Pleasure - A disenchantment of the porn industry
The feature film debut of the Swedish director Ninja Thyberg was part of the official selection of the canceled film festival in Cannes in 2020. Still, due to Corona, "Pleasure" only had its official premiere at the Sundance film festival in the following January – and since then, the provocative porn drama has been discussed hotly debated. Thyberg is also passionate about what she is doing. After all, she has been an activist against the porn industry since she was a teenager. She later studied gender studies and made several short films in which she deals with gender roles and the associated power structures.
In 2013, Thyberg's short film, also entitled "Pleasure," was released, which caused a scandal when it premiered in Cannes for numerous reasons – one of them being that the director received death threats afterward. Similar violent reactions are now expected in the feature film version of the material. This can be seen, among other things, in the comments that the film's trailer alone evokes on YouTube, for example. These speak malice and indignation equally. So, there's no doubt: "Pleasure" obviously sticks right in the middle of an emotionally charged wasp's nest.
Linnéa (Sofia Kappel) leaves Sweden, where everything is monotonous and boring in her eyes anyway, to become Bella Cherry in Los Angeles and become the new porn star. But even the first shoot brings its unexpected challenges. In any case, their shabby accommodation has nothing in common with the luxury of the large villas with pools, where the porn is mainly shot. But at least she meets a young woman named Joy (Revika Reustle), who lets her in on some of the industry's secrets.
Linnéa's ambition is tremendous, and her goal is to become one of the so-called mirror girls who belong to the luxury guard in the scene. To make a name for herself as quickly as possible, she follows the coveted agent Mark Spiegler (himself) and gets involved in "extreme" jobs such as Sado-Maso sex or double anal penetrations. However, Linnéa breaks up during a shoot where rape is reenacted. She must decide how far she is willing to go for her dream...
Where's the fun?
"Business or Pleasure," asks the officer at immigration. But the young Swede has no intention of distinguishing between work and pleasure. One of the most common myths about pornography is that porn performers choose their profession because they enjoy sex and get paid to have endless fun anyway. Still, some believe it's the best job in the world. But "Pleasure" mercilessly cleans up with this notion. The film shows how little absolute pleasure the active participants in porn shoots feel and how stressful this profession is for women and men - both physically and emotionally.
Linnéa's oh-so-glamorous idea of the porn industry begins to crack with her very first assignment. Her practical knowledge is limited to the fact that as a porn actress, you have to get a suitable stage name like Bella Cherry. On the other hand, she has never heard of exceptional personal hygiene, such as the use of a vaginal douche, which is required before sexual intercourse. The protagonist doesn't lose this naïve streak, which Sofia Kappel conveys believably, until the end.
However, there is a growing callousness and a further spurred-on ambition. Thyberg doesn't rely on a one-dimensional sympathizer, on whom she then exercises the pitfalls of the porn industry in a morally pompous manner. Instead, she creates a complex character that you as a viewer might not find particularly likable but with whom you can still empathize. Even in the end, you still don't like them, but you respect them.
With "Pleasure," Thyberg allows a look behind the scenes of the porn business in a way that has probably never been so disenchanting in a feature film. Even in Sean Baker's "Red Rocket," in which a fallen porn star is at the center of the plot, one suspects something of the difficulties that the profession entails, but it doesn't get down to business there either. On the other hand, it is immediately apparent that Thyberg has dealt intensively with the industry. In some places, she even blurs the line between the fictionalized and the documentary when she includes real porn actors and even the real agent Mark Spiegler.
The institutionalization of violence
Even if Linnéa agrees to engage in more "extreme" practices to get closer to her dream, she doesn't even know precisely what that means at the moment. While things are still respectful in a Sado-Maso scene, for example, because everyone on site tries to offer Linnéa the safest possible environment, a rape scene with several men leads to an emotional collapse of the character - and with one good chance of the audience of "Pleasure."
The ferocity of the scene is not even because it quite explicitly reenacts the sexual act, but rather to the realization that this reenacted rape is nothing more than an "approved" rape. On the one hand, it becomes unmistakably clear that an imbalance of power between men and women, as soon as pure physical strength comes into play, can only be balanced with difficulty or not at all. She also shows once again that pornography is also a mirror of social and moral values (or even actively contributes to maintaining them, after all, it is mainly about male fantasies, which often involve violence to the feeling of pleasure).
"Pleasure" portrays the porn business as mechanically sterile at best, given the characterless sets and the competitive pressures between the performers, primarily defined by their social media follower numbers. At worst, however, it is a hotbed of abuse of power, self-destructive behavior, and ultimately institutionalizing violence against women. Racism in its purest form also finds expression. Because, at least according to their producers, the most extreme sex is not gang rape but intercourse with a man of different skin color.
Viewers will probably read the film differently, and their attitude towards pornography will likely play a central role. But if you look and want to look, you will be affected long-term. The various violent scenarios are not even decisive - it is sufficient if one of the male actors reports behind closed doors that he only gets an erection if he injects painful medication into his privates before shooting. From the only apparent "enjoyment," there is finally nothing left.
Conclusion: "Pleasure" reveals a relentless view of the porn industry, which clears up several myths and describes various practices that were probably unknown to most viewers in advance. The film can be concrete without appearing voyeuristic. The individual actors largely retain their dignity, even if the film as a whole can be read as a clear indictment against this branch of the economy. However, this is a movie that shows the weaknesses of the porn industrie.
