unklekrappy-217-507567 This movie is horrifyingly one sided. Effeminate male and masculine female "experts" spouting moralistic viewpoints is not a documentary, it's propaganda. Here are a few of the problems I noticed in the first 30 minutes:1) The shots that always accompany the diatribes of aforementioned "experts" are of women walking around Seattle dressed as a lot of ladies do when heading out to clubs. In other words, you are to assume that all scantily clad women are prostitutes. Oops, I mean prostituted women (more on that gem in a bit).2) The movie treats sex slavery and prostitution as the same animal. This is a false premise. By removing this distinction, they remove the women from any and all culpability for their actions. This fallacy is a nice segue into the next problem.3) The real root cause of the sex trade (according to this movie) is the men. The problem isn't girls getting hooked on drugs and then prostituting themselves to support their habit, girls running away from home and becoming homeless thus necessitating prostitution to supply that pesky eating habit, or a litany of other reasons women may choose to sell themselves for sex. Nope, the problem is that johns are terrible, horrible beasts incapable of curbing their instinct to reproduce. 4) Other than getting them to tell their extra juicy child abuse stories, the filmmakers have no regard for these women. In one very telling scene, the star of the movie, "director" Jason Pamer, Asks a john of he thinks the "prostituted woman" (who is off camera but obviously in close proximity) wants to be there. When the john responds that he doesn't know, SuperRighteousMan!!!!! (Jason Pamer) takes it upon himself to tell the john that she doesn't want to be there instead of asking the girl personally.5) The sex workers in this movie are all referred to as "prostituted women" which goes right back to that "all women are victims" mentality that pervades the film.The best possible way that this movie could have concluded would have been if Gloria Steinem had made a cameo in which she sold herself to the highest bidder just to show that women have the capability to make their own decisions.

Derick I live in Seattle, and I watch a lot of documentaries. This one happened to come up & watched it because it had good reviews. I had no idea this was happening in areas I am in all the time. I also had no idea that my cousin Joel Banks was in it - he's known me since I was a baby, and I used to play with his oldest daughter & son all the time growing up. It is heart breaking hearing that these girls don't think they have any value in life. The documentary is worth the watch. From a critical standpoint the documentary is done well, but not fantastically. The subject matter pulls you in though & the story is not boring to watch.

willdaviswd I was hoping this film would offer a different view than what we have come to expect from mainstream media. I was disappointed to say the least. I have done an extensive amount of research regarding the sex industry, and while I agree that trafficking and violence against women needs to stop, continuing to approach it the way this film does, is not going to help.The film makers were irresponsible (I'm sure to give it some sensationalism). Aside from the film containing a lot of inaccurate information and statistics, the opener starts with them chasing someone down and causing an accident. I'm glad it wasn't my property, kid, or wife the guy hit. Some of the police officers are completely unprofessional and actually engage in behavior that would escalate a situation, exactly the opposite of what they should be doing. And, rescuing these victims results in them going to JAIL! How is that helping them? It only serves to stigmatize them more!The only reason I gave this four stars is because of the women in the film. They are genuine and real, their stories heartbreaking, I feel for them. They are the true victims, and the backlash from a film like this will only serve to victimize them, and others like them, more. This film is not representative of the industry. American Courtesans is a movie you should see for real insight. All the women show their faces and tell their life stories. People interested in this subject need to educate themselves about it. People who produce media like this, along with police, most social workers, citizens, politicians, etc., have absolutely no idea of what the real issues are or how complex they are. Nobody is ever going to solve a problem they don't understand. This film only clouds and minimizes the issues.

m287406 Must see. Impactful, world changing and life changing. One of the best documentaries I've seen on human trafficking. Can't believe it's happening in our backyard. I've always thought "human trafficking" was "out there", it happens in other countries/cities and not here. I was shocked.The people really spent their time researching, documenting and risked their lives telling the stories of these women. Great props to the courage of these women coming forth and share their stories/struggles so to bring light into this ugliness in our city and world.We gotta do something. This is not right. If it's happening here in Seattle, I wonder what other areas have this, and how much we need to bring light into all of those areas.