The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

In the past few weeks of discussing Hollywood and the film industry I’ve thought back on several of my favorite films. The film that I will be focusing on for this segment is The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I believe that this film illustrates white patriarchal capitalism, tokenism, and for the one black character that stands out in the film as a “mammy” character. To give you an overall taste of the film here is the trailer.




In the beginning of the film the patriarchal relationship that Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd (Burt Reynolds) has with Miss Mona (Dolly Parton) is not very clear. This theme is one that I feel builds throughout the film. From the moment that there’s news that Melvin P Thorpe (Dom DeLuise) will be doing an expose on The Chicken Ranch, Sheriff Dodd steps in to save the day.


The theme of Dodd saving the day builds with the rising action of the film until Dodd ultimately fails and The Chicken Ranch is closed. Although the plot runs somewhat contrary to Benshoff and Griffin’s (2009) statement that the white male protagonist “…emerges victorious at the end” (p. 25) Dodd does successfully “get the girl” and move on to purse his dream career in politics. I would argue that although he doesn’t achieve his prime objective , he does still end victoriously. Although Dodd is victorious, Jewel is not quite as lucky.


Jewel (Theresa Merritt) is one of the only speaking roles held by an African American person in the film. Throughout the film we can see her in the stereotypical “mammy” role. Jewel has few moments of screen glory throughout the film, but when we do see this large black woman on film she seems almost like a willing slave. I will say that she is almost portrayed as a business partner to Miss Mona in the film we can still see strong underpinnings of her mammy portrayal.


Scenes where Jewel is present we see her frying chicken, keeping after the girls, or fast asleep at the television like a mother waiting for her kids to come home. When we look at Mammy as “an overweight black woman who took care of the white master’s children, without concern for her own” (Benshott & Griffin, 2009, p. 79) we can see that Jewel is a modified mammy. The children that Jewel watches over are the prostitutes of The Chicken Ranch.


Lastly, one of the final scenes with Jewel and Miss Mona is probably the most poignant of the film. Additionally, this scene shows that although Miss Mona is the proprietor of the establishment, Jewel relates to her as if she is her daughter, not her boss. We can see this in the following clip 2:37 although Jewel is the most prominent minority in the film others are represented.




Throughout the film several ethnicities are represented though all of the “girls” that work at the ranch. Some of them have minor speaking roles, but nothing of too much significance. In these glorified extras we can find our tokens of other minorities. Of most interest to me was the fact that there were several Asian prostitutes, but they were not present elsewhere in the film. We can see this in almost any of the dance numbers that take place at the house. Interestingly, I find that the Asian prostitutes do not have any lines sung or spoken on their own.




Although this film may not have the best portrayal of minorities and it certainly reinforces white patriarchal capitalism, I think The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is an outstanding film.