Netflix Made a Documentary About Pole Dancing and Forgot to Talk to Strippers
Kayla Kibbe, provided by
FacebookTwitterEmail
The documentary,
Strip Down, Rise Up, explores the world of pole dancing beyond strip clubs, following both newcomers and long-time pole dancers who engage with the practice as a hobby or sport, rather than as professional strippers. The film focuses largely on a group of women who signed up for S Factor, a studio class created by Sheila Kelley and designed to harness the erotic energy of pole dancing sans the male gaze as a form of female empowerment.
Strip Down, Rise Up director Michèle Ohayon has said the film is “simply a different focus on the pole community” that “in no way minimizes or excludes the experiences of strippers.” However, since the film’s premiere earlier this month, current and former strippers have come forward to accuse the documentary of sex-work erasure and appropriation in failing to include the narratives or insight o
Melissa Crawley
More Content Now USA TODAY NETWORK
A misstep tests a couple’s relationship, African American visual artists are recognized and a crusader for justice is reimagined for a new audience.
Dispatches: Weekly TV news
NBC is rebooting the classic sitcom “Kate and Allie.” The updated series is about two best friends who are raising their children together in one household. Erica Oyama will write and executive produce. The original show aired on CBS for six seasons.
ABC gave a pilot order to “Once Upon a Time” creators, Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, who are developing a potential new series called “Epic.” It’s described as a romantic anthology that reinvents fairy tales.
Women all over the U.S. are rediscovering themselves with a little help from a stripper pole.
A group of such women gave cameras an unfettered look into their personal journeys towards healing through sensual motion in the new Netflix documentary
Strip Down, Rise Up, available now to stream in its entirety. Viewers are offered a fly on the wall perspective into what brings someone into a studio like Sheila Kelley s famous S-Factor, where women from all walks of life let their inhibitions free. It s all about trust, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michèle Ohayon tells EW about navigating cameras in such private spaces. Creating a safe environment for the subjects to be able to open up their hearts and be vulnerable, not only in their own journey but also with cameras and lights on them. It s a challenge and an act of bravery. I chose to bring a small, all-female crew when filming the class because many of their issues were related to sexual assault and the male gaze. I