SELL/BUY/DATE – Review by Susan Wloszczyna
The documentary Sell/Buy/Date was inspired by actress, writer and first-time film director Sarah Jones and based on her same-named stage play in which she played three other characters who all have connections to the sex trade. There was some controversy about her topic that made people think that she would show a negative portrait of women who make a living in this way. That was not her intent. However, when a social media backlash occurred when the film was announced, producers Laverne Cox and Rashida Jones left the project. However, Meryl Streep stepped up to be the executive producer.
The film is partially inspired by Sarah Jones’ sister Naomi, who was a drug addict who turned to becoming a sex worker in order to feed her habit. She died at the age of 18. She also left her journal behind, which Jones has in her possession. She is hoping to get some emotional healing since the anniversary of her passing is nigh.
At first, Jones shows up with her three other comic personas on screen – a Jewish senior citizen Lorraine who doesn’t always eat kosher (hush, don’t tell), college sophomore Bella who likes avocados and whose major is sex-work studies, and sassy Nereida who is half Dominican and half Puerto Rican. She is vehemently opposed to prostitution being legal and is upset that Jones is glorifying the profession with her film. They all show up in her dressing room as they talk about their Tony-winning play coming to a close.
Jones herself portrays a working-class Black male Uber driver named Rashid. We then meet Leslie, Sarah’s mom, who is an obstetrician and gynecologist and lives close to the airport. She is divorced from her husband. There is a bit of her mom in Lorraine’s personality. On stage, Sarah played 19 fictional characters of various races, ethnicities and genders. In her real life, she identifies as African-American on her father’s side while Leslie is a mix of Euro-American and Caribbean descent. But she calls herself a woman of color. Her mom has a sense of humor as she describes her roots are German and Irish as well as Christian and Jewish. She makes a Thanksgiving joke about serving turkey and gefilte fish.
For her doc, however, Jones seeks out real-life sex workers who do their work in person –not phone sex or webcam sex as she heads to the states of New York, California and Arizona. Before she starts her travels, however, Jones goes to a doctor’s office where she meets “Tish the Dish” Roberts, a Black woman who got involved with a white male high-school teacher when she was 17. She was brought up in a broken home, so she was glad to get some attention. He also regularly paid for her services.
Meanwhile, we are introduced to Lotus Lain, an adult entertainer and intimacy coordinator who is a sex worker advocate. We also meet porn entrepreneur/actor Evan Seinfeld who brags about how much money he can make by doing sex movies. It becomes clear that males run the show for the most part when it comes to who is in charge.
In Nevada — where prostitution is legal — Jones checks out the Chicken Ranch brothel, which is run by owner Alice Little. She and Seinfeld make out how glamourous the sex trade is and how her enterprise is safe and regulated. But she skips over any bad experiences that have happened. Little proudly says she is a rare female to oversee such an enterprise. However, Jones takes a deep dive into the sex industry as she finds out that women in the business are often exploited and are targets of violence while not benefitting the same way that their male pimps and madams when it comes to cashing in. We meet Esperanza Fonseca –a transgender woman – and Pueblo tribe member Terria Xo both share the darker side of their profession. That includes violence and other abuse. Addiction to drugs and alcohol is common while the workers suffer from medical problems as well as violence. We also learn that transgender women and those of color often are mistreated. Jones somehow is able to add some comedic entertainment value to her topic, but ultimately Sell/Buy/Date is mostly a downer.
