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According to many drug companies, female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is a disease. But what is “female sexual dysfunction,” and what makes pharmaceutical companies qualified to classify a disease or even define what’s abnormal? Documentary filmmaker Liz Canner explores this paradox as well as related issues as companies participate in a mad race to be the first to develop the female Viagra in her film, Orgasm, Inc.
The project began when Canner was hired to edit erotic videos to be used in a clinical trial for a pharmaceutical company that sought to be the first to obtain FDA approval for a cream to enable women to achieve orgasm. The film wasn’t intended to be an exposé. However, it became just that, as well as a nine-year study of how far drug companies, scientists, and doctors will go to make billions of dollars at the expense of consumers—specifically, women.
Canner takes a serious but often satirical look at the quest for the “pink Viagra.” She examines the chronological events in the development of these drugs and interviews marketing executives, researchers, medical professors, doctors, and clinical participants themselves. Along the way, viewers learn about the clinical trial process—how other seemingly minor factors can influence a result and how a trial can be manipulated. But she doesn’t stop there. Canner takes us all the way up to the advisory boards for FDA approval and introduces us to some British and American consumer watchdogs who are trying to fight Big Pharm.
Though this documentary centers on the pharmaceuticals, Canner also takes an entertaining but frightening detour to other methods to cure this new “disease.” She even takes a field trip to the Good Vibrations Antique Vibrator Museum in San Francisco—which, among other things, educates women on their anatomy and the history of female sexuality.
This brings us back to the question of how one defines female sexuality. Canner acknowledges the unfortunate shift toward defining sexuality instead of individualizing it. We even meet a woman who once thought of herself as “diseased,” before realizing that she’s just “normal.”
As you can see, this documentary touches on a lot of different topics. However, Orgasm Inc. still keeps the viewer absorbed. Canner manages to take this troublesome issue and make it upbeat, all while driving home the serious nature of the subject. She infuses humor throughout the documentary through her choice of interviews, and she builds to several suspenseful climaxes (pun intended?) as we try to figure out which pharmaceutical or company will be first in this race. Viewers will impatiently await the FDA’s decision, at which point they’ll finally learn what happens to the subjects involved.
Most importantly, though, Orgasm, Inc. will make audiences think. I recommend this documentary because it will educate both men and women while encouraging them to question advertising (and the media in general) and make informed decisions. After all, there can’t be a pill for everything—and no profit can be made for curing what’s already “normal.”
Ed. Note: For more on Orgasm, Inc.—and to find a screening near you—visit OrgasmInc.org.
