Renting a house
in the Hollywood Hills, Deborah Anderson collects sixteen of the most
well-known adult film stars (Belladonna, Alexis Texas, Francesca Le, and Misty Stone to
name a few), she designs a photo-shoot in order to reveal their sensual side
rather than their sexual one. Aside from the photo-shoot, Anderson gets up
close and personal with the women on a different level. In a private setting,
the photographer uses close-up shots, distinct lighting and conversations to
get behind the porn star façade and into their thoughts. Was entering the world
of pornography a choice? How do they live outside of what they do? How did they
get into the business?
Surprising
is what their answers turn out to be. Anderson really lets the girls do all the
talking, not afraid to bare all for the cameras the intimacy of their
personalities and not just their bodies. She lets them talk about their
childhoods and what their families think of their profession; how they feel
about their harsh critics and what it’s like to have outside relationships
while doing what they’re doing.
What’s most
intriguing about the insightful documentary is the interview conducted with one
of the agents in the industry. It’s one of the highlights of the hour as
Anderson tries to understand not the just the porn stars and their motivations,
but also the person who helps manage their career. What she digs up are things
you don’t expect to hear and the agent’s answers will have you raising your
eyebrows.
It’s interesting
to note the fact that Anderson wants to get to know the girls on a personal
level yet still uses their bodies to exemplify the full extent of who they are.
It reiterates the fact that they are in touch and relaxed in their own skin,
yet Anderson’s use of certain poses and too many close-up shots are somewhat
distracting to the overall content. An extremely close shot takes away from
what the girls are saying and has you focusing too much on certain parts of
their face, which fills up most of the screen so there’s really nowhere else to
look. It’s excessive in the final ten minutes or so and since it’s so late in
the documentary, it thankfully doesn’t take away from the overall message.
Anderson also briefly
touches on the aspect of sex in society, how it’s perceived, and the obsession
our society has with it. Yes, sex sells, but what Anderson questions is the
obsession of attaching it to every product and service that the ads and
companies try to sell. It’s a shame Anderson doesn’t delve into this topic more
as it proves interesting to the overall link to pornography and how it’s
perceived.
While a couple
of things don’t quite work, Anderson does a great job in her directorial debut.
The topic she chooses is a brave and unique take on a subject that is taboo. She
vows to get to know the girls and their points of view before seeing their work
so that she doesn’t pre-judge them based on what they do. This makes her an
unbiased storyteller, choosing to focus on the industry and the girls’ experiences
with it, hoping to take one step closer to shedding a stereotype. Aroused is
definitely a documentary worth watching if only for the unique point of view
and approach that Anderson chooses to take.
