Documentary Review: Hot Girls Wanted

"While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage."
2 Peter 2:19

[Author's Note: The Documentary is moderately graphic; there's definitely worse stuff out there, but it's not for the faint of heart.]

The Sexual Revolution, which begat the culture of promiscuity, begat numerous pathologies; modern pornography is among the most malignant.

NETFLIX exclusive documentary, Hot Girls Wanted, takes viewers through the AWFUL world of "amateur" pornography in Miami.  The girls who are there have responded to Craig's List ads in their hometown with headlines like "Hot Girl Wanted" or "Free trip to Miami."  What could POSSIBLY go wrong?!?

Hot Girls Wanted follows 4 girls from across the United States who've responded to one agent's ads.  None of these girls are old enough to drink legally.  They're oblivious to consequences that will shortly ensue.  Due to these consequences, a male performer explains how the shelf life of a girl tends to be between one month and one year.  This doesn't faze the agent who informs us the supply of girls willing to 'perform' is essentially limitless: "I only work with amateur girls brand new to the industry."

The first half of the film follows the girls' upward arc.  We see their entrance into the industry and it's allegedly 'exciting' nature.  The girls go shopping, get their hair and makeup done, and have their first shoots (both solo and with other performers).  In one scene, the girls reveal how EXTREMELY rude comments from men are a "boost of confidence" and discuss their favorite place to have male performers...ahem...finish their business.  While it seems like this half of the film glamorizes the industry, it's setting up the fall in the second half.

As the male performer foreshadowed, after a month or so the obvious and predictable consequences emerge.  Once a girl has appeared in a dozen or two scenes (yes, over the course of a MONTH), she's no longer new.  Production companies then lose interest.  In order to continue working, girls have to branch out to harder core material.  One girl does a scene for a website called "Latina Abuse" that lives up to it's name.  There was a borderline rape at another.  The regular STD testing is creepy enough, but we learn that one of them develops a "golf-ball sized" cyst on her...well...lady bits (Author's Note: Thankfully, no pictures).

Naturally, their families find out.  Ex-boyfriends from real life follow their "Porn Star" twitter accounts.  We see one girl attempt to discuss what's happening with her obviously heartbroken mother.  She couldn't even tell her father, who found out anyway.  The final indignity: Despite having grossed over $25k during four months in the industry, after expenses she nets $2k.

Pornography is a gruesome industry.  It's frequently mixed up with human trafficking.  Even when the performance is 'consensual', however, the reality of the industry is still AWFUL.  NETFLIX documentary Hot Girls Wanted details this morass of exploitation and myopia.  It's not pretty, but people should know the truth behind the images they consume over the internet.

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