Orgasm Inc. proved to be … orgasmic!

Orgasm Inc.: The Strange Science of Female Pleasure was the second film in he four-part movie series. Orgasm Inc., directed by Liz Canner, tackled an issue that most women don't talk about: their sex drives.

The film began with women talking about what an orgasm felt like to them. The first couple women described how beautiful and amazing it was but the last woman, Charletta, proved to be the most powerful. She described her orgasm as "war" because it was painful and a battle to achieve one.

From there the film goes on to explain how the pharmaceutical companies created the disease called Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) in order to create a drug to fix it. In the nine years which this documentary was filmed several devices and drugs have been created, the Orgasmatron being one of them. The Orgasmatron is a device in which wires are surgically inserted into the spine and with a remote control electrical impulses are sent throughout the body in an effort to induce arousal.

A topical crème called Alista is supposed to increase blood flow to the genitals and thereby increase arousal; it is basically the female version of Viagra and a testosterone patch called Intrinsa. A majority of clinical trials proved that not only are these methods extremely dangerous, they are also unsuccessful.

The film brought attention to other radical efforts women are undergoing in order to have more sexual satisfaction. Canner discovered that there are cosmetic treatments called Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation and Designer Laser Vaginoplasty. According to the the documentary, while those names sound perfectly safe and medical, the truth of the matter is that these procedures are essentially plastic surgery for the vagina and are a very dangerous form of genital mutilation. A woman featured in the film had undergone this procedure and, about a month after her surgery, a suture popped and she lost about one-third of her blood volume by the time the bleeding had stopped.

Liz Canner originally began the project with no intention to film a documentary about FSD. She was hired by the company Vivus, a pharmaceutical company that created the precursor to Viagra, to edit pornographic films to be used in their clinical trials for Alista. After doing a bit of research Canner found some of the staggering statistics associated with this "disease." She also discovered that pharmaceutical companies were creating diseases as well.

 Canner then set out on a nine-year journey that led to the discoveries about the drugs and procedures. She received some trouble getting interviews from the pharmaceutical companies themselves.

 "Apparently a memo went out shortly before I started this film telling them not to talk to any filmmakers without going through the PR agents and I had spent so much time avoiding those people," Canner said.

Orgasm Inc. is director Liz Canner's first feature length film. Her previous works include a documentary called Deadly Embrace: Nicaragua, The World Bank and the IMF about World Bank policy and globalization. She received a BA with Honors in both visual arts and anthropology from Brown University.

As an undergrad, she first began her career in documentary production. From there she went on to create several other films and media projects focusing on human rights issues. Throughout her career, she has received over 45 awards; most recently she was named one of the Top Ten Independent Filmmakers to Watch in 2009 by Independent Magazine. Her projects have been supported by various organizations such as The National Endowment for the Arts and the Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media.

Canner's documentaries have been on cable television networks such as PBS and have been shown internationally, receiving much critical praise. Her works have also been screened at festivals such as The New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center and the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. She has also been featured in many museums and galleries including Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and The California Museum of Photography.

Canner has served on the board of directors for the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers, The Boston Film and Video Foundation, White River Indie Films and Boston Cyberarts. Canner is the founder of Astrea Medina Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating innovative media projects on human rights issues. For all of her contributions to the human rights field, Canner has earned the coveted Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (Bunting) Fellowship from Harvard University as well as a Rockefeller Foundation Next Generation Leadership Fellowship.  

There was the right mixture of seriousness and humor, without being overbearing. When asked about the movie, junior Eric Ellison explained how he felt.

"I thought it was great and it was really informative about what pharmaceutical companies are really doing," Ellison said.

Those feelings were also shared by junior Brittany Konwiczka.

"It brought my attention to things I wouldn't have known about otherwise," Konwiczka said.