Review of film: “ORGASM, INC.”

Review of film:  “ORGASM, INC.”     

              GET “ON BOARD”, IF YOU WANT TO GET OFF…

My friend Tim enjoys looking at movie trailers, & he came up with the comment above after seeing the trailer for this documentary … 

…  In 2010, Jake Gyllenhaal & Anne Hathaway starred in “LOVE AND OTHER STRANGERS”, which “revolved” around the development of the “VIAGRA” pill to combat “Male sexual dysfunction”… This new movie “ORGASM, INC.” is a documentary dealing with the subject from the FEMALE “standpoint”…

…  Director ELIZABETH CANNER was originally hired by a company called “VIVUS”, which actually had a pill to fight male dysfunction more than a year BEFORE Viagra came on the market.  But, that company didn’t have anywhere near the money Pfizer had to fund & promote their product, & Viagra became the “800 pound gorilla” in the industry (while Vivus’ item became an “also-ran”)…

…  VIVUS wanted Elizabeth (Liz) to help edit erotic videos that might help “position” their discovery to be used to promote fighting FEMALE sexual problems.  But, she soon came to realize that there was disagreement as to whether such “female sexual dysfunction” truly EXISTED, & she got permission to film a DOCUMENTARY on the whole subject…

…  A woman is interviewed who talks about how having an orgasm is like a “BLOOMING flower”.  Another woman speaks of how she feels she has a PROBLEM having orgasms in a relationship with her husband, & one wonders if she’s “normal” or if there’s something “wrong” in her “HEAD”…

…  One of the woman goes so far as to try a device called an “ORGASMATRON”, wherein she allows a flexible tube to be inserted near her spine, & she has an electronic device wherein she can send “PULSES” thru the tube to try & create physical pleasure in her body…

…  At one point, a claim is made that “43%” of women have some “sexual dysfunction”…  But then, we learn that the description is “nebulous” at best, & the basic claim can’t really be “PROVEN” in any way.  In other words, it appears that drug companies are making claims to possibly try to “INVENT” a non-existent problem they could try to “MARKET”  to…

…  Liz points out that there are now 12 or so companies trying to promote products to help the so-called “female sexual dysfunction” problems, & how pharmaceutical firms constitute the 3^rd most profitable industry in the world… 

…  All thru the film, there are symbolic representations of certain companies which are involved in a “RACE” to provide a feasible product to market to females, & the position of the “contestants” keep CHANGING in the “competition” as time goes on…

…  Liz interviews a number of people, including a lady named LENORE TIEFER in NY with a PhD who forms a group called “NEW VIEW” that works to DISCREDIT the idea that any claimed “female sexual dysfunction” problem truly exists except in the “hopes” of the pharma industry…  Two other women offering thoughts during the filming are NAN COCHRAN & ANDRILLA CHAKRABARTI…

…  Another lady interviewed runs an Antique Vibrator Museum in San Francisco.  She tells how, in the 19^th & 20^th Centuries, such products were invented to supposedly combat a problem fancifully called “female HYSTERIA”--  which never actually EXISTED as described, but was simply used as a marketing “invention” to promote the (self-pleasuring) products…

…  A visit is made to the Dr. Laura Berman center in Chicago, which purports to HELP females supposedly suffering from “female sexual dysfunction”.  A claim is made that, even tho Pfizer itself stopped promoting Viagra as being directly “helpful” to females, media guru Berman CONTINUED to promote the product for (& to) women…

…  A possibility is raised that Berman’s actions might possibly be considered as part of efforts related to an “end-run” around trying to get FDA approval process for such a use…  And further, it’s claimed that Berman was supposedly being paid many thousands of dollars each week by pharmaceutical companies, & she wasn’t clearly REVEALING that background in her “promotions”…

…  It’s pointed out that, on the entire planet, only the U.S. & New Zealand even allow pharmaceutical     companies to ADVERTISE directly to end CONSUMERS…  Other “devices” are shown that cater to the idea that they might possibly help females IMPROVE their orgasms…  

…  At another point, it’s stated that up to possibly 80% of women have “body image problems”.  One woman at a convention is admittedly uncomfortable as she promotes the idea of having clinics that do cosmetic “IMPROVEMENT” surgeries on female genitalia--  which another person describes as simply unnecessary work that amounts to “MUTILATION”…

…  A “turning point” is reached when the huge PROCTER & GAMBLE company claims their product “INTRINSA” can directly HELP females with their purported “sexual dysfunction” problems, by “boosting” their desires”.  Lenore Tiefer works to FIGHT the company’s claims that there was supposedly a “74%” improvement in the women who used the product…

…  Lenore & others point out that the claims don’t adequately show the “CONTEXT” of the use or discuss how each individual’s LIBIDO may be very different in the first place.  Lenore talks about how HORMONES may be a greater influence on health than any supposed product used, etc….  A lot of the time, it could also be related to how males don’t always pay “attention” when females are talking about their feelings…

…  Liz films an FDA hearing called to discuss possible approval for the INTRINSA product.  People talk on behalf of P&G, & other people (such as Lenore Tiefer) speak AGAINST any approval, pointing out there hasn’t been adequate “controls” done on the tests, the supposed results are specious, & there haven’t been sufficient studies done on possible PROBLEMS (such as side-effects) from the steroid product…   

…  It’s pointed out that, in P&G’s tests, a PLACEBO gave almost as great an “improvement” as INTRINSA did in the claimed “results”--  to which one person facetiously comments, maybe it’d be even more profitable to make & market the worthless PLACEBO instead!...  

…  After all the various comments were in, the FDA people voted --  & even tho a “preliminary” committee seemingly voted to recommend APPROVAL of the marketing of INTRINSA, the people voting unanimously decided to NOT give an approval, citing how there had been INSUFFICIENT data on results & not enough work done on possible side-effects!...

…  Lenore was surprised that her position “won”…  There are some “postscript” results--  what the situation was with the woman who’d tried the “ORGASMATRON” device, what the feeling was with OTHER women interviewed, how VIVUS was now working on another product for the “intended” group, how INTRINSA was now available worldwide on the INTERNET, etc…

…  Thus, while there was no full “agreement” of the various parties regarding whether there really WAS any “female sexual dysfunction” in the first place, one of the women decided to come to her own “conclusion”:  namely, that however she is, she’s decided that it’s “NORMAL” for her (& she doesn’t care what “others” think)!...

…  So, whether or not corporate-backed “medications” move “forward”, & whether or not it’s due to any “dysfunction”, I personally am rating this fascinating & periodically humorous documentary as 8 out of 10 stars…

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