Image courtesy of Orgasminc.org.

The art of female pleasure reaches new levels as documentary filmmaker Liz Canner searches for the perfect climax-enhancement in “Orgasm, Inc.: The Strange Science of the Female Orgasm.” In her funny, smart and remarkably inspirational tale of female sexuality, Canner shows how pharmaceutical companies turn perfectly healthy women into patients.
Though Canner initially began her film project as a documentary about working alongside the drug-development company Vivus to help study “female Viagra,” she would ultimately spend the next nine years proving there will likely never be such a drug.
Vivus created the first male enhancement drug, Muse, which was released 14 months before Viagra. With so much success in the male enhancement market, drug companies scrambled to find a medical cure-all for female sexual enhancement. The company enlisted the filmmaker to shoot erotic movies to use during clinical trials.
While working with Vivus, Canner discovered that drug companies were trying to solve a problem that did not exist. When altering hormones or chemical compositions, the drugs continued to draw inconclusive results. Tests continually showed that arousal only increased when paired with another supplement: Porn.
The film shifts focus from Vivus and looks at the entire pharmaceutical industry, which is the “third most profitable industry in the world,” according to the film’s research. Backed with plenty of statistics and independently hired medical researchers, “Orgasm, Inc.” provides its adult audience with better sex education than most have likely ever received.
One of the most compelling issues Canner notes is how the medical industry defines disease. With vested interest in profit, pharmaceutical companies will diagnose and attempt to treat non-medical conditions. Female sexual disorder, or FSD, is the next in a long line of conditions with little or no biological basis. Canner suggests similar “conditions” include anxiety (shyness), restless leg syndrome (creepy crawly legs) and andropause (male menopause).
Treatment for the alleged female dysfunction includes topical hormonal ointments, cosmetic genital surgery and electrode wiring through the spinal cord. Charletta, an older female patient in a clinical study, had an “Orgasmatron” surgically placed in her spine. The Orgasmatron consisted of electrodes running through her spine to stimulate her at the touch of a handheld button. Only after the failed Orgasmatron is removed does Charletta decide that she is “normal” and accepts how common her sexual experiences are.
Lenore Tiefer, Ph.D. at New York University School of Medicine, is the most prominent spokeswoman in the film, fighting drug companies around the country who attempt to earn profits by selling FSD. Tiefer and several other doctors throughout the film suspect drug companies of acting on ulterior motives to instill a sense of unhealthiness or inadequacy throughout the public for profit. Canner notes that even though Americans account for only 5 percent of the world population, “42 percent take prescription drugs.” Yet they still have a shorter life-expectancy than other First World countries.
With all the recent health care debates and controversy over pharmaceuticals, Canner’s “Orgasm, Inc.” skillfully shows women, as well as men, how their bodies are commoditized for corporate profit. Few women in attendance were able to stifle gasps and sounds of disgust as patients described genital modification procedures and “hood” reductions. When comparing the costs of these procedures against the physical and emotional toll the women face, the modifications are rarely worth it.
Between arguments from the pharmaceutical companies and independent medical researchers, non-surgical cosmetic treatment ultimately provides the best results for female sexual enhancement. Most of the independently-hired doctors suggested simply responding to women’s sexual cues, in addition to familiarizing both females and their partners about the female anatomy, which was the key to Charletta’s sexual revelation. Their suggestions are a much healthier and more realistic alternative to medical intervention, especially when Canner makes note of the seven-figure daily payoff some doctors receive from drug companies to advertise their latest miracle pill.
By the end of the film, nearly every member of the audience, both male and female, watched in anticipation as the Federal Drug Administration assessed the female enhancement drug, Intrinsa, a patch designed through Vivus and Proctor and Gamble. Canner captures the intense debates over the drug, as well as the FDA’s panel discussion on the risks and benefits of the drug.
In the battle over sexuality, American women are ultimately left to discover sexuality for themselves, having to sift through mixed media messages and all too-common social stigmas of the mysterious female orgasm. Canner does an excellent job of combining interviews of drug company representative with medical expert analysis and real woman commentary. Insightful for all sexes, “Orgasm, Inc.” is not only designed for female pleasure-seekers, but any American weary of being taken advantage of by big business and questionable profit motives.

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Speakeasy Rating: A