Porn with a political edge!
Ah, what would capture the attention of yours truly more quickly than a statement such as this?
Candida Royalle created Femme Productions in 1984 to produce pornography that “speaks with a women’s voice.” With a focus on the ideas of “couple’s erotica” and “erotic films for women,” Royalle and her films have busted through the typical definitions of what pornography is and who it is made for. Royalle created Femme Chocolat in 2006 in order to create the same type of movies with a focus on ethnic diversity, both in terms of the actors as well as the audience (“ethnic diversity” meaning the appreciation and inclusion of any one who is white, brown, black, yellow, or red).
Femme Chocolat’s first production, AfroDite Superstar, was directed by Venus Hottentot (with Royalle directing the erotic scenes). The film not only speaks to women, but addresses black love and how love between African Americans is typically portrayed in pornography.
The beginning credits open onto a street solely occupied by women of color – women playing music, women dancing, women selling CDs, women handing out condoms. It resembles a candied urban street scene.
The protagonist of the movie AfroDite, appears on screen. She is creating a diary on film, and her clean, make-up-free face and sexy, wild afro denote a pure, un-self-conscious, and perhaps somewhat naïve character. She smiles into the camera with her full, unpainted lips and tells us that she’s a “Black American Princess” and that her father “invented black music.” She wants to go out there and do her own thing in the music industry, apart from her father.
AfroDite, awkward and innocent on stage, is discovered with her much more talented best friend Isis at a Hip Hop Karaoke bar. The hip-hop mogul, “CEO,” (very sexy and debonair in his suit) tells AfroDite that he wants to make her a star.
The first nipple of the film appears about 20 minutes in, as AfroDite, wearing her innocent-looking white underwear, splayed out on her cream-colored bedding, fantasizes about CEO and masturbates for the camera and using a line of dildos as well as her hand. Afterwards, she wonders what would happen if she leaked the video onto the internet, and we get our first glimpse of the journey AfroDite is about to take.
Different characters come into play, many as part of AfroDite’s entourage, which include her choreographer, her “urban speech specialist,” and her best friend and writer, Isis. The dialogue is sprinkled with famous quotes by female writers, and AfroDite wonders “What is sexy,” as she surrenders her own look to one of fabricated “street cred.” The result is an AfroDite with straight blond hair who smokes cigars and claims she was born in prison.
Of course, in an erotic film, we are most interested in the actual sex in the movie. The erotic scenes are sensually explicit and very well done. Juxtaposing an intimate scene of lesbian love with a sex-scene between a lady and a “womanizing” man send an interesting political message about who the characters are, while getting the viewer off at the same time. The body parts of all of the actors are lovely and real, and the sounds of their moaning and thrusting are complimented by the background music (which is far less-cheesy than a lot of pornography accompaniments I’ve heard).
AfroDite wonders, “How do I keep it real?” And while my personal favorite of the characters, Buttafly, continues to quote strong women – “Don’t compromise yourself, you’re all you got” (Janis Joplin) – the rest of the characters continue to pretend to be something they’re not.
At last, what we’ve all been waiting for: AfroDite has a breakdown. She looks in the mirror, removes her blond wig, takes the pads out of her bra, and pulls her fake eyelashes off. “Be a woman in love with herself,” she says to her reflection in the mirror.
The ending sex scene between AfroDite and C.E.O. is truly intimate and wildly sexy. They laugh together, they moan, they’re tender, and aggressive. We see her stretch marks and her sexual confidence, all at the same time. We see the way he looks into her eyes and at her body. It’s a beautiful thing.
The quote to end the movie: “Free yourself, be yourself, know thyself.”
One of the most important parts of this film is in the special features section, wherein the actors of the movie are interviewed. A few of my favorite tidbits:
“This is one of the first erotic films I’ve seen that show black love in a very positive matter and a very legitimate matter.” – Simone Valentino
“I feel that it’s degrading to say that women in all of the adult industry are being exploited because it suggest that they don’t know any better and a woman can’t make an informed decision to be in the adult industry. I find it (working in the adult industry) empowering; it’s something I do because it’s empowering for me. Personal is political. I enjoy it. I like sex. I’m a little bit of an exhibitionist.” – Sativa Verte
“Pornography is anything meant to arouse or stimulate. It can be anything to me.” – Simone Valentino
“I think this film will be studied and appreciated over time. We’re all experiencing something as we make this.” – Mr. Marcus
“People rent these films by the millions and millions, and yet they still judge the women who perform in them.” – Candida Royalle
To purchase your copy of AfroDite Superstar, go to Adam & Eve Pictures. $19.95.
Read the review of Caribbean Heat
Read the review of Stud Hunters
Originally published January 2009