Jamie Lee Curtis in the movie: The Last Showgirl

Directed by Gia Coppola  ~ Starring Pamela Anderson as Shelly, and Jamie Lee Curtis as Annette ~ Cinematography by Autumn Durald  ~ Song in the video: Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler 

There is a scene in The Last Showgirl that feels less like cinema and more like a confession whispered in the dark. It wasn’t in the script. Jamie Lee Curtis was given only three minutes’ notice. And then she stepped onto the small stage, music rising, and began to dance.

Not for applause. Not for the gaze of others. But for something deeper — the elemental ache of the desire to be desired. It was beautiful and raw. It was sad and wanting. And it was utterly unforgettable.

The Desire to Be Desired

To be desired is to be seen. It is not vanity, but a longing woven into the human spirit — the yearning to be acknowledged, to ignite the desire in another and be cherished for that ignition, it is being held in the gaze of another as a mortal, that is alive, divine and worthy. For women, especially, this longing has always been both sacred and perilous: exalted in youth, dismissed in old age, and commodified when profitable.

Annette, Curtis’s character, embodies that paradox. Once a showgirl in Las Vegas, now relegated to serving drinks as a “bevertainer,” she stands between memory and invisibility. Annette reaches for the right to be witnessed again in her improvised dance — not as she was, but as she is.

When Allure Was Sacred

There was a time when allure was not performance, but power. It was not something painted on or purchased, but a presence that radiated from within. Allure was a form of language: the tilt of the head, the rhythm of footsteps, the pulse of breath. It was the body speaking its truth.

But over time, allure was stolen and commercialised, narrowed, scripted. Women learned to perform for the gaze of others, to contort themselves into what was expected, to believe their worth depended on staying desirable in someone else’s eyes. And in that transaction, something sacred was lost.

The Dance as a Portal

Jamie Lee Curtis’s improvised scene opens a portal to that sacred space. Her dance is not perfect — it is raw. It trembles with beauty and grief. In it, we see:

• Desire reclaimed as a birthright, not just an urge.
• Allure restored as presence, not performance.
• Visibility demanded, even when the world says time has passed you by.

Annette is not asking to be desired in that moment — she is desire itself, alive in motion. The scene is both moving and totally authentic.

Reclaiming What Was Lost

If allure has been muted, it can also be reclaimed. How?

• By choosing authenticity over performance — daring to be seen as we are.
• By cultivating desire from within, not waiting for the gaze of others to grant it.
• By practising solidarity among women, we celebrate one another’s radiance across every age.
• By creating and supporting art that honours vulnerability, where beauty is found in truth, not polish.

A Closing Reflection

The desire to be desired is not a weakness or a sign of shame. It is the pulse of life itself, the reminder that we are made to be seen, remembered, and cherished. Jamie Lee Curtis’s improvised dance in The Last Showgirl is more than a scene — it is a gift and a mirror.

It asks:

Where have you hidden your own allure?

When did you stop believing in the sacredness of being seen?

And are you ready to step onto the stage of your own life — trembling, radiant, unashamed — and do your dance of desire again?

Heart to Heart, Elizabeth