Sexual Exploration
The legendary PD – an artist and former Carnegie Mellon professor – admits to being fascinated with explicit sexual imagery long before he founded his popular website, the now defunct Insex.com.
From experiencing his first orgasm during tie-me-up, tie-me-down games with a cousin, to witnessing a live performance of Japanese bondage and seeing the marketing possibilities for the first time, PD, a.k.a. Brent, candidly talks to Bell and Lorentzon about how his sexual curiosity grew and blossomed into a lucrative business.
The Rise of Insex.com
At the height of its popularity, Insex.com attracted thousands of paying visitors who came to witness live performances depicting women involved in bondage, humiliation, torture, and rapture.
The models were drawn to PD by greed, lust, and a desire to have their own personal limits pushed beyond their wildest dreams.
Some stayed for a while, making thousands of dollars in the course of an afternoon; others forged long-term relationships with PD and came to love the man who was both boss and tormentor.
Graphic Sexual Horror
In their film, Bell and Lorentzon use interviews with models and with PD himself, as well as images and scenes from Insex.com, to document the rise and fall of the infamous website.
In the Director's Statement found on the film's website, Barbara Bell explains why she wanted to show clips of PD's work but at the same time, felt it was important to take extreme care in how it was done:
"We felt we had to give an accurate picture of his work without losing our audience in the first five minutes."
Haunting Sexual Imagery
In PD's world, women have become numbers. They are caned, punched, slapped, and tortured in the most creative ways – these images are not for the faint at heart. The scenes are titillating to some, shocking to others.
The women are masochists in search of thrills, submissives in search of love, and models wanting to make a lot of money, fast. And they are paid amply for their work.
For work it is. Viewers are taken through shoots where the director runs through the scenes about to take place, rehearsing difficult parts and explaining his wishes to the models – or actresses, in some cases – who execute his orders perfectly… And at times, not so perfectly.
The Beginning of the End
Eager for more and more control, PD grows increasingly demanding. Models speak of limits not being respected, of being offered ultimatums: play off-camera, or leave.
In the closing scene, we see PD's farm under a cover of snow. A tethered girl wanders aimlessly around a stake, bare feet dancing frantically as she tries to keep warm. Instead of coming closer, the camera pulls away.
What was sexual and titillating has lost its appeal. The isolation is palpable.
In the end Graphic Sexual Horror offers an unbiased look at Insex.com but the film lacks direction, and the movie fails to elicit the kind of passion that PD himself gave rise to in his willing victims, and in his fans.
Source
For more information, visit HotDocs or the official movie website.
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