‘Pleasure’ Review: A horrifying incursion into the porn industry
In her seminal book Pornography: Men Possessing Women, radical feminist Andrea Dworkin argued that pornography is inherently problematic because it operates on the violation of women perpetrated by phallocentric forces. Although discussions about “ethical pornography” are routinely conducted, Ninja Thyberg’s debut feature Pleasure uncovers the brutal reality of the industry that hides behind this buzzword.
Starring Sofia Kappel as Linnéa (also known as Bella Cherry) – a young girl from Sweden who travels to Los Angeles to make it in the porn industry, Pleasure might look like yet another erotic flick from the poster and the title but it is much more than that. Instead of eroticising the images on screen, Thyberg constructs a framework which provides powerful insights into the psyche of an adult entertainer.
“When it comes to pornography, it’s the only place where we really see explicit sex and it’s a huge part of our culture,” Thyberg commented in an interview while talking about the subject. “People consume so much pornography today and it’s something that we never discuss publicly or talk about amongst our friends.”
Pleasure is definitely noteworthy because of its subject matter and investigations but it is also more impressive since it is Thyberg’s debut feature. Not only that, it features the bold debut performance of star Sofia Kappel whose rendition of Bella Cherry is raw and real. Kappel manages to capture the wide spectrum of emotions which a woman experiences while trying to navigate the labyrinths of a patriarchal system.
With technology’s increasing domination over all social spheres of modern society, many find themselves under the grip of addiction to pornography which shapes their ideas about intimacy and human relationships. For people who are currently in that position, Pleasure might be an essential viewing experience because it deconstructs the images they constantly masturbate to.
The film efficiently exposes the mythology of ethical pornography, proving how the transactional nature of the business does not preserve any rights but it further dehumanises the women in the industry. Sophie Winqvist Loggins’ brilliant cinematography deliberately deviates from the formulaic eroticism of porn, subjecting the audience to jarring visions of female violation instead.
Pleasure is also interesting because it features collaborations from some of the biggest figures in the porn industry such as Evelyn Claire, proving that the most famous porn stars manage to survive at the top because they have internalised the problematic values of patriarchy. While current advocates of ethical pornography insist that the focus in on the rights of the performer, the performers are still effectively at the mercy of the powerful male agents and executives.
Dworkin’s incisive observations still ring true: “Since men never judge ethical capacity on the basis of justice toward women, the sexual meaning of the fetish remains subterranean, while on the cultural level the fetish is expanded into myth, religion, idea, aesthetics, all necessarily and intrinsically male-supremacist. The uniting theme is the hatred expressed toward women.”
Thyberg is unrelenting in her critique of the industry, showing us that success as a porn star relies on the complete transformation into a subject of patriarchal capitalism. Although pornography is still consumed voraciously by people all over the world, films like Pleasure make us stop and evaluate the exploitation and violation that we enable.
