The Girlfriend Experience (2009)

If a cool kid befriends a nerd, does that make the nerd cool or the kid a nerd? If a king marries a divorcée does that legitimise divorce? Not if the king is Edward VIII – he abdicates. What of Prince Charles?

He will never be king.

When Hollywood employs the other Hollywood, i.e, the pornographic industry, does that legitimize porn or does it sully Hollywood? Can Hollywood be further sullied? A mega rich man struts into town and every chancer rewrites his Christmas list. It happens in soccer: Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea football club in 2003 for $220 million and has spent a further $800 million on the club since. It happens in pro wrestling: witness Dixie Carter sitting in between Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff – two men who reputedly bled Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling dry. Marks should not buy wrestling federations. Hollywood should not go to the (porno) valley.

The Girlfriend Experience stars Sasha Grey. Sasha is a porn star extremis. Her “work” can be politely described as perverted (full disclosure: I am a middle aged, heterosexual, unmarried, childless male. If I find something disgusting in porn, then it is). By employing Sasha to star in his movie, director Stephen Soderbergh bestows legitimacy on her and on pornography. The criticism of the 1990 Pretty Woman was that young girls would think there’s a future in prostitution. That engaging in fellatio on Sunset Boulevard would lead to meeting a mega rich trick who would drive her off in a convertible.

Never gonna happen.

Hollywood has a long history of romanticizing prostitution/prostitutes: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Biloxi Blues, Camille, et cetera, et cetera. The power Johns believe the pillow talk: they actually fantasize that a whore could fall in love with them and not their money. A porno chick is a prostitute in front of a camera. Unlike a prostitute who can leave town and deny she ever was one, a porn star is scarlet letter stigmatized for all existence. That won’t stop young girls who can now justify (to themselves) entry into the porno industry – Hollywood is hiring.

The Girlfriend Experience is more a collection of scenes than it is a story. It follows “upmarket escort” Sasha as she relates her experiences to a journalist (Why a journalist would want to interview a prostitute is beyond me -he’s obviously looking for a freebie). Her occupation is presented as white collar business. A lot of scenes take place at posh restaurants. She eats with impeccable manners. Soderbergh portrays her as sympathetic and shoots her with a lopsided tilt: a gazelle chased by wolves. There are fringe characters: her personal trainer boyfriend struggling in the contemporary economy. There are political didactics that are anti Obama and pro Zionist Jew. The dialogue delivery is David Mamet without the wit or engaging intellect. There is no character development to be seen or heard.

This is a film most people won’t bother with. It’s neither entertaining nor insightful. Soderbergh is a genuine talent and will continue to explore cinema. Sasha Grey will benefit from this film in her chosen industry and not legit movies. There’s no future for her. Though she can recite lines, she can’t act (Soderbergh did his best to accentuate her pluses – her look, and hide her flaws – dramatic interaction). What he’s achieved with this film is a new type of whore Hollywood can fantasize and romanticise.

Maybe he was after a freebie.

(This review of The Girlfriend Experience was printed with the kind permission of Thrill Fiction.) You can see what other people thought of The Girlfriend Experience at Amazon.com, and if you buy a copy there, we make a little money too.