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Molly (Louise Smith) and a trick (Ricky Leacock) in
Working Girls
(1986).
MacDonald:
So our gaze is part of her gaze?
Borden:
Exactly. You don't necessarily see exactly what she would see, but you see what you see, the way
she
would feel it.
Another thing that works against conventional eroticism is that by the end of the film, you see Molly take her clothes off fifty times. Her body becomes so familiar, it's like your own body after a while. That's what I hope happens. Her body is deromanticized.
Yes, it's true that the women are conventionally attractive, but they're not drop-dead gorgeous. And they don't have the kinds of bodies we see without clothes on in most movies. I wanted my main character to have a pretty face and a nice body, but not, "Wow! Look at that body!"
MacDonald:
I understand
Working Girls
is the first film in which you've worked with professional actors. I would think that, given the subject matter, you had your work cut out for you.
Borden:
Finding Louise to play Molly was very lucky. I had spoken to a couple of actresses. But nobody would do the role. There was too much nudity. It was hard to get women to even consider it. And then I met Louise. She was a nice Catholic girl who saw it as a challenge. She had never taken her clothes off before for a movie, but as it turned out, she was just great. And it was new for me. I knew I had to feel very