Bitches Like You: The Predatorial Portrayal of the Black Lesbian Femme in “The Players Club”
“That’s my n---a Ronnie. She’s a cowgirl but likes hanging with the cowboys. She’s a little twisted.”
Authors note: This is a piece I wrote sometime during lockdown. I pitched it to a few publications, but to no avail. Instead of letting it collect dust on my hard drive, I figured I’d let it live here.
This was the (rejected) pitch:
There is nothing more sobering than rewatching something you once loved in your youth as an adult and feeling drastically different about it. (But that’s growth). The cautionary tale of Ice Cube’s dark comedy, The Players Club simply doesn’t hold up 23 years later. As a cishet Black woman, I understand now, that I was supposed to be equally suspicious of queer women as I am straight men.
Instead of narrating the violence that women face in men-dominated spaces or just how casual rape culture is, the film is engulfed up in Black women’s respectability politics, colorism and desirability, and blatant homophobia when queerness isn’t readily available for cis/heterosexual men’s consumption. I will dissect the problematic portrayal of Ronnie, the Black lesbian femme in The Players Club. Though the character is revered as a sex icon in rap videos and Halloween costumes, for her sexual autonomy and agency, the homophobia surrounding her queerness is often overlooked. With very few representations of queer Black women in film, this early portrayal is damning as Ronnie is solely the villain in the film because of her queerness. Her betrayal to the other women is rooted in her proximity to masculinity. This portrayal of the Black femme lesbian ignores the inherent violence within Black masculinity and condemns homosexuality.
Well before the mainstream portrayal of the raw underworld of strip clubs in Hustlers, the STARZ series, P-Valley, or the iconic Twitter saga turned film ZOLA there was only one cult-classic that spotlighted stripper culture: The Players Club. In his 1998 directorial debut, rapper Ice Cube wrote and produced a dramedy following Diana “Diamond” Armstrong (LisaRaye), a teen mother persuaded into stripping in pursuit of fast, easy cash to finance an HBCU education. Having snuck and watched the film more times before I was old enough to fully grasp the nuance concepts, I was shocked to find that the once beloved film with an all-star cast from Bernie Mac, Jamie Foxx, Adele Givens, and Ice Cube didn’t hit the same as an adult. In 2023 it was clear that I was supposed to be more wary of lesbians than men.
Prior to The Players Club, the visibility of queer Black women in film was limited—damn near nonexistent. In 1989 the sexual relationship between Celie and Suge (Whoopi Goldberg and Margaret Avery) in the 1982 adaptation of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple was completely watered-down and reduced to an innocent kiss. Years later in 1996, Set It Off featured a groundbreaking performance by Queen Latifah, as Cleo, a gun-toting, ride-or-die stud. There wasn’t much exploration into the dynamic between Cleo and girlfriend Ursula, other than lots of physical affection.
The Players Club’s villain, Ronnie (Chrystale Wilson) is gay. Much of the language surrounding Ronnie’s queerness is pointed. From a modern perspective, Ronnie is the villain because of her queerness. In the beginning of the film Diamond narrates how her time at The Players Club taught her that hounds could be male and female.
The first few moments viewers have with Ronnie on screen she holds a long intimidating gaze with whatever in her scope: it is an unsuspecting Diamond. Ronnie wields her power through manipulation. When she lures Diana over to her at the shoe store, instead of stating she needs help with the shoes, she asks “Ain’t you supposed to help me try these on?” Seemingly putting the control in Diamonds’s hands, classic bait and switch. Here, Diamond is led to dance at The Players Club.
At the club, she helps assuage Diamond’s first night jitters by giving her alcohol and coaching her on how to disassociate. Ronnie’s tone is soothing and comforting. Ronnie tells Diamond to just pretend she’s dancing in the mirror by herself, however, viewers see Ronnie’s eyes wander lustfully over Diamond’s body. Ronnie then averts her attention to another dancer in the locker room. She grabs the back of the dancer’s neck violently and questions where her money is. This sort of pimp/whore dichotomy is alarming, especially as Ronnie was just being gentle with Diamond. The quick back and forth switch up is intimidating as both Diamond and viewers know it’s best to not be on Ronnie’s bad side.
The film’s conflict begins when Diamond’s troublesome younger cousin Ebony (Monica Calhoun) moves in with her just a few weeks before finals and graduation. At first Ebony appears innocent and sweet, but that quickly fades as she is way too eager to join Diamond at the club. While Ebony interviews with the club owner, Dollar Bill (Bernie Mac) Ronnie and Tricks (Adele Givens) eavesdrop outside the door. Their collective interest in Ebony, is telling.
Ebony’s reckless behavior becomes a distraction for Diamond. Tina (Tracy C. Jones), a bartender, scolds Diamond for even letting it be known that the two were relatives as Ronnie and Tricks would surely “try” her.
As Diamond confronts Ebony rumors of her moonlighting outside of the club with Ronnie and Tricks, her emphasis is that there weren’t any men in attendance. She questions if Ebony only danced for the women and recounts warning her about the duo. Ebony blows Diamond off, claiming she’s overreacting as usual.
Later in the film, when two regular customers Clyde and Reggie (Alex Thomas & Ice Cube) decline to pay for a dance from Ebony, she drunkenly implies that she’ll trade sex for money. Luckily, Diamond interrupts the impending assault. As the cousins argue, Ebony teases that Diamond isn’t any better than her and lets on that she knows what really transpired between Diamond and Ronnie.
Viewers finally see the root of Ronnie and Tricks fall out with Diamond in a hazy flashback. Ronnie and Tricks are in a hot tub with a much older white and Asian man. The old white patron whispers to Tricks that he wants to see Ronnie “go down” for $600. Satisfied with the payout, Ronnie exits the hot tub, and walks over to a passed-out Diamond. Ronnie crouches down to her knees, drags Diamond’s limp body closer to hers, calling her a “drunk bitch.” The memory fades back to the present and it is clear: Ronnie raped Diamond.
The contrast between Diamond and Ronnie is not subtle. Though in complexion and body type, the women are actually very similar. However, from their appearance in and outside of the club, it is evident as to who viewers are supposed to admire. Ronnie’s ghetto fabulous appearance—skin-tight, revealing clothes, platinum blonde weave, gaudy jewelry, long acrylic nails—is vilified. Diamond’s attire outside of the club is either sporty and casual with track suits or dainty floral dresses. She is a lady; she is respectable.
For instance, before Diamond hits the stage for her solo performance, the club’s DJ, Blue (Jamie Foxx) welcomes the men in attendance. His voice is barely heard over the bombastic sounds of the Miami-bass that plays throughout the club, while a nameless brown-skinned stripper is on stage, legs cocked open, up to her ears as a patron slides a bill into her garter.
“If you looking for some fine asses you need to keep on looking. But if you looking for the hoes with bullet holes, cigarette burns, and stab wounds, you in the right damn spot.”
Blue’s lackluster interest in the dancers echoes the disregard the customers have. However, the music and Blue’s tone drastically changes when he announces Diamond to the stage. Calling her performance something special, declaring her the finest of the ladies, and demanding the customers to quit being so cheap, because they know she has bills. Blue noting Diamond’s motivation for dancing to finance her education, ignores the bills and the circumstances of the other dancers. This, further pits her against and above the other women.
Diamond hits the stage in a hot pink negligee and seductively strips to R. Kelly’s “Seems Like You’re Ready.” This is the most tamed viewers see the customers at The Players Club. It’s sexy, alluring, a true performance. Again, Diamond is further distinguished above the other dancers.
In comparison, in a separate scene, while Ronnie performs in a red cowgirl costume, breasts out, she jumps into an inverted chopper for a half-empty club. Blue half-heartedly cheers, “That’s my n---a Ronnie. She’s a cowgirl but likes hanging with the cowboys. She’s a little twisted.” Ronnie flips Blue off. “Oh, fuck yourself. You know how to do it better.” Ronnie is barely off the stage, still collecting her tips, when Blue begins to introduce her sidekick, Tricks.
Blue has the same joking, uninterested tone for Tricks, dissing her age and likely her complexion, stating she was a premiere dancer in the Underground Railroad. As Frank Ski’s “There’s Some Whores In This House,” plays, Tricks excitedly hits the stage, where she is met with boos and the few customers present, quickly disperse.
Blue’s disdain for Ronnie and Tricks is clear here. Though Ronnie is relatively the same complexion as Diamond, he’s turned off by her sexuality, whereas, Tricks is straight (as it’s revealed in the end that she is pregnant by Dollar Bill) she is significantly darker than Diamond and Ronnie. Colorism defines desirability in The Players Club.
One of the few instances where viewers get a peek at Ronnie’s life outside the club, she’s still dancing. She enters a private party she hosts with Tricks full of ATF agents, “Alright you white motherf-----s. All eyes on me. If I catch you looking at anything else I’m going to beat your ass like a runaway slave.”
Historically, Black women are either hyper-sexualized or desexualized based on their complexions and body types; (see: Jezebel and Mammy archetypes) both resulting in denied autonomy of their bodies and agency over their sexual desires. To see Ronnie command all of their attention in a safe space and demand more money before removing any clothes is empowering. When Ronnie catches a pair of stray eyes during her performance, a defiance, she hurls insults and cusses at him and is met with polite behavior calling her “ma’am.” He is overjoyed when she tells him to assume the position—a phrase Black Americans are all too familiar with in interactions with the police. Ronnie reveals a black paddle, with the continent of Africa. As she paddles him, each whack more intense than the last, he screams “I’m Black and I’m proud.” Before the last swing Ronnie declares, “one more time for Rodney King.”
For this scene, Ronnie is regularly immortalized in Halloween costumes.
Before the private party, Ronnie spits game to Ebony. She repeats the use what you got to get what you want, line she used during her introduction with Diamond. Ronnie stresses how much harder the dancers have to work for a few dollars at the club. She isn’t confined to the pimp/hoe dichotomy of The Players Club put in place by owner Dollar Bill with his 30% fee. Ronnie appears enterprising. However, “Closed legs don’t get fed,” really is hinting at sex work. Though Ronnie and Tricks deny being prostitutes when Diamond directly asks, it’s evident throughout the film and the end.
As a predator, Ronnie seizes every opportunity to pounce on the weak and vulnerable. When Diamond runs to the dressing room in distress, after encountering her favorite professor at the club, Ronnie corners her. Much to Diamond’s dismay, Ronnie forces herself on Diamond, invading her space, playing in her hair, and tugging at her underwear. Ronnie states, “Anything in here I want, I get. And that includes you, Diamond. Now, you are either going to give it to me or I’m going to take it. Just like I did last time.” Diamond attest that she doesn’t even get down like that.
It shouldn’t be lost on viewers that the only two sexual assaults that occur in the film are at hands of a brother and sister. Though rape is sexual act, it is motivated by power. Ebony’s rape is orchestrated by club goers Clyde and Reggie as revenge. When the duo tries to revive the previously proposed train with Ebony, she abruptly dismisses them in front of all the men present at Junior’s bachelor party. Diamond’s assault by Ronnie is also motivated by power, as money is Ronnie’s source of power.
Despite manipulating Ebony to dance at the bachelor party, Ronnie is genuinely bewildered and disgusted by Junior’s actions. However, she chooses to protect her brother over her protege Ebony, leaving her raped, naked, and beaten in the hotel.
After Diamond and Blue find Ebony unconscious in the hotel, they rush to the club to confront Ronnie. Ronnie taunts her, ignoring Ebony’s rape and mocks Diamond’s assault instead, “I might do you how Junior did Ebony.”
This leads to the iconic knock-down, drag out, catfight between the two. Comically, Diamond kicks Ronnie in between her legs. Ronnie unfazed, laughs “Ain’t no balls there, bitch.” Before throwing more punches Diamond replies, “Could’ve fooled me.”
The fight ends with Diamond as the victor with two final punches, “It’s bitches like you that make it hard for women like me.”
Though the film is supposed to be a cautionary tale of how the underworld devours unsuspecting women, it ultimately vilifies queer women for their proximity to cis/het men. Most of the major infractions against Diamond or the other women in the film are at the hands of men, but The Players Club excuses it by perpetuating the notion that men have an animalistic inclination to commit violence against women. Viewers should expect this. However, the behavior of Ronnie comes as a greater betrayal purely because she is also a woman.
Ronnie should exist as a great villain because she was, not because she was gay.