Where the Girls Sweat...Not the Sequel

"Where the Girls Sweat...Not the Sequel" would have been more appropriately (and somewhat less awkwardly) named "Where the Girls Take It in the Ass." The film features 17 girls, and I don't recall any of them sweating; on the other hand, it was impossible not to notice that nearly all of them engage in a little backdoor action. Most impressively, Dallas gets four fingers from Ariana. (Dallas then turns around and gives Ariana two fingers and a dildo.) This activity is so prevalent that it is what this film is really all about. Fans will be delighted; others, such as myself, will be left without much to say.

Don't get me wrong: I like anal, I just don't generally like so much of it all at once. I would have been happy had it been confined to the second scene, the scene with Dallas. It's the best scene anyway; and, in addition to taking four fingers, Dallas supplies a little value-add by slipping an ice cube into Taylor Rose's vagina.

The second scene is one of two four-girl trysts in the film; the other three scenes feature a different ménage-a-trois. Scenes have a way of losing focus once the number of girls gets above two. Here, though, the two foursomes are the most exciting. Annabelle Dayne, at the hands of Rayveness, provides the best orgasm in the second foursome, a wild outdoor romp that also includes Rebecca Lord and Tammi Ann. Each of the threesomes, on the other hand, is held back by a "hook" that doesn't work. The opening scene centers around lesbian victim Bridgette Monroe. Caressa Savage, Kirstie Waay, and Nicole Lace slop paint all over each other in the last scene. And then there's the third scene.

This is how director Patrick Collins, on the boxcover, introduces the third scene: "The scene with Melissa (ah those real tits!) Monet, Channone (je ne comprapa?), and Lissa 'oui' Harper adds the final ingredient to this 'recipe of depravity'!" In the world of overstatement that is advertising, this all sounds harmless enough. It takes on a deeper significance, however, once the scene is viewed.

As a fan of adult entertainment, I don't appreciate the seedier aspects the industry. Indeed, the common perception is that the industry, the mainstream adult industry, has come a long way from the days of Linda Lovelace. This is good, though it does tend to make the occasional reminder that not everything is always hunky-dory that much more offensive. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong in "Sweat"; only that, if there isn't, some care should have been taken to ensure that we know there isn't. Hollywood and independent films sometimes offer up some pretty disturbing scenes. By the nature of the industry and thanks to a hundred years of history, however, we realize that what we're watching isn't real. I would suggest that the adult industry hasn't yet realized that level of trust from the viewer. (Nor does it help when a film such as this one identifies the location of the sex as the "Richard Ramirez Mental Health Center for Women." Ramirez, of course, was the "Night Stalker," a 1980's L.A. version of Ted Bundy.)

So what's the big deal? Simply this. In Scene 3, Melissa Monet plays a photographer; her two models are played by Channone and Liza Harper, both of whom are French and who speak French to each other throughout the scene. Things aren't going well for Melissa because Liza isn't as cooperative as Channone. Eventually, Melissa takes over Channone's position between Liza's legs to demonstrate what she wants. Liza recoils. By the end of the scene, though, Liza has warmed up, become a participant in the action, and even takes a vibe in her ass.

That's the sanitized description of what happens. This is what we actually see on screen: Liza gives a very strong impression of a girl who thought she had agreed to take some nude photos with no mention whatsoever of actual sex. Even the idea of simulated sex seems to disturb her. When Melissa poses her on all fours straddling Channone then takes a picture, Liza hops out of position in a hurry. She looks very uncomfortable with Channone between her legs and when Melissa takes over and licks her, she lurches back with a squeal of surprise and shock. Melissa, trying to calm her, approaches her from behind and reaches around to fondle her breasts. Liza throws Melissa's hands off her. All the while, she's in animated conversation with Channone. In short, Liza gives an extremely convincing performance of a girl who has been lured into a situation she wants no part of. I'm talking Oscar caliber here. At one point, when Liza is being especially difficult, a very frustrated Melissa tells Channone to hold her down. I'm not at all certain I want to know what, if anything, happened off-camera to make Liza loosen up and take part in the proceedings.

It's so easy to fall into the trap of believing what we see in adult films (even the performers encourage this by repeatedly asserting that they really do cum on camera). Of course, some of it is certainly real; it's distinguishing between what is and what isn't that's problematic. So who knows? Maybe Liza was acting. But I've never wished I could understand French more than when watching this scene.