From director and photographer Deborah Anderson comes the documentary Aroused, a film that spawned from the recording of behind the scenes interviews at one of her photo shoots where she sought to capture sensual rather than sexual images of some of the adult film industry’s most recognizable stars and change the way we view them. The 16 woman that peel back their adult film personas to expose their true personalities include Alexis Texas, Allie Haze, April O’Neil, Ash Hollywood, Asphyxia, Belladonna, Brooklyn Lee, Francesca Le, Jesse Jane, Katsuni, Kayden Kross, Lexi Belle, Lisa Ann, Misty Stone, Tanya Tate and Teagan Presley.
Aroused is an interesting documentary for those who really want to know the personalities behind some of the most famous porn stars currently active in the adult film industry as well as understand how the industry functions as a business, the rather banal process of making a porno and how these women became who they are, got their shot and how they feel about being an adult film star. Basically, you get to learn about the woman you whack to.
Don’t expect to go in and see sexual content, this is a sensual film with the goal of exploring the sensual side of these stars with an erotic photo shoot that also allows them the opportunity to speak their mind freely on their careers, call out the haters and discuss the business they work in. Anderson takes a very artsy approach with the first 60% of the film in black and white and then once the photo shoot finishes and the women are lying in bed naked the film switches to color, giving each lady time to talk more about their personal lives and some of the more difficult and troublesome aspects of working as a porn star.
While watching the film it was hard for me not to compare Aroused to the last adult film related documentary that I saw, After Porn Ends. Though the two might be drastically different in terms of style and story arc, the two also have many similarities in that you hear very similar stories about how the business operates and how people get involved and make it a career. What I really found fascinating was how many of the stars are religious or were brought up very religious and then somehow made this lead doing something that is completely frowned upon in those communities. A funny learning portion of this film was that the stars call non-industry people “civilians” and discuss if they would ever date these porn star haters or lovers.
Aroused isn’t exactly the most compelling feature as it can get very repetitive and the attempt at being super artsy can get quite annoying since 80% of the movie is all super close-ups on mouths, eyes, half a head and then obviously the better parts like the breasts and booty (those of which I cannot complain about). This style of presentation sho
uldn’t make up the majority of the film, it just seems silly and cheap after a while and ends up becoming distracting for those who are actively paying attention.
I think the most surprising part of the film is that these women, even if they aren’t all college educated, are rather intelligent and very well spoken. They are all able to convey their ideas and thoughts eloquently, explaining everything from how religion impacted their lives or how without one parent in your life it can leave you less grounded, creating less barriers that you have to deal with which allow you the opportunity to go off an do what you want. Many of the women tell some intimate and profound stories such as Belladonna, who explains how she cried after a scene because no one asked her if she wanted to suck 14 loads of cum out of a straw since they knew she’d say no (seriously). It’s crazy and disturbing stories like that which get revealed through this film and it is this level of intimacy and the intelligence and straightforwardness of the subjects that represent the strong points of the film.
Aroused is a classy documentary filled with some insightful information and anecdotes from some of the most popular talent currently dominating the adult film world. If you’re interested in learning about the business and understanding the real people behind the some of the dirty sex you watch then I would recommend checking it out even if it’s only mediocre. If you don’t care about the stories and just want to see naked women then your best bet is to skip the film and visit your favorite porn site.
Rating: Not the most exciting doc but the subjects are insightful enough that you surprisingly end up learning a thing or two from them (5/10)
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