A documentary about pornography? Sounds like a sad excuse for male entertainment, right? Wrong. "Hot Girls Wanted" is a short film about rising porn stars in the industry directed by Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus and produced by Rashida Jones.
It tells the story of five young girls (can't stress enough young) making it big in Miami. They live in a small house together with their twenty-something-year-old agent named Riley who recruited them to the business via an email inquiry.
Basically, the documentary tells the story of how easy it is in this generation for young people to get into pornography if the job is desired. If one girl quits, there are thousands of others interested in having the opportunity because of the money. A girl in the film states that she can make $900 in five hours, so why would she ever want to go home to make $8.25 an hour on a useless job? That kind of money sounds appealing when it's stated in that sense.
However, "Hot Girls Wanted" spills the ugly truth about the porn industry that every single man dreads. It's not all what it seems on camera and it's actually very uncomfortable. For everyone involved. I showed this documentary to one of my really good male friends and the whole time he was uninterested in the horrors of porn. He was pretty much in denial that these girls risk their health for a few hundred dollars. But when you need the money, that doesn't matter.
Now it's all well and true that the girls CHOSE to have this lifestyle. And maybe we shouldn't feel bad for them. The crap that they have to deal with though, is disgusting. I won't go into detail, but the whole thing made me want to throw up by the end.
The film shows its viewers that the pornography lifestyle isn't what it appears to be. Mostly for the main character of the documentary, Tressa, whose fake name was Stella May. Her story describes a teenager caught up in the glamorous lifestyle, but who eventually makes it back to normality in her hometown in Texas. Along the way, there's tears, laughter, and difficult decision making. The plot line is actually really intriguing, if you're into shock-value documentaries.
"Hot Girls Wanted" unfortunately does not provide any solution to this media-induced porn problem, however, it's obvious that the producers are trying to exploit the industry, which has the industry itself fighting back. An article on The Daily Beast titled "‘Hot Girls Wanted’ Is Pornsploitation: The Porn Industry Fights Back" interviewed writer and director Jacky St. James of the adult company New Sensations.
She says, "The producers act as if they are doing some greater good by exploiting the adult industry to mainstream media. They present no solutions to the problems presented within this documentary, but instead tell the same tired tale of how pornography ruins lives and somehow exploits the very women that made the choice to enter the industry completely of their own volition."
St. James also discusses the Adult Performer's Advocacy Committee, which protects and represents actors in pornography. It's mission statement is “To provide representation for performers in the adult film industry and to protect performers’ rights.”
The women in the documentary choose this life for themselves, but until we know the back story, they're just trampy girls on camera. "Hot Girls Wanted" definitely brings reality into focus.
Secrets revealed in 'Hot Girls Wanted' that you probably didn't know:
- California recently passed a law that required the use of condoms in pornography, which is why more of the industry is in Miami now.
- A porn star's success depends on Twitter. (Keep in mind the minimum age to have a Twitter account is 13.)
- It takes about a month for her friends/family to find out about a girl in porn.
- "Amateur" porn is the largest sector of the business.
- Worst case scenario for porn stars: one to three months. Best case: one year tops.
- More people visit porn sites each month than Netflix, Amazon, and Twitter combined.
It's hard to tell whether "Hot Girls Wanted" is a good or bad
influence on society, but one thing is for sure: It brought serious
attention to porn. As if the media doesn't do that already.
Watch it when you're looking for your next poison on Netflix. Maybe you'll form your own opinion.





















