The conceit of “Fresh Off the Boat” is both a winner and a potent reminder that watching porn is still creepy, just in case your enlightened coastal megalopolis selves had forgotten.
An immigrant (in this case, lovely Filipina Janelle James) reports to lecherous old doctor Ed Hunter for her “immigration medical exam.” He instructs her to remove her garments, then proceeds to squeeze, probe, and finally ejaculate on all the lushest parts of the game and unprotesting James, who’s just here to make a better life for herself.
“Thank you for being a good patient,” he says.
She amiably towels herself off, a glob of the doctor’s semen dripping off the desk.
Yes, it’s true that one day Ms. James might very well be a grandma in a housedress clipping coupons for beans at Ralph’s, but I know that one day I will be an old man, and each year I age, the creepier I feel watching transactions like these.
But that’s part of it, right? Porn as a balm against the fear of death? And what better setting than a doctor’s office?
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Anyway, after “Dr. Hunter” gets through with her, we feel James has been horribly used. Until she shows up at the office of Dr. Gonz, to whom old Doc Hunter referred her.
“There’s something wrong on this last page,” Dr. Gonz says. “We’re going to have to send you back today.”
“But I’ll do anything,” James pleads.
Perhaps we are looking at two forms of exploitation—or maybe just the inevitable results of sequestration—but somehow the second version, where James has a little more control, just feels better.
Or maybe we’re talking about three forms of exploitation: Did James just perform two scenes for the price of one?
Buy “Fresh Off the Boat 9” here
Previously on Porn Valley Observed: It’s Valentine’s Day Jenny Hendrix
See also: Third World Media
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