I was surprised to read the tagline for today's New York Times review of "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," which premieres on Showtime tonight. On the main Arts page, the blurb link to the review reads: "'Secret Diary' indulges the common male fantasy that whores truly enjoy prostitution." Generally, although not all the time, "whores" is used as a pejorative. Considering how careful (see: "From Huckapoo to 16 Pubed") the Times typically is about not offending anyone with its word choices, particularly when it comes to sex, this was a bit surprising. The line is a pull quote from Alessandra Stanley's review of the show, which isn't that much different from Edward Wyatt's think piece on the show. In sum total, they say the show glamorizes prostitution. Or, as Stanley states it: "it's X-rated chick lit."
"It’s a series that aspires to be a candid, incisive look at the oldest profession, but mostly it stares at it lasciviously, with all the seamier bits — sexually transmitted diseases, repulsive clients, police records, drug habits — airbrushed out. And in between comical depictions of Belle entertaining her clients and fulfilling even their silliest fantasies (in Britain they mostly seem to involve horses, bondage or both), there are many filmy, smoldering shots of Belle bathing, applying lipstick or even just writhing alone on her bed, bored and a little bit lonely."
So much for guilty pleasures. Or, for that matter, pleasure without guilt.
Related: Choire Sicha interviews Billie Piper.
