Hot Docs 2009 Review: Orgasm, Inc., Objectified

Title: Orgasm, Inc.
Director: Liz Canner

What’s this movie about again? Four minutes in, an extreme close-up of a woman masturbating is a quick reminder: the female orgasm.

But that’s not quite true. It’s about “female sexual dysfunction,” a coin termed, director Liz Canner suggests, by pharmaceutical companies who can make money treating the so-called disorder.

“It’s the corporate-sponsored creation of disease,” exclaims author Ray Moynihan.

“A difficulty is not a dysfunction.”

The documentary begins with Vivus, a company that created a precursor to Viagra called Muse. Once Viagra came on the market, their stocks plummeted, so they looked for other conditions to treat.

They started with a topical cream for women.

Executives with the company are extremely open, granting Canner access and enlightening interviews. She also speaks with women who have undergone medical procedures – including surgery – to help with their supposed dysfunction. (That’s a still from the film, above.)

To “medicalize stuff that’s been around since history,” as one interview subject puts it, it’s difficult to know what the exact triggers are for female sexual dysfunction.

Lack of sex education might be one, Canner suggests, as well as abuse, overwork and body image issues. She asks women what their orgasms are like, if they’re easy to achieve, and how.

Then it’s a quick cut to news footage eager to share the research that says Big Pharma is the answer. Canner touches, but does not dwell, on how complicit the media may be in picking up these corporately funded stories.

The film, which follows endless research, clinical trials and FDA approval hearings, is certainly not porn – but it’s definitely arousing.

Title: Objectified
Director: Gary Hustwit

You’d expect a documentary about design to be beautiful, and Objectified certainly is. But Gary Hustwit’s second foray into the world of how things look is also informative, concise, and forward-thinking.

The tightly packed film examines how the objects we use every day get made – and why. Whether it’s a toothbrush, a vegetable peeler or a vacuum, a lot of thought has been given to make it look like no consideration was paid to the device at all.

The thought is driven home to a designer when, six months after it was introduced in North America, he notices one of his toothbrushes has washed up on a beach.

Industrial designers in France, Germany, the United States and England share their theories on where design came from and where it’s going. Issues of sustainability are examined, but it’s also a history lesson on the form.

Designers both retired (from Braun) and practising (at Apple) share what makes their products beautiful – and why you want them.

Hustwit’s first film, Helvetica, premiered at Hot Docs two years ago. Yes, it as about the font. At a screening of Objectified on Tuesday, Hustwit hinted he was working on a third film in what he hoped would be “only” a trilogy on design.

Hot Docs 2009 runs from April 30 – May 10. For more information or to purchase tickets visit hotdocs.ca.