Lady Boss: New Jackie Collins film celebrates icon who changed sex for women

"She changed the way women got to have sex; women got to be selfish in bed thanks to Jackie Collins."

Before there was Kim and Khloe, Bella and Gigi, or even Kate Middleton and Pippa, there was Jackie and Joan. Dame Joan and Jackie Collins were two sisters who epitomized Hollywood glamour in the late 20th century, be it from Joan Collins’ era-defining turn on classic 80s soap Dynasty or Jackie’s steamy, erotic novels which she started writing in 1968.

By the time of her passing in 2015, aged 77, Jackie Collins had written 32 novels, all of which appeared on The New York Times bestsellers list and cumulatively sold more than 500 million copies worldwide.

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Scandalous, forward-thinking, sexually liberated, and revolutionary, the new docufilm, Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story, celebrates the legacy left by a radical revolutionary who did it all her way.  

Of course, not everybody was a fan. With titles including The Bitch, The Stud and Poor Little Bitch Girl, she most likely didn’t want to be, either. “Nasty, filthy and disgusting” and charged with “creating every pervert in Britain" were some of the comments leveled at Jackie from famed romance novelist Barbara Cartland after the release of her debut book, The World is Full of Married Men.

That nuanced legacy gets explored in Lady Boss: the Jackie Collins Story, which aired on June 27 on CNN.

The film takes viewers on an immersive journey through the trailblazing life of Jackie Collins.

Spinning together fact and fiction, the feature documentary tells the untold story of a ground-breaking author and her mission to build a one-woman literary empire.

Narrated by a cast of Jackie’s closest friends and family, the film reveals the private struggles of a woman who became an icon of 1980s feminism whilst hiding her personal vulnerability behind a carefully crafted, powerful, public persona.

The film, which is part of the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, was met with great acclaim online.

Viewers were quick to celebrate the ‘fascinating and inspiring’ life reflected on film, with many reminiscing on their first Jackie Collins’ novels as youngsters-whether they were age-appropriate or not…

For an outspoken, boundary-breaker, it’s no surprise that other female celebrities were quick to heap praise on the film, and the subject.

Kathy Griffin tweeted about how she ‘LOVED it’ and RuPaul was quick to remind fans to tune in with a link.