Common Sense Media Review
By Dana Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Docu about online porn bares it all, sends mixed messages.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 18+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On
What's the Story?
HOT GIRLS WANTED: TURNED ON begins the six-part series with a view back to the 1960s era of Playboy-style porn. These images and footage, quaint in comparison with today's porn climate, set the backdrop for the rest of the first episode. This episode focuses on the stories of the first female Playboy photographer, Suze Randall, and her porn-making daughter, Holly Randall, as well as the porn director Erika Lust. Some current stats on porn consumption are peppered in between scenes. There's a lot of dialogue about how women in the porn industry are treated differently (meaning better) by women directors, as well as how the culture of porn has changed to become more about violence against women and less about sexuality and eroticism. Women directors discuss struggling to include women's sexuality in porn. There's discussion of how the internet has changed pornography and how Erika Lust is crowdsourcing ideas for her porn movies.
Is It Any Good?
The intention behind this documentary series may have been to shed light on the porn industry, but in the end it only muddies the water. There are so many conflicting messages -- porn violence against women versus women's empowerment through directing porn; a mother-daughter porn legacy who now disagree about the viability of the industry -- that it almost feels pointless. Then there's the sexual content. Obviously, there's going to be sexual content in a documentary about porn. But whether the directors actually had to include as much as they did -- including a highly disturbing scene of a woman being held down by her neck in a porn scene, as well as footage from an "upscale" porn film being made for "responsible consumers" with a rather reluctant female participant -- is questionable. Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On is decidedly not for kids and teens. And because it lacks a cogent, compelling point on this important social issue, it's not for discerning adults, either.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about internet pornography using our parent tips as a starting point. How would you broach this difficult subject? Does Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On provide a good introduction or not?
How has the internet changed people's experience of sexuality? How do you define a healthy sexual relationship?
TV Details
- Premiere date : April 21, 2017
- Cast : Holly Randall , Erika Lust
- Network : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- TV rating :
- Last updated : March 13, 2020
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