Dicks: The Musical features bizarre sewer creatures that wear diapers, detached flying vaginas, and gay twincest, but the most attention-grabbing sight of A24’s absurd new musical comedy film is Megan Thee Stallion, rapper and hot girl extraordinaire, who plays Gloria Masters, the no-nonsense boss and overall baddie of the film.
In her big-screen debut, a pantsuited Megan sings, raps, twirls, and twerks with aplomb to a rousing musical number appropriately titled “Out Alpha the Alpha.” It’s essentially a glorified, girl-bossified version of her stage persona—so electrifying and beguiling that it makes a strong case for casting directors everywhere to include her in any and all upcoming projects. Gloria has only two scenes in the film and the unsavory task of firing the film’s two main characters, the self-absorbed identical twin salesmen, Craig Tiddle (Josh Sharp) and Trevor Brock (Aaron Jackson). As such, the role could have easily been reduced to a bit part or a one-note villain. Instead, thanks to the performer’s outstanding charisma and infectious charm, Gloria emerges as one of the film’s brightest stars.
Gloria Masters should, for all intents and purposes, be a square. She’s a tough manager who’s obsessed with making money and pitting her employees against one another to amp up their performance, with a flagrant disregard for HR. Being a corporate boss is not glamorous! Business casual pantsuits are not cool! Firing people is highly unpalatable! Girlbossing has long gone out of style! And yet, Megan makes it look good. Under her magnetic command, Gloria barking out orders to her minions feels aspirational, Gloria throwing money in the air at the office feels like being at the club, and Gloria walking her male employees on leashes like dogs somehow feels like gender equity in the workplace.
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This isn’t Megan’s first time onscreen, and it certainly won’t be her last; she’s had cameos in shows like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, where she twerked with She-Hulk while playing herself, and P-Valley, on which she played Tina Snow, one of Megan’s alter egos and the title of her celebrated EP. Later this month, she’ll play a fast-talking, twerking (again), and sexually confident hormone monster on the penultimate season of Big Mouth and is rumored to be starring in an upcoming Safdie Brothers project for Netflix. In all of her acting roles to date, Megan has essentially played a version of her stage persona, an ultra-confident, bodacious, and unapologetically feminine force of nature. This repetition isn’t a bad thing: It’s a character in which she’s well-versed and an image she’s honed to perfection on-stage and in her numerous music videos, making her a natural in front of the camera as an actor.
In this vein, the character of Gloria is hardly transformational. It looks like Megan playing the silliest, most bombastic version of her essence as a rapper, from the boss’ self-assured hair flips to her braggadocious raps. For the entirety of her music career, Megan has embodied the fearless spirit of a new generation of female rappers: fiercely confident, unafraid to revel in her sexuality, and willing to go toe-to-toe with any male MC who might question her skills, an attitude that she imbues beautifully into this role. It’s an empowering approach that contrasts sharply with the misogynoir and sexist prejudice she’s faced in recent years in the wake of a 2023 trial that found the rapper Tory Lanez guilty of shooting her in 2020.
This may be why watching Megan bring Gloria to life feels so exhilarating. Here’s a woman who’s faced unspeakable challenges and horrific misogyny, playing the HBIC to perfection onscreen. A powerful woman being undermined by men? It’s clear that Megan can relate.
