Mutantes

In Mutantes, French author/filmmaker Virginie Despentes documents the rise of “post-porn” feminism, which began in the 1980s in reaction to mainstream pornography and is pro-gay, pro-prostitution, and pro-punk. Annie Sprinkle, Carol Queen, and Candida Royalle are among those who talk about their introduction to sex work, while film critic B. Ruby Rich, director Catherine Breillat, photographer Del La Grace Volcano, and musicians Lydia Lunch and Lynnee Breedlove add their related perspectives. As Breillat sees it, “The concept of obscenity is a totalitarian tool to reduce women.” While the sex workers all feel more empowered than victimized (although some have now left the field), their origins are strikingly different. Norma Jean Almodovar, for instance, started out as a police officer, but after being disillusioned by widespread corruption in the LAPD, she protested through prostitution, an experience that led to the book Cop to Call Girl. Other topics include lesbian pornography, fetish and bondage films, legalization versus decriminalization, and porn versus erotica (jokes Rich, “It's the lighting”). In between interviews, Despentes intercuts an array of sexually explicit scenes from the films of Sprinkle, Royale, Richard Kern, Shu Lea Cheang, and Todd Morris. Despentes presents some provocative ideas and images here, but Mutantes ultimately loses its way at the end with a long sojourn amongst Barcelona's post-porn scene that revels in exhibitionism and degradation in a manner that seems more amateurish than empowering. Academic collections will want to consider, but the explicit sexual material makes this optional for all but the most adventurous of public libraries. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)