Disc Reviews

What’s a girl to do when her bills pile up, her hours at work get cut, and though she’s a promising medical student, life seems to be getting in the way of her studies?  Well, the “easy” answer seems to be, hit the closest strip club and put your natural assets to work. At least that is the direction Mary Mason (Katharine Isabelle) decides to take.  Though luckily as fate would have it, during her “audition” process an emergency occurs, allowing Mary to put her surgical skills to the test and make a quick five grand.  Was Mary’s decision ethical?  In this film you’ll need to throw out the books on medical ethics, because this is a tale of revenge at its core, but also about giving people what they want, to live the lives they believe they were meant to live.

As Mary comes to term with the procedure she tended to in the club’s basement, word of her handiwork has spread and she begins to get requests for procedures that even the doctors from Nip Tuck would have to reject.  After collecting ten grand for a procedure that transforms a woman to finally resembling a real life doll, Mary’s handiwork is then spread across the web, and she becomes all the more in demand.  Mary doesn’t go into this field of body modification lightly, as she still has aspirations to be a successful surgeon, but unfortunately that all comes to an end after she attends a late night surgeons’ party.  Unfortunately this isn’t your average party; it turns out to be an underground sex club where the surgeons bring girls, drug them, and rape them.  Considering one of the attendees happened to be one of her instructors who she looked up to, the hurt is only worse and is enough to push Mary over the edge to seek revenge.

When a documentary is made about a subject and interviews are presented with a wide variety of individuals talking about a single thing, most of the time no one will question such a presentation. In this case, people are likely to question the intentions and ultimate content of the project. The film is directed by noted photographer Deborah Anderson, who has taken photographs of many famous celebrities like Elton John and George Clooney. She is the daughter of rock singer Jon Anderson from Yes. Aroused is about celebrities of a sort. The film includes extensive interviews with porn stars and their agent during the course of an extensive photo shoot. The question then becomes, “How serious is this project?” It turns out to be a somewhat serious examination of the psychological stress that these women have to go through. That said, there is a fair amount of nudity as the film progresses. Is it gratuitous or not? That's not easy to say. I would say that if they wanted this to be taken seriously, they might have limited the nudity. Of course, it will probably have a higher level of sales with the nudity.

I can't say I know many of the people being interviewed, but I will list some names for those of you who might know; Allie Haze, Ash Hollywood, Asphyxia Noir, April O'Neill, Alexis Texas, Belladonna, Brooklyn Lee, Francesca Lee, Jesse Jane, Kayden Kross, Lisa Ann, Misty Stone, Tanya Tate, Teagen Presley and Fran Amidor. Anderson wants to get to know the real women. Who were they before they became the stigma or pariah? Many of them came from sheltered or timid backgrounds. Some were married to ministers, and some went through strict religious training.