The Girlfriend Experience
Last night I went to see The Girlfriend Experience by Steven Soderbergh at the BFI. The film itself was okay. I did find it difficult to connect with though. Beautifully shot, but there were only brief moments where you could actually sympathise with the characters.
The theatre was mostly full of men, some of whom were heavy breathers and oh lucky me, sat right by us. It felt like a ‘hands where I can see ‘em buddy’ sort of scenario. The Q&A afterwards was very interesting. I felt that Sasha was as reserved as her character Chelsea is when talking to the journalist. She seemed to answer the questions on her own terms and wasn’t prepared to talk about anything she didn’t feel wholly comfortable with. In fairness, some of the guys did ask pretty stupid questions. One guy talked about the stereotypical dumb pornstar and another asked if she felt her American Apparel ads “demeaned women”. Seriously, I’m not even joking.
Sasha Grey struck me as much prettier in real life. Her eyes had a certain sparkle that you don’t see on screen but sadly, like in the film, I don’t think she really connected with the audience. Not that I blame her…
***Image of Sasha wearing American Apparel Ass-less Stockings***
Thanks for the review of the night.
As this film is being talked about in the mainstream media, I alway find it interesting to see how much they push the line of “porn is degrading to women or shes only doing porn because something terrible happed in her past”.