American Courtesans

Director James Johnson presents dialogues with women presently or formerly in the American "sex worker" industry, chiefly prostitutes/strippers/masseuses/escorts (there appears to be much overlap in job descriptions). Some purport to hail from all-American backgrounds, others came from disadvantaged households, and more than one seemed damned from the get-go by parents and grandparents steeped in hysteria-level religious repression. Subjects talk about rape, exploitation, and harrowing threats from pimps in a cultural climate where police supposedly code-name murdered hookers as "N.H.I."— no humans involved. But there is also rather romantic commentary here about the sisterhood of the "street girls." In contrast to the expected pseudo-feminist man-bashing, a sequence of interviews about and with johns (the men shown only in silhouette, with altered voices) points out that many call-girl customers are not intrinsically bad guys, and nurturing/compassionate relationships can result (especially with the disabled). The women here are seen speaking to each other in encounter-group fashion, while some escorts' husbands and sons also offer observations. The intent (for the most part) seems less to glamorize sex work than to plea for legalization and acceptance of the industry. That said (faint-hearted collections be warned), executive producer and escort Kristie Di Angelo and others appear clad in lingerie for gauzy softcore/cheesecake inserts now and again, conveying a mixed message to say the least. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)