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The Masseuses

Name: The Masseuses
Director: Lucio Fulci
Released: 1962
Duration: 88 min

Representation Score

2.8/10

Limited

1962

Director

Lucio Fulci

Runtime

88 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Lucio Fulci’s early comedy employs satire to explore the social norms of 1960s Italy. The film moderately disrupts traditional hierarchies by criticizing religious institutions and highlighting a female-driven industry. However, it remains confined by the era’s demographic norms, lacking racial diversity and queer representation, and relying on period-specific clichés and situational irony.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Masseuses have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The film does not include any explicit LGBTQ+ characters or representations of non-straight relationships. The story revolves around traditional heterosexual relationships involving managers and a massage ring.

How does The Masseuses portray gender?

Fair

Women play key roles in driving the plot through specialized jobs, challenging some male-dominated structures. However, their ability to act is frequently tied to domestic duties and marital schemes.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Masseuses?

Minimal

The setting and cast appear to be predominantly of Italian ethnicity, with no indication of diverse racial representation.

How does The Masseuses represent religion and culture?

Fair

The story satirizes institutional hypocrisy by featuring a Catholic official in a compromising situation, creating tension between secular activities and religious authority.

Does The Masseuses include disability representation?

Minimal

The film does not feature any characters with visible or invisible disabilities. A character's death from a stroke serves as a plot device without exploring disability issues.

Present on Screen

The film uses a female-centric workforce to challenge traditional professional hierarchies.
Satirical elements effectively critique the hypocrisy of established religious institutions.

Limited or Absent

The narrative lacks racial and ethnic diversity, maintaining an ethnically homogeneous setting.
women's ability to drive the story is often limited to domestic roles or marital schemes.
There is no representation of LGBTQ+ identities or characters.

Official Synopsis

Two industry managers from Milan are in Rome to get the contract to build a YMCA hostel. They get in touch with a masseuses ring and one of the masseuses is introduced to the president of the catholic association as the wife of one of the managers. During a vice squad roundup, the president is about to be discovered with one of the girls when he dies of a stroke. How will the others try to hide his death?

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