WORDS by LYN X
When it comes to the sex worker cannon, the stripper with a heart of gold is a classic. Usually, there are only two endings to this tale: being saved by the rich male client, tragedy, or in some cases, both. For most of my life, I saw Anna Nicole Smith’s story as one that straddled both these tropes. A notorious sex worker, she won the sugar baby olympic gold, raking in 14M from the deathbed of billionaire J. Howard Marshall II, a Texas oil tycoon, only to be blind sighted in the end by an ugly legal battle at the hands of his son. You Don’t Know Me, Director Ursula Macfarlane latest take on Smith's life for Netflix, rehashes much of the catastrophic moments we already knew. I, however, was pleasantly surprised to discover a more nuanced side to her story that mirrored my own: a queer romance with a fellow sex worker.
