Steven St. Croix as Xavier Conrad. Screenshot.
This article originally appeared on VICE Canada.
If you watched the bile-inducing shitshow of a porn film that was inspired by Rob Ford, you probably know that people can, and will, base a porno based on pretty much anything. So it probably shouldn’t be surprising that there’s a 50-minute sex film directly inspired by the Jian Ghomeshi scandal, which has seen the former CBC radio host charged with seven counts of sexual assault and one charge of overcoming resistance by choking.
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Yes, the scandal that made countless Canadian women (including myself) question their own personal experiences with gray areas of consent can now be viewed through the nuance of a pornography.
The scene in question is featured in Evil Angel’s Fluid #3. It stars Steven St. Croix, who plays a smarmy fedora-wearing TV personality named Xavier Conrad, who’s being interviewed post-scandal by a freshly graduated journalism student played by Sovereign Syre.
Syre’s character is the first to get an on-the-record chat with the disgraced host, who was accused of using his position of power to get girls to do things they didn’t want to do. Although he’s been cleared of the unnamed charges, there’s still controversy about what transpired with the girls who made the accusations. Like Ghomeshi, the character has made a statement about being maligned because for his lifestyle choices.
Before indulging in the young journalist’s curiosities about succumbing to a man in power, Xavier turns around to whisper to a stuffed monkey: “No, you can’t see this”—a clear reference in the infamous “Big Ears Teddy.”
When I talked to director Dana Vespoli on Monday, she was clear to stress that the scene is not meant to be a parody.
“It was definitely inspired by the case,” she says. “I wanted to do something with water-bondage-type stuff and had an idea of someone interviewing a man with obscure sexual taste.”
Xavier Conrad turns his teddy bear around.
The scene materialized after Syre had mentioned to Vespoli that she was following the Ghomeshi scandal closely, and was aroused by certain elements of it—particularly the aspect of the power dynamic and the BDSM.
Vespoli says the scene is clearly consensual and focuses on the issue of consent, though, ironically, the first cut didn’t make it through quality control since they weren’t allowed to show penetration while in bondage or dunking under water. Safe words were used and a post-interview shows Syre, covered in semen, expressing her satisfaction with how things went.
“That scene isn’t making light of the Jian Ghomeshi thing,” says Vaspoli. “I had one actress who said, ‘I’d really enjoy exploring this in a safe place, because there’s something titillating and exciting about a man in power who’s dangerous, and I’m a woman who likes to take risks.’ And I said, ‘Well, if that’s what you’d like, I’d like to shoot it.’ But I can appreciate having a conversation about it.”
Since the Ghomeshi scandal revolves squarely around the issue of sexual consent, it makes it fair game for the porn industry to explore and interpret, according to Vespoli. She resigned a long time ago to the fact that her work will offend people.
“There’s a sexual fascination with it, not to take away what (allegedly) happened with these women,” she says. “Of course people will take offense. A lot of what I do offends people, I’m a pornographer. I know there’s going to be people who are offended and I know there’s going to be people who find it titillating and exciting.”
Meanwhile, in real life, Ghomeshi’s next court date will be April 28.
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