The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, or, Smoky Mountains and the Bandit

AMC has been taking part in the celebration of life for Dolly Parton by bringing some of her movies back to theaters, albeit at times that only unemployed people can see them. Luckily, I’m unemployed, so I got to finally see The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas from 1982. From the quick glimpse of the crowd, it looked like a couple dozen other Gen X-ers who were able to go see a movie in the afternoon on a Monday. And I shouldn’t make assumptions, but I’m guessing about half of us were gay male Gen X-ers. And all of us were clapping at the end and laughing throughout. Even though I loved 9 to 5, and this was Dolly Parton’s follow-up, and was also directed and co-written by Colin Higgins, I’d never seen it before. At the time, I was too young to get permission. By the time I was old enough not to need permission, I figured I’d already outgrown it. After all, it had to be corny and unsophisticated, way too goofy for the sophisticated film-lover that I had evolved into by my late teens…