See a Porn Star get Breast Implants! See a Porn Star at Work and at Play! Go Behind the Scenes to a Live Internet Sex Show with Two Girls! Go on the Set of a Hardcore Adult Film!

That's what the poster for "Girl Next Door" might say if this film were being marketed like a sleazy 1960 Pussycat Theater release. The days of exploitations aren't really over. They're just tarted up as serious documentaries now. Or at least in this case.

Still, "Girl Next Door" can be a fascinating insight into the world of a porno star. Stacy Valentine must be one of the best to profile; She is buxom (thanks to huge implants), blonde and very pretty. She fucks and sucks well, and says so proudly. She even brags about her ability to perform oral sex on women with delight. Valentine is the perfect porn actress. She likes to have sex and she makes a lot of money doing it.

Sounds like a "must see" right guys? There must be lotsa nudity and lotsa sex in the film. Bet this is like being on a real porno set. Bet it's sexy as hell. Right? Wrong.

"Girl Next Door's" biggest problem (for the men in the audience) is that it's directed by a woman, Christine Fugate ("Tobacco Blues"). Fugate takes every chance she can get to crack the veneer Valentine has so shoddily put up around her facade. Valentine is obviously far too insecure to imagine. She has plastic surgery constantly. She is "paranoid" about parts of her body. She can't trust a man long enough to have a relationship with one. Her mother is loving, but naive. Her father (long out of her life) was abusive. Her ex-husband was abusive. Valentine's problems soon become so glaringly obvious to us that we can't help but feel sorry for her. She's a victim, but a very subtle one.

Fugate also shows Valentine to not only be a porno actress, but a whore as well. This is surprising, daring, and, again, troubling. Valentine sleeps with a wealthy man for money. We're not talking about a date where he buys her nice stuff. Nope. She leaves, she fucks him, she comes back with several thousand dollars in hundred dollar bills. Valentine pours through them as she lays in bed. It is obvious, despite her false bravado, that she is lost - and ashamed. She justifies all she does so easily, with such trite platitudes. And the veneer cracks yet again.

Some of the most repulsive moments I have ever witnessed on film come from the scenes where Valentine has pointless plastic surgery done. Fugate shows this unblinkingly, the video camera right in the operating room. Valentine has HUGE silicon implants removed and a smaller ones put in. She has liposuction. She has collegen injected into her lips. It's revolting. Valentine talks about plastic surgery as if it were nothing - well, was if it were God's greatest invention. And again the veneer cracks.

Do not misunderstand me. I liked this film a lot. I found it very interesting. I felt sorry for Valentine and I wanted to see her find some happiness. But alas, there seems to be none for her. Fugate gets remarkable footage and interesting interviews. she is very adept at showing us the real story going on here without being obvious or blatant or contrived. Sure, the plastic surgery segments are pretty blatant, but it is the underlying message here that really rings out. Look at what Valentine's insecurities have forced her to endure! Fugate doesn't condemn Valentine nor does she glorify her. She simply uses the camera to relay the information, which Valentine gives amazingly free and easily. What is most astounding about the film is that, for such an insecure person, Valentine exposes herself to us with ease. The nakedness of her gorgeous body is revealed in the film, but it is the nakedness of her scarred and needy soul that we more often get to glimpse. Fugate gets in the nooks and crevices of this story (oh - that was not a pun). Truly, she gets to the heart of the story. Valentine offers herself up so freely. It is an awesome intimate portrait.

The thing is, I think this film is sort of, very wisely, being marketed to men, as a "intimate" look at a porn star at work. Her "real life." I think most men expect to watch the film with a raging hard-on.

I don't think most men know what they're in for.

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