FEBRUARY 3, 2015 1:49AM
Hot Girls Wanted - Sundance 2015
Chillerpop@ Sundance Review
WARNING: NSFW Director: Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus
Producers: Rashida Jones, more
Notable Cast: Kendall Plemons, Tressa Silguero
Plot: Hot Girls Wanted is a first-ever look at the realities of the professional “amateur” porn world and the steady stream of 18-to-19-year old girls entering into it. (source: chicken & egg pictures)
I think I'm becoming a Marxist. Hot Girls Wanted gets at the very root of why we have such an insane and horrid pop culture landscape: money driven by instant fame, and celebrity as the Coin of the Realm.
Full disclosure: I've seen a movie or two, I'm hardly a prude and I'm not against pornography.
With that out of the way, this documentary, which I watched at a Sundance screening on Thursday, gets at some truths behind the digital age of porn. It behooves men to at least try to understand these truths between fap sessions. And yes, I mean men. Young women who want to enter this type of work have a lot to understand as well, but the film spells that out very clearly
The documentary weaves the experiences of a group of young women - 18, 19 and 25 - who live in a house in Miami, a house maintained by a talent agent whose job it is to feed "barely legal" type women through an amateur porn website mill. Amateur porn is defined as point-of-view, "reality" type porn (it's as scripted as anything else). No links; you can find it yourself if you're curious.
One of the lead characters, Tressa, has a boyfriend who thinks he's okay with her being in porn, and slowly reveals to her parents that this is the career she has chosen.
The talent agent is a 23 year old guy, Riley, who deserved more study as a character. Dressed in the most garish neo-gangsta porn-branded style, he seems to feel as though he's at the top of his world. In once scene he looks vulnerable and lost as he reveals how he was bullied in high school. This porn hustler life makes him feel like somebody.
This is a typical trajectory of these girls' path in porn:
- The girl, 18 or 19, sees ads online seeking an adult model and a free trip to Miami. The film makes it clear that the girl knows full well this is porn, and she knows exactly what goes on in these movies. She wants fame, money, autonomy and an escape from her dreary economically depressed town.
- The girl arrives at Riley's house, befriends Riley and the other girls in the house. She's excited to start her porn career, and launch themselves eagerly into their work.
- She makes the money (25K in three months), she parties like the rock stars she sees on the media, she's ensorcelled by a taste of the pinnacle of american existence (celebrity and notoriety).
- After three months (a span of time Riley has perfectly calculated, as he has seen it numerous times), there are fewer and fewer calls for shoots. It's suggested that she move from the 'amateur' genre into increasingly specialized genres. 25 year olds are now 'MILFS' and certainly not the fresh young teen that seems to fuel this type of market.
- The girl takes the specialized work. Her scene partners become noticeably less attractive. She becomes increasingly deadened. The sex acts are more extreme. There is one highly disturbing segment where the 25 year old explains her work in "Extreme Facial Abuse" porn. Unless degradation and abuse are wired into your sexual tastes (no judgement), you'll find it revolting.
- There's less money coming in, and none saved due to expenses. And unless she's distinguished herself somehow, she's done. It's over. Only she can't ever truly keep it behind her because her career lives on the Internet.
My big takeaway: far from the cliches of the sweet young girl taken
advantage of by sleazy abusive porn industry men, girls learn at a very
early age that participating in sexually explicit media acts - whether
on purpose or via leaked sex tape - will launch multimillion dollar
brand empires, acting careers, celebrity lives or more. They feel "like
a boss"; and there are women with active porn careers who gleefully
tout that message. Because they are only 18 and lack hindsight and life experience, they fully embrace that idea - until the reality turns out to be much different.
The "Duke Porn Star" Belle Knox had
an unwitting part in this documentary (at the Q&A session the
directors said Knox was tweeting at them angrily). In the documentary,
video clips of her media interviews with The View and CNN show her
declaring in vapid soundbites how "liberating and empowering" it is to
be in control of your sexuality, etc etc. The 25 year old woman profiled in the film downloads a clip of Knox's first ever porn scene, which was from the extreme facial abuse website which she herself had worked for. She immediately calls Knox out as a liar and identifies her media interview-speak as the work of a "great PR agent" and as "bullshit."
Part of me felt that this slut-shamed Knox in its own way. I wouldn't presume to know where her kinks and limits lie, and whether she is at peace with - or empowered by - the type of porn she does.
Then again, it's pretty clear that the economic drivers and the lure are quite strong. And in the end, does it make you mad that porn, easy riches and the celebrity life were the only things that could make these girls feel "like a boss"?
Also Recommended:
Not A Love Story (1981): I watched this anti-porn documentary in college. It's full of 70's porn kitsch, and, it's also full of maudlin Dworkinite hysterics, many of which are baseless and silly. I believe it was also denounced by erotica pioneer Susie Bright.
Hardcore (1979): Very compelling and psychotronic anti-porn hysteria film starring George C. Scott as a staunch Calvinist minister forced to enter the seedy underworld of the porn industry to rescue his precious, innocent daughter. Because once you enter the porn industry, it can only lead to - dun dun dun! - SNUFF PORN! Directed by Paul Schrader, with appearances by Ed Bagley Jr., Dick Sargent, Peter Boyle and Hal Williams as "Big Dick Blaque".
After Porn Ends (2012): A fascinating and nuanced documentary about the porn stars of yore and where they are now. Some stories were sad, and some were not. Some regretted their career choices, and some did not. I was thrilled to learn that Asia Carrera was a mensa member and lives in Utah. She worships the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
Comments
The path in porn is so
seductive. You start out skipping and humming and then it can turn on a
dime. I remember "Deep Throat" I like to think there are happy
porn stars. I think there are women making porn now and some of the
things are very positive and fun. Thanks for the review.
I was one, Zanelle, and i was very happy for about ten seconds.
Rated.
Rated.
@zanelle - yep. Its
not a new story by any means. To me the difference seems to be that
the girls can easily see the porn they're looking to participate in, and
there really is less marginalization once the girl has been perceived
to make it.
@Jonathan -- uuuh, WHAT??? Talk, man!
@Jonathan -- uuuh, WHAT??? Talk, man!
It's the manipulation
on the vulnerable rather than someone doing it because they want to with
eyes open that's problem. The latter is fine; the former totally
isn't. As for your recommendations, I have "After Porn Ends" in our
Netflix queue but haven't screened it yet.
Meanwhile, I'm just damn jealous that you get to attend Sundance!
Meanwhile, I'm just damn jealous that you get to attend Sundance!
Agreed VA. And I think legal adults can still be vulnerable.
Let me know what you think of After Porn Ends. There's a cover of "Sweet Jane" at the end credits!
Let me know what you think of After Porn Ends. There's a cover of "Sweet Jane" at the end credits!
No comments:
Post a Comment