One of the film’s real porn directors, Aiden Starr, gives Bella the transcendent, affirmative, sex-positive experience she came to LA to find. The rest of them range from dingy but harmless to manipulative and predatory, culminating in a disturbing scene in which Bella’s consent is repeatedly violated on a “rough sex” recording. Kappel’s performance in these moments is brave: it takes courage for any actor to throw himself into a nervous and physically demanding role like this, let alone an unspiced one like Kappel. Her willingness to penetrate fear shows not only her commitment to her craft, but also the unconditional trust between Thyberg and her star.
“Pleasure” does not try to justify Bella’s choices, and it does not blame them for a traumatic past or father’s problems. She comes from a stable family and she’s only stuck in LA because she lied to her parents about an “internship” in California. As a character, her motivations are simple but unfathomable: She is not particularly driven by money, and although she likes attention, she could take or leave fame. Her driving force is simply to be the best, a very American mindset that ultimately escapes this very European film.
One fact that comes to the fore in “Pleasure” is the structural racism that is embedded in porn. Early on, Bella’s manager Bear, played by black porn artist Chris Cock, explains that he is “more of a fetish” than a person. And on a checklist Bella fills out before filming, “interracial” is at the bottom, the most taboo act a porn actress can perform – more radical, even, than double anal penetration. The theme of “extreme” sex is repeated throughout “Pleasure”, leading to one of its more opinionated feminist statements: The pursuit of extremities for the sake of extremities feels legitimately dangerous, a nightmare spiral of degradation in which ambitious young women are forced to choose between personal limits and professional success.