101 Rent Boys | |
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Directed by | Fenton Bailey Randy Barbato |
Produced by | Fenton Bailey Randy Barbato |
Cinematography | Sandra Chandler |
Edited by | William Grayburn |
Distributed by | Strand Releasing [1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 78 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
101 Rent Boys [2] is a 2000 documentary film that explores the lives of male prostitutes in the Los Angeles, California area. Created by film-makers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, the film depicts 101 hustlers, being paid each $50 for their time, which come from diverse ethnic, regional, and economic backgrounds. [3] Picked up on and around Santa Monica Boulevard, [4] the men discuss a variety of things, many referring to their personal history as well commenting on the nature of their work. [3]
Filmmakers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey had earlier created the independent films The Eyes of Tammy Faye and Party Monster . While the two previous films covered different topics, the cinematography and general style are the same as in 101 Rent Boys. Each man interviewed is paid $50 for his time, [3] and they were picked up on and around Santa Monica Boulevard. [4]
The interviewees discuss a variety of aspects about the U.S. prostitution trade itself such as their individual physical selling-points, attitudes held toward customers, and sexual turn-ons/offs. Self-identity and sexual orientation come up, with several of the men being "gay for pay". Personal life challenges such as substance abuse and periods of homelessness are talked about as well. [3] Several were molested as children; some men mention feelings of depression and segregation, such as one interviewee describing using drugs "to deal with the fact that" he's "using intimacy as a commodity". [5] However, others protest the characterization as hurting or being made dirty. Each hustler has a large card that describes the number with which he got assigned during the film-making. [3]
Additional examples of subjects broached include a Latino rent boy being a former gang member, Van Darkholme who is a performance artist dressed in heavily fetishist regalia operating in the BDSM scene, and a prostitute who is transsexual. While the outfits worn and states of dress vary from person to person, nudity briefly occurring, the film itself contains no sexual activity. [3]
Variety ran a mixed review by film critic Dennis Harvey, who argued that the men interviewed "are there more to be tallied than truly fathomed." He stated that the film's creators "deliver a slick, fussily stylized package that leaves no room for boredom" but should have delved more into the lives of the interviewees, with fewer hustlers being involved. However, Harvey considered several moments rather "memorable", citing for example a prostitute's description of a parent dying of a heroin overdose that went into detail about "feeling my soul float away" as a result. [3]
A brief mentioning of the film by the Chicago Reader described it as "gritty" and remarked on the frankness of the comments made by the hustlers. [5] The film has received condemnation in the pages of the Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work, with 101 Rent Boys labeled in the book's first volume as being "an exploitative look" at the subject rather than an honest one. The book asserted that the overall style of the film gets set up in such a way as to "reduce the men to parodies". The works Chicken Ranch (1983) and Fetishes (1996) were highlighted as a contrast. [4]
The film came out on the broadcast network Cinemax in August 2000. [3]
101 Rent Boys was released on Region 1 DVD on June 26, 2001. [6] The DVD release has a feature where each of the interview subjects were left alone with the camera for five minutes to do whatever they choose. In this feature, several participants masturbate. [7]
A companion book, also called 101 Rent Boys, was released, featuring photos and excerpts from the interviews.[ citation needed ]
Nevada is the only U.S. state where prostitution is legally permitted in some form. Prostitution is legal in 10 of Nevada's 17 counties, although only six allow it in every municipality. Six counties have at least one active brothel, which mainly operate in isolated, rural areas. The state's most populated counties, Clark and Washoe, are among those that do not permit prostitution. It is also illegal in Nevada's capital, Carson City, an independent city.
Pretty Baby is a 1978 American historical drama film directed by Louis Malle, written by Polly Platt, and starring Brooke Shields, Keith Carradine, and Susan Sarandon. Set in 1917, it focuses on a 12-year-old girl being raised in a brothel in Storyville, the red-light district of New Orleans, by her prostitute mother. Barbara Steele, Diana Scarwid, and Antonio Fargas appear in supporting roles. The film is based on the true account of a young girl who was sexually exploited by being forced into prostitution by her mother, a theme which was recounted in historian Al Rose's 1974 book Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District. It is also based on the life of photographer Ernest Bellocq, who photographed various New Orleans prostitutes in the early twentieth century. The title, Pretty Baby, is derived from the Tony Jackson song of the same name, which is featured on the film's soundtrack.
Hustler White is a 1996 film by Bruce LaBruce and Rick Castro, a satirical black sex comedy about gay hustlers and their customers on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. It stars Tony Ward and LaBruce in an addition to the Queer Cinema canon, which is also an homage to classic Hollywood cinema. Also appearing in the film are Vaginal Davis, Glen Meadmore and Graham David Smith.
Chicken Ranch is a 1982 documentary film produced by Nick Broomfield about the famous legalized brothel, the Chicken Ranch, in Pahrump, Nevada. Co-directed and photographed by Sandi Sissel.
Strand Releasing is an American film production company founded in 1989 and is based in Culver City, California. The company has distributed over 300 auteur-driven titles from acclaimed international and American directors such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Gregg Araki, François Ozon, Jean-Luc Godard, Catherine Breillat, Claire Denis, Fatih Akin, Aki Kaurismäki, Claude Miller, Manoel de Oliveira, Gaspar Noé, André Téchiné and Terence Davies.
Male prostitution is a form of sex work consisting of act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. Male prostitutes have been far less studied than female prostitutes by researchers. Even so, male prostitution has an extensive history including regulation through homosexuality, conceptual developments on sexuality, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic impact. In the last century, male sex work has seen various advancements such as popularizing new sexual acts, methods of exchange, and carving out a spot in cinema.
Prostitution in Hong Kong is itself legal, but organised prostitution is illegal, as there are laws against keeping a vice establishment, causing or procuring another to be a prostitute, living on the prostitution of others, or public solicitation.
The Chicken Ranch was an illegal brothel in the U.S. state of Texas that operated from 1905 until 1973 in Fayette County, about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east of downtown La Grange. The business was notably dramatized in the 1978 Broadway musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, adapted into a 1982 film of the same name.
Prostitution is illegal in the vast majority of the United States as a result of state laws rather than federal laws. It is, however, legal in some rural counties within the state of Nevada. Additionally, it is decriminalized to sell sex in the state of Maine, but illegal to buy sex. Prostitution nevertheless occurs elsewhere in the country.
The male prostitute or hustler is a frequent stereotype in literature and movies in the West from the 1960s on, and especially in movies and books with a gay perspective in which he may be considered a stock character. He also appears occasionally in popular music, some contemporary fashion advertising, and the visual arts.
Johns is a 1996 American drama film written and directed by Scott Silver and starring David Arquette and Lukas Haas, who portray hustlers who work Santa Monica Boulevard.
World of Wonder Productions is an American production company founded in 1991 by filmmakers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey. Based in Los Angeles, California, the company specializes in documentary television and film productions with a key focus on LGBTQ topics. Together, Barbato and Bailey have produced programming through World of Wonder for HBO, Bravo, HGTV, Showtime, BBC, Netflix, MTV and VH1, with credits including the Million Dollar Listing docuseries, RuPaul's Drag Race, and the documentary films The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000) and Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (2016).
Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact with the customer. The requirement of physical contact also creates the risk of transferring infections. Prostitution is sometimes described as sexual services, commercial sex or, colloquially, hooking. It is sometimes referred to euphemistically as "the world's oldest profession" in the English-speaking world. A person who works in the field is usually called a prostitute or sex worker, but other words, such as hooker and whore, are sometimes used pejoratively to refer to those who work in prostitution. The majority of prostitutes are female and have male clients.
Prostitution in Pakistan is a taboo culture of sex-trade that exists as an open secret but illegal. Prostitution is largely based in organisational setups like brothels or furthered by individual call girls.
Melissa Farley is an American clinical psychologist, researcher and radical feminist anti-pornography and anti-prostitution activist. Farley is best known for her studies of the effects of prostitution, trafficking and sexual violence. She is the founder and director of the San Francisco-based organization, Prostitution Research and Education.
Nefarious: Merchant of Souls is a 2011 American documentary film about modern human trafficking, specifically sexual slavery. Presented from a Christian worldview, Nefarious covers human trafficking in the United States, Western and Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia, alternating interviews with re-enactments. Victims of trafficking talk about having been the objects of physical abuse and attempted murder. Several former prostitutes talk about their conversion to Christianity, escape from sexual oppression, and subsequent education or marriage. The film ends with the assertion that only Jesus can completely heal people from the horrors of sexual slavery.
Rent Boys is a 2011 German documentary film directed, written and produced by Rosa von Praunheim. The film was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Queer Lisboa International Film Festival in 2011, for example.
The Price of Love is a 1995 American made-for-television drama film written by Ronald Parker and directed by David Burton Morris. It stars Peter Facinelli, Laurel Holloman, Jay R. Ferguson, Alexis Cruz and Harvey Silver. The film premiered on Fox in November 1995. The movie deals with the plight of homeless youth living on the streets.
Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes is an American documentary television miniseries, directed and produced by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey. It follows Ronan Farrow, as he conducts interviews with whistleblowers, victims, private investigators and sources for his book Catch and Kill. It consists of 6-episodes and premiered on July 12, 2021, on HBO.