The tagline of this movie says it all, “See it with someone you ****.” However don’t be fooled, because Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience (TGE) isn’t just a simple sex-filled romp fest featuring real life adult film actress (read: really cute porn star) Sasha Grey. On the contrary, there is almost little to no nudity (FUCK!!!) in what turned out to be a truly horrifying movie going experience. Why horrifying you may ask? Because just like 2004’s Closer, TGE shows us that at our most basic level, humans are selfish, horny, and desperately seeking the validation of others.
The film itself plays out in the weeks leading up to the 2008 presidential election. In a serious of non-chronological vignettes (yes, I used a SAT word), we see the lives of Chelsea (Sasha Grey) who is an upscale escort in Manhattan and her boyfriend Chris who is a personal trainer. On the surface, both have the kind of lifestyle that any 20-something year olds would kill their puppy for. There isn’t much of a plot, but TGE is all about style and Soderbergh nails it. Through the interactions of Chelsea with her clients, we see that most of her clients are seeking companionship. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that men are now somewhat caring creatures who use their brains instead of their dicks. Oh no, that would be too simple. The sick part is that these guys simply want someone there who will validate how important, smart, rich, masculine, etc. they are. They don’t want a girlfriend, they want a magic mirror so that when they look into it and ask, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who’s the fairest of them all?”, Chelsea will be right there to say “You are.” Now mind you, it doesn’t hurt that Chelsea is pretty damn cute and has mad bedroom skills.
Throughout the movie we a see a variety of characters: a journalist, a porn site reviewer, gym buddies, etc. but the bottom line is that we are all whores! Whores for attention, because in this society if you’re not a somebody, well, then you’re a fuckin’ nobody. That’s the saddest part, I guess. We are so consumed with ourselves that it truly prevents us from connecting with anybody else. In line with this, we slowly begin to see that since Chelsea constantly has to be somebody different for each of her clients, she really has no personality of her own. She pretends so much that in the end that’s her reality. She is a metaphorical blank slate…
With all this said, does this mean that I believe love does not exist? No, I believe true love exists, just like I believe that the chupacabra and the 12th Imam of Shia Islam exist. I must say though, the true message of this film was driven home afterwards.
I saw the movie with a good friend of mine, who shall remain nameless. What I can say though is that he slays, yes, you read correctly, slays poon. He is not an animal though, merely a machine. He’s kind of like a Terminator, sent back through time to save the future of mankind by slaying poon. Anyway, as you might have inferred, he is not the kind of guy who usually dates girls. Through a miracle though, he had recently been dating a nice, smart, and awfully cute girl. Too good to be true, right? Well, you guessed right, because right after the movie he proceeded to tell me that he had caught her cheating on him and had dumped her. Now mind you, he had given her the butt love, and that is not the kind of love you just throw around these days.
So what does this all mean? Does it mean that he finally got what he deserved? Perhaps… I am a firm believer in karma. More frightening however is the possibility that even the best of us, including yours truly, male or female, are all selfish whores. And with that profound statement made, I dare all of you reading this to be more caring in the future. Really, I dare you. Do you know the life-long dreams and aspirations of the stripper who just gave you 6 back-to-back lap dances?
