El clímax del millón: La historia de Pornhub

No pun intended - and obviously I am not talking about eggs, but something else (no literal or figurative speaking eggs - though some might argue that ... but let's leave this aside). The reason I chose that word was it is close to the actual word, but is not offensive - of course if you are offended by the word that some call "love making" ... you may be on the wrong imdb site and at the wrong movie for you ... well in this case not for you.

Now, since I watched this before anyone was able to write anything about it, I was not aware what this would be about. And I thought it would just be about that ... well site that has a large collection of videos and how it came about - come on, get your mind out the gutter. Although leave it there - not that the documentary is about to entice you and get you ... places you may imagine. For that visit the site or similar sites.

Now I was wrong with what I was thinking - yes the documentary does tell us how the site started out and what it became. But it does have a deep ... deep focus on the latest controversy. The one that made the site delete a lot of videos. That still does not go far enough for some. They really are quite hard on ... well the site and everyone responsible for the content.

Now we do get both sides - and the question of morality and which side you are on will probably inform how you will view certain things that are being said. It is quite difficult to draw a line - to tell who is right and who is wrong. This is not a a chicken or egg thing - which lets me circle back to my summary line - none the wiser. Though maybe a bit hot and bothered ... and with this pun, I'll come ... to the end.

Straight from the title and before reading any reviews you'd think this is a documentary on the site we all know (it is advertised in the title) from beginning to end. Well... it is not. It focuses a LOT (and I mean a bloody lot) on the latest ordeal to the point it is over 75% of the whole documentary. To the tech geeks like myself, there is not a single reference to the tons of features that were innovated here and then taken by everyone else. There are also no devs interviewed. It focuses a lot more on the other thing... and not what you'd be looking for should you enter the site, but rather the other nasty stuff that came as collateral.

I'd be lying if I said that the documentary does not present the 2 sides of the coin, it does, but one gets far more screen time than the other. The other problem is the perspective. It is not a coin with two sides, but more of a dice where society and law enforcement play a HUGE role, yet the documentary has a strong bias against the object of study from a moral high ground that should be unacceptable in a documentary.

If you already have a strong mindset against the adult entertainment industry or THAT company in particular, you'll grant this production 10/10 stars. Same as if you consider such activities as sinful or morally unacceptable. To the rest, be warned: nobody is innocent here, reality is much darker than it is presented in this "documentary".

This documentary explores the op-ed article that appeared in the Times about SA en CSAM at Pornhub. In doing this, it adds very little, if anything, to the procedings. We get some faces and voices with the article and a bit of extra background but essentially nothing new or groundbreaking. So on that subject the documentary does not go beyond skin-deep, which is fitting.

The added value then, compared to the Times article, is the opinion on the breadth of the industry by the actor and actresses themselves. The difficulty they have monetizing their product, the uncertainty of it al. It's a shame that the lead-in to this actual 'new' material takes most all of the runtime, so it all ends rather too soon and no real resolution or realisation is gained.

For those thinking to watch this for the nekkid ladies: Please don't bother. The whole thing features 3 pairs of naked breasts (6 boobs, if you will) and nothing much more else. So unless your fetish is 'off screen moaning': You'll have to get your rocks off elsewhere.

All in all: Fine concept, subject matter warrants the attention, but the documentary just skims the surface and sits on the Netflix lineup just to draw in people, I fear. Skippable, unless you missed the Times article "The Children of Pornhub" or want to avoid reading it.

We all know what pornography is...or do we? The porn industry is not just boobs and butts. The actual industry is far more nuanced than that. Pornhub was able to capitalize on the selling of content via the Internet, but like a lot of companies, it forgot who was making the content and why. It allowed non-consensual content from non-performers who were not able to profit from their exposure (and likely had no intention of ever being on its' platform). All the while, actual performers were directly affected and their opinion meant very little to the company or to the religious zealots who sought to bring down the company. Again, someone forgot about who was being shown on the platform and why.

A misleading title and description. I thought we would get a deep dive into the lives of performers, behind the scenes and interesting facts. Instead I got an absolute snooze fest. The majority of this documentary was spent complaining about legal battles, hurdles and legislation that changes the rules. I was not interested in the slightest. I found myself saying so what? What value do I get from watching this? Clearly there is no value for a mass audience. The only audience that might enjoy this are performers in a similar situation. Otherwise it falls flat. The doco should have been called 'Legal battles with PH' and the description clearly saying it documents the legal hurdles performers go through to upload their content. This title was deceitful. Not a good production Netflix, disappointing.