Netflix Review: The Principals of Pleasure

Let me preface this writing by telling you that I am an aspiring filmmaker, taking every chance I can to watch each and every documentary that I can without regard to it’s content or opinion. Yesterday, I scrolled through all the documentary features and docuseries that I could find, I stumbled across “The Principals of Pleasure,” a three part series on Netflix from 2021 directed by Niharika Desai. This series, containing only women speaking about women’s issues about physical and mental pleasure. 

 

Let’s start by saying, I found it very informative. There were things that I thought I knew, but maintained an open mind about the opinions and science behind how women feel pleasure, use their minds and have been suppressed through the years as being a sexual object by men, women – and whomever there partners were through the years. 

 

As a heterosexual male, there were times that I was a little taken-aback by some of the things that were expressed in this film. But let’s take a pause. Before we get to those, let me help you understand that I wholeheartedly support the LGBTQ+ community and people of color. Many of my family members are a part of both of these spectrums and they all have a place in my heart. I’ve learned to love them regardless of their sexual preference and lifestyle – and I’ve never judged. 

 

However, there are a few things in this film that either were discussed or were put into bad connotation that really put me in a sort of state of unrest.

 

I’ve always been a chivalrous man who has, since a young teen, has been taught to treat women with the utmost respect. Make no mistake – I stand by that. Rest her soul, my mother took many nights telling me, even at a young age, that women, homosexuals, lesbians and trans people are people just like you and I. She was a smart woman. And I understood what she said. When she passed in 2016, I wrote in my journals about what she said so it would have never been forgotten. Remember, she owned a restaurant, farm and certainly us – her family. Mom was our communicator. Her previous employer, someone we all loved was a gay man who sadly passed of AIDS. Albeit a wealthy man, came to our humble farm with his partner and made himself at home regardless of his $2M Manhattan home. We all really loved him. Great guy!

 

As I watched this three part film (Pleasure), I was educated. Mind you, much of the commentary was pretty general knowledge – maybe not to most men, but my mother drilled these things into my brain from a very young age. Yes – I was lucky. I had a mother that took the time to teach her oldest son to embrace chivalry. And that I did. I was also taught to be tolerant and accepting. 

 

The first part of the series entitled, “Our Bodies,” a woman by the name of Ericka Hart, struck a serious sore spot in me. While I found the woman to be very intelligent, she took a completely noble and great topic of the film and turned it into a “black vs white” as her personal racist agenda. This I didn’t appreciate. For both the first and half of the second episode, she made it her agenda to bash white people and, what I thought to be a slur on anyone other than people of color to bash. Not cool. Ericka, if you’re listening – we had you until you started bashing. And you continued to do so for more than an episode. 

 

I’ll certainly give great props to @Dr. Michelle Buteau for doing a great job in narrating the film. Her voice friendly, welcome and certainly made even me welcome. 

 

I will say that most of the cast were absolutely wonderful. I know that this series was directed at women, but I would have loved to see the interviewees’ partners be a part of the film to play a retractable part in discussing it in the film. 

 

With all that being said, it was an enjoyable film and educating for both men and women. Definitely worth the watch.