Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Money Shot: The Pornhub Story’ Documentary on Netflix

Money Shot: The Pornhub Story, now available on Netflix, delves into the controversial history of the internet’s pornography giant, often referred to as the Walmart of adult content. The documentary, produced by renowned filmmaker Alex Gibney (known for Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) and directed by Suzanne Hillinger (credited for the COVID-19 doc Totally Under Control), explores the recent repercussions resulting from Pornhub’s groundbreaking yet unethical business practices. Despite the compelling nature of the subject matter, the documentary falls short in fully addressing the complex issues at hand.

However, I’ll refrain from using any double-entendres in discussing this matter.

MONEY SHOT: THE PORNHUB STORY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The documentary begins with a lighthearted question posed to porn actors about their first experiences with pornography, reminiscing about sleepovers, DVDs, and late-night HBO softcore flicks. It then delves into the controversy surrounding Pornhub, a major player in the adult content industry, owned by the tech company Mindgeek based in Montreal.

Despite its seemingly ordinary corporate offices, Pornhub became one of the internet’s most popular destinations, largely due to savvy search-engine optimization that pushed it to the top of search results.

“The film introduces Gwen Adora and Siri Dahl, two sex workers who utilized Pornhub’s Modelhub platform to take control of their own content and profit from it without being exploited by larger production companies. “

Modelhub enabled them to handle every aspect of their work independently, leading to a significant increase in their income compared to traditional studio work. However, the downside was that anyone could upload content to Modelhub, including disturbing and illegal material like child pornography and rape videos, which became interspersed among the site’s vast collection of ad-supported videos.

The documentary then shifts its focus to the involvement of lawyers and journalists in the controversy. Some lawyers represent organizations fighting against sex trafficking and child pornography, which is a commendable cause, but it’s revealed that certain conservative Christian groups are using these efforts to target pornography as a whole. The New York Times exposed Pornhub’s reluctance to promptly remove illicit content due to the massive ad revenue and data mining it generated. As activists pressured credit card companies to withdraw support, Pornhub reacted by implementing stricter regulations and removing a significant portion of its videos.

Unfortunately, this action also affected legitimate and ethical sex workers like Gwen and Siri, causing them to lose a major source of income. The documentary highlights the consequences of a clash between prudish elements seeking to abolish pornography altogether and the negative impact on those who work responsibly and ethically in the industry.

How It Started?(The Documentary)

In December 2020, journalist Nicholas Kristof published a column in The New York Times shedding light on the stories of young survivors who had experienced sexual abuse that was posted on Pornhub. His article called for changes on the website, which eventually led to Pornhub banning uploads from unverified users, as well as Visa and Mastercard prohibiting the use of their cards on the platform.

The documentary “Money Shot: The Pornhub Story,” available on Netflix, explores the complex role of Kristof’s article in the aftermath of the controversy. It skillfully puts professional porn performers seeking autonomy in the industry at the forefront of the narrative through interviews with workers, advocates, and Kristof himself. Filmmaker Suzanne Hillinger, known for her work on The New York Times’s television show “The Weekly,” effectively argues that campaigns aimed at combating abuse and aiding victims, like Traffickinghub, inadvertently harm another marginalized group: the sex workers and porn actors who rely on these platforms for independent work.

Hillinger also highlights the concerning fact that some of the most vocal anti-Pornhub voices have connections to the extreme political right. While the documentary falls into some clichés common in tech-world horror documentaries, it mainly challenges those tropes. Hillinger avoids re-enactments and instead prefers relaxed scenes with porn professionals, providing a candid look at the industry’s offenses driven by capitalism, all the while keeping the safety and success of its workers as the top priority.

In essence, “Money Shot” presents a critical examination of an industry plagued by capitalist interests while emphasizing the importance of prioritizing the well-being of its workforce.