For a facet of media that has long shaped the desires and sensual sensibilities of humans en masse, pornography largely remains a cagey and taboo subject to explore artistically. Photographers like Robert Mappelthorpe and Ren Hang are renowned for their sexually explicit snapshots of BDSM and radical nudity—yet cinematically, approaching porn has often meant flinching away from candid insights of the industry itself.
Yet, she swiftly realizes she’s not the only girl with the same wet dream. She’s cagey toward the women she shares a mutual home and agent with. However, her roommate Joy immediately wins her over—the two’s bond solidified when they playfully simulate fellatio with a banana. Though the two might be vying for the same sense of recognition, they both realize that their line of work is only made lonelier without a shoulder to lean on.
a warts-and-all depiction of porn that still retains the humanity of all the players involved. While Kappel delivers an incredible debut performance, her co-stars are all actual porn performers, agents and industry workers. Much of their inclusion in the film is predicated on the real-life rapport forged with Thyberg during her foray into the adult film world.
Even more intriguing is Thyberg’s former alignment with the anti-porn feminist movement, her activismon at least one occasion. When doing research on the topic for a gender studies course, however, she began to develop more than a knee-jerk revulsion to porn—or perhaps more aptly, to the women who work in the field.
It soon becomes depressingly clear that much of the work Bella and her colleagues get is rooted in an idea of sex that views female pleasure as negligible. The orgasms of male actors are tantamount—their literal climax and the film’s are one in the same—while porn actresses are often relegated to the role of vessel or canvas for ejaculation. Of course, this isn’t always the case.