Were the filmmakers trying to portray the dark side of porn? They failed

I frankly don't get the assumption that the filmmakers were trying to portray the porn industry in a bad light. I think they let the people in the documentary speak their minds and showed things the way they are. More like reality television than an agenda being forced here.

If the message a young viewer takes away is that perhaps fame and money aren't worth the shame and blows to self esteem, then so be it. Others in the movie seem to have made some peace with their lifestyle choices, but it's up to we the viewers to decide if they are being honest and how long until they feel differently about things.

The documentary is as much about 21st Century American society and morality as it is about these particular girls and guys and their individual stories. Food for thought.

I've seen several porn docs and they always seem to set up an agenda of "this industry manipulates people" but then they run out of steam to support that and just end up portraying the industry objectively anyhow and then the doc just ends up pointless. A summary of all porn docs....or maybe like three. :P


But it's so simple. This women sign contracts and are paid. "Here's money for sex." Where's the manipulation?

Porch Monkey 4 Life.

It seems pretty objective to me. I didn't see them trying to make anything look one way or the other. Why so defensive?

I don't think they were, I think it was neutral. I think they were more investigating the phenomenon of these professional amateurs rather than making a specific statement - they could have edited it very differently if that's what they'd wanted. As it was it showed different attitudes and good and bad things so that's it.

I do think the Texas girl (I can't even remember all their names) got VERY lucky with her parents and bf....she is one lucky girl. If anything that was probably unusually positive.

I would have liked to have seen more of the men involved. And what they think about their job. The agent seemed like a loser but not terribly creepy or weird or anything. They briefly showed two male porn actors, both of whom seemed hilariously normal in their little snippets, chatting or whatever - I know they knew they were being filmed, but even so, they didn't seem lecherous or anything. All very strange.

Agreed. This doco wasn't trying to shame anyone, it just showed things for what they are. That's the best kind of documentary making.