"Recommended."
Educational Media Reviews Online
“Millions of men (and some women) watch it late night on adult themed TV channels. Some men buy DVD’s and watch it on the down low—alone. Some men watch online porn. Some men secretly fantasize about being a porn star. Others feel like pornographic videos are a harmless form of sexual expression. But Chyng Sun’s searing and powerful documentary, The Price of Pleasure, reveals that porn is far from a harmless guilty pleasure. The film takes a critical look at the male dominated porn industry, its predominantly male consumers, and the global impact porn has on shaping men’s ideas about sex, intimacy, and womanhood. Acclaimed feminist scholar Gail Dines once told me, ‘you don’t understand masculinity unless you understand the culture of pornography.’ You won’t understand it either, until you watch the Price of Pleasure. I highly recommend it."
Byron Hurt
Filmmaker, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes and I am a Man: Black Masculinity in America
"What makes this documentary innovative is that it incorporates two seemingly disparate ideas about the effects of porn on society. One argument is that violent porn objectifies women, leading men to become more violent and aggressive in the bedroom. The other, seemingly opposite, argument about porn that the directors Chyng Sun and Miguel Picker also make is that because porn desensitizes men from realistic expectations about what sex with women feels like, men become less interested in the real thing, are experiencing more anxiety around their sexuality, and are less able to orgasm and enjoy sex with real women. ...What makes the Price of Pleasure effective but also disturbing is its unabashed examination of the pornographic images themselves, and the direct line they draw between profit, the degradation of women, and our views on sexuality in general."
Leeat Granek
Films for the Feminist Classroom
"The Price of Pleasure moves past simple arguments around free speech and instead pushes the viewer to think about the impact that consumption of hateful imagery can have in a society already steeped in rape culture. ...The film does serve as a catalyst for frank discussion about the impact of pornography and lays the foundation on which future activism can be built."
Rachel Durchslag
Sexual Assault Report
"An intense, powerful documentary that will open up painful but necessary discussions about pornography's role in shaping our identities, our relationships, and our culture."
Rebecca Whisnant
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Director of Women's and Gender Studies
University of Dayton
"...[P]rovides a compelling argument, from a leftist perspective, that culturally pervasive pornography is detrimental to interpersonal sexual relationships... Showing this documentary in a classroom setting is almost sure to provoke a lively discussion."
Donald Palumbo
The Journal of American Culture
"I found this documentary to be an extremely useful teaching tool in my graduate-level course on sexual violence. Students had a range of strong reactions to the material, and it inspired lots of thoughtful discussion. I would absolutely recommend using it for educational purposes."
Emily F. Rothman, ScD
Boston University School of Public Health
"Abandoning the tired and often cyclical rhetoric on whether pornography is 'right or wrong,' The Price of Pleasure investigates the collision of pornography, sexuality, and relationships. Instead of wagging a finger at the billion dollar industry from an academic pulpit, this film features a diverse group of college students, professionals, media makers, distributors, consumers, and adult performers to expose a panoramic and dizzying look at how pornography affects our lives and relationships. ... The Price of Pleasure holds immense possibility for transformative dialogue. The questions raised are almost too difficult to hear, but once they are voiced they are too impossible to ignore."
Lisa Factora-Borchers
Feminist Review
"When we discuss pornography in my classes, we always begin with what seem to the wrong conversations -- the actress's choices; no harm, no foul; being pro-porn is just being pro-sex; men don't have to be rapists to like it -- always defensive and dishonest. I've been waiting for a film that was neither sanctimoniously scolding nor callously celebratory. And finally, there is The Price of Pleasure -- a film to help us really "see" what we have been looking at, and to enable us, finally, to talk about how pornography informs our actual lives. It's powerful, and I will use it immediately in my classes."
Michael Kimmel
Professor of Sociology
SUNY Stony Brook
"Most young men and women will find this the kind of provocative documentary that will stimulate constructive conversation and motivation to 'do something.' Every college campus and community theater should screen this film along with a facilitated discussion. Pornography is endemic, but its destructive role in so many relationships is usually invisible. By making clear why an effective response is more needed than ever, The Price of Pleasure is a vital agent for change."
Judy Norsigian
Executive Director of Our Bodies Ourselves
"Deeply disturbing but profoundly important."
Jean Kilbourne
Creator, Killing Us Softly 4
Author, So Sexy So Soon
"The Price of Pleasure goes a long way toward explaining the headline topics and a long way toward revealing the deeper issues involved. As such, it makes a valuable contribution to clarifying the current confusion that exists around pornography in today's society."
Susan Quilliam
Sex Education
"Sure to provoke heated discussion..."
Video Librarian
"With the pornography industry pushing its way into the mainstream media at an alarming rate, The Price of Pleasure has been released at a critical time. The Price of Pleasure shows us what pornography is and how the pornography industry operates - up close and free of industry glorification, distortions and lies... The Price of Pleasure is a profound and significant film. It should be viewed by as many people as possible, especially parents, students, teachers, and activists committed to creating a more socially just world. The film will be eye opening to those who are learning about the pornography industry for the first time as well as those who are avid organizers against sexual exploitation."
Garine Roubinian
Rain and Thunder