Afrodite Superstar
Afrodite Superstar is a strange, witty, funny, and innovative film about gangsta rap culture, feminism, female empowerment, and self-acceptance. It also, almost incidentally, has a few sex scenes, but they aren’t the main thrust of the movie and, apart from the final scene, aren’t even all that integral to the plot. Feminist porn powerhouse Candida Royale is executive producer, and this is the first film from the “Femme Chocolat” imprint of her production company, devoted to making feminist porn featuring people of color. It’s a noble goal — there are way too many surgically-enhanced bottle blondes with scary fingernails in porn, and a little diversity is welcome — but I always worry when a movie comes pre-loaded with an Important Message and Agenda. Fortunately, the script is smart and funny, if sometimes a little heavy-handed — isn’t it enough for a character to quote Gloria Steinem and bell hooks, without the text of the quotes actually appearing on screen? Their hearts were in the right place, I guess, so never mind.
The plot concerns privileged “Black American Princess” Afrodite (played by the wonderful Simone Valentino) trying to make her way in the world without her rich father’s assistance. While helping her musically-talented friend Isis perform at a karaoke bar, Afrodite is discovered by hip-hop impresario CEO. (It occurs to me that most of the women in this film are named after Goddesses — Kali, Isis, Afrodite, Pandora — while most of the men are named after their jobs — CEO, Road Dawg, Criminal. Methinks there could be a film-studies thesis in that . . .) Afrodite agrees to let CEO make her into a superstar, which involves slutting up her wardrobe and having her lip-sync to Isis’s music, because Afrodite utterly lacks talent. Before long she’s completely immersed in the (gently satirized) gangsta culture of bitches and hos and violence, and it takes a series of misadventures and uncomfortable revelations to lead her back to herself. There’s even a sweet romance mixed in there. The fake music videos are a blast, and some of the jokes are hilarious, especially Afrodite’s fake thugette biography, which involves being born in prison and growing up in Compton. As for the actual sex scenes, well, there are some, and it’s always a pleasure to see Simone naked and frolicking, but sex isn’t the main point. Opportunities for sustained wanking are limited, but it would be a good choice for couples or people who don’t like more hardcore stuff. It’s a treat.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, 12 September 2007 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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