Documentary filmmaker Liz Canner brought her first feature documentary, Orgasm Inc. to New York City last tonight, where the film will had its New York City premiere at The Film Society of Lincoln Center. Liz screened the film at Oberlin College at the beginning of May, and I was fortunate enough to not only get to see it, but also to listen in on an extensive Q & A Liz did with students afterward.
Orgasm Inc. is, on its surface, about the race from pharmaceutical companies to create the “female Viagra” but the biggest issue the film brings up is the immense influence the pharmaceutical industry has obtained since being allowed to advertise on television, and thus, becoming a much bigger industry. As a sequence in the film suggests, former conditions hat were once thought to be personality traits or normal parts of life have now become pathologized. The film focuses on the creation of “Female Sexual Dysfunction,” a diagnosis that it appears was invented in order for the FDA to approve these so-called “female Viagra” drugs.
Canner got the idea for the film after she was hired to edit porn videos for a drug company, which would then be used in clinical trials testing the drug. Before the movie, Liz told us that she wanted to make a film about pleasure, after being emotionally affected by having to watch hours of footage of police brutality over and over. What she found was something very different.
One of the most impressive aspects of the film is the fact that Liz didn’t interview any marketing or PR employees, instead focusing on other employees of the company, who were much less media savvy, and prone to giving honest reactions versus sound bites. The extremely honest interviews Liz was able to obtain are amazing to watch, especially as an audience used to the polished mouth pieces that typically show up on television.
Beyond her own experiences, Liz takes the viewer on in an-depth look of the entire industry touting “Female Sexual Dysfunction,” including a visit to the clinic run by Dr. Laura Berman, one of the drug industry’s biggest proponents of Female Sexual Dsyfunction. Interspersed with clips of Dr. Berman on major media outlets, Liz reveals that she was being paid a hefty sum by Pfizer to recommend Viagra’s off-label use to women.
The bottom line, the film suggests, is the only one that matters. Drug companies are willing to put women’s lives at risk in order to treat a problem that may be better helped with therapy, or in some cases, isn’t really a problem at all. One woman Liz interviews, who is outfitted with a dangerous device in her spine to help her achieve orgasm, finally admits that she does experience orgasms, just not through intercourse, or the “right way.”
The next frontier for the “Female Sexual Dysfunction” game is the advent of vaginal plastic surgery. In the Q & A, Liz showed us several clinics nearby (in Ohio) that perform the surgery, indicating it’s not just a “Hollywood” phenomenon. This is happening everywhere, and will become more pervasive, especially with young women growing up in an age where hairless, “perfect” genitalia is becoming the norm.
What I think is truly great about this film is it really drives home the fact that feminism is still very needed in our society. Procedures like vaginal rejuvenation surgery and the overwhelming pressure women feel to have the “right” kind of orgasm prove what a double standard exists for women’s bodies and sexuality.
That being said, I think this film is also significant for anyone living in the U.S. It really makes you think about how every aspect of human experience has become a diagnosis, rather than phases of life everyone goes through. One thing Liz made clear in her Q & A, is she’s not anti-drugs, just anti- drugs that don’t work and are dangerous. Unfortunately, with the big money behind the drug industry, it’s likely they will put their profits before the health of consumers.
Check here for screenings and the trailer. You can also buy the DVD here. ____________________________________________________________
Maria Diaz is a pop culture scholar and student at Oberlin College. Check out her blog here.
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It sounds like it covers and interesting bit of an important subject. Whilst i do happen to go for documentaries, they tend to not get as big of a box office draw. Are there, hopefully, enough racy bits, like clips from R-rated cable advertisements, to titillate and draw in more viewers?
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