Naked Ambition (DVD Review)

29 Apr, 2010 By: John Latchem

Born for Porn

Phase 4’s Naked Ambition (DVD $29.99) is the latest example of pornography entering the mainstream.

The documentary, subtitled “An ‘R’-Rated Look at the ‘X’-Rated Industry,” chronicles celebrity photographer Michael Grecco assembling a photo book, also called Naked Ambition, that examines what makes porn stars so alluring. Grecco visits the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas to give a general overview of the sex trade, and then takes viewers behind the scenes of the 2006 AVN Awards, where he seeks an audience with the queen of porn, Jenna Jameson.

Evocative without being titillating, Naked Ambition offers an intriguing look at porn as a business, but what differentiates it from countless late-night cable shows covering similar ground (such as HBO’s “Pornucopia”) is its notion that porn can be art, too. Whether or not that belief is mainstream is still open to debate.