When prostitution enters the land of entertainment, as it so often does, it’s presented as dark and dysfunctional – lonely, struggling, and damaged women selling their bodies in hopes of a better life. The few times it diverges from this victim-inspired trend, it’s usually to fantasize the work into ridiculous Pretty Woman proportions, with portrayals that are so far from the truth that they’re nothing more than silly fantasy.
But then the anonymous call girl Belle de Jour stepped up to change things. She was a prostitute who loved her job. She had no abuse or dysfunction to mar her choice. She wasn’t naïve – she was smart and well-read.
After making waves with her blog and book, the BBC used Belle’s story to inspire a series, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, and now the first season is available on DVD. This is not the true world of Belle. The magic of television has removed much of the danger and idealized the situation to the point that she can do her work from her very own apartment – but it is one that strives to offer that same alternate view of sex work and female sexuality.
Billie Piper (of Doctor Who fame) stars as Hannah, a high-class escort who goes by the name of Belle. Over the span of 8 episodes, Hannah explains her life to the viewers – what motivates her, what the work requires her to do, and how it affects her relationships with others. The show swims in and out of both aspects of her life, balancing the sexy with the personal – never falling into the realm of gratuitous raunch (like, say, True Blood) or interpersonal melodrama.
Belle might dabble with S&M, get sexy with a group, or partake in pony play, but she also deals with recognizable work problems – power plays, bad reviews, and many of the interpersonal headaches we all deal with on a daily basis. The big difference is that the world at large wouldn’t take kindly to her work, and it must remain a secret – one that breeds aggravation from friends and family.
When a season is only 8 episodes, you can’t expect too much from special features, but this release is still lacking. The lone feature is a brief interview called “Billie Piper – Coming to America.” Unfortunately, it’s not even a full interview with Ms. Piper, but rather short clips taken from a longer discussion – one that would be intriguing in its entirety, but is quite superficial as brief clips.
You won’t find a multitude of special features, or jaw-dropping and revealing portrayals of sex, but you will find a decent balance of smarts, strength, and sexuality.
DVD – 8/10
Features – 5/10
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