the club) of bringing a customer onstage and taking his clothes off. Another dancer is interviewed while she’s shopping for clothes with her mother. Both mothers express concern for their daughters, but they have accepted the profession.
Then it’s on to three clubs in Houston: Scores, Harlem Knights, and Black Gold. As you may have gathered, these are black clubs. Some of the dancers interviewed are white or Latina. Some are good dancers; others seem almost indifferent. Some talk about their ambitions, or how they first got into dancing. One mentions that she needed $2000 for college, but she was only making $5.25 per hour at a shoe store. Her manager told her, “I’m going to give you the best advice and the worst advice,” which was to get hired as a stripper. Another dancer is interviewed at home with her boyfriend. He doesn’t seem to mind her profession, and she makes it clear that she doesn’t do OTC. “Don’t proposition me,” she tells the camera. “I’m not a prostitute.”
Finally, we visit LA. Method Man meets up with Warren G (Dr. Dre’s brother, who had a hit song called “Regulate”). They appear to be in the VIP room of a club (not sure which one) with a dancer and an adult video access. One of them performs a squirting scene, and things apparently got out of hand. At the end of the LA segment, Method Man expresses frustration with the filmmaking process. “I wanted this shit to be some serious shit,” he says. There’s a bonus feature where he describes his intentions of showing a part of life that not everyone gets to see, and demonstrating to viewers that the dancers are people who can’t be judged for the choices they made to make money. He draws a comparison between the “strip game” and dealing drugs.
One review on IMDB calls this documentary great, and the other review says it’s terrible. I would say there are moments of both. Method Man’s reach exceeds his grasp, but there are some interesting moments during the dancer interviews as well as the scenes inside the clubs.
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