a_baron The people who made this film have the temerity to call it a documentary; in reality it is nothing more than a thinly veiled piece of propaganda. Rape and prostitution are not two sides of the same coin anymore than paid work and slavery; one is a voluntary transaction, the other is a crime. As Chris Tame used to say, when they talk about protecting children, what they really mean is destroying your rights. That is the case with those who wilfully conflate "pornography" with "child pornography" and it is the same here with those who conflate " (street) prostitution" - a voluntary if sordid transaction, with child prostitution - a criminal act regardless of the state of mind of the minor who is selling sex. The semantic sleight-of-hand doesn't stop there, rather than calling prostitutes prostitutes, whores, harlots or even hookers they are "prostituted women" and for those who don't have pimps, the "johns" are the bad guys.This is not the first documentary to be made about the underbelly of Seattle; "Streetwise" dates to 1984, and it is disgraceful that these very real problems, including young girls being lured, coerced or otherwise entering into street prostitution, are only now being addressed, but they need to be addressed honestly. It remains to be seen if the damaged women interviewed here are being honest, it is far from novel for a prostitute to claim she took up her trade after being raped. One woman claims her first "john" as a child prostitute was a lawyer, then came a police officer, a judge and a pastor - all supplied by her madam. Does this really sound credible?The law enforcement officers in this film also go after on-line prostitution; if the prostitute concerned is, or appears to be, underage, fair enough, but the stench of righteous indignation throughout is unreal. Unbelievably, they even drag in the Green River Killer. How dishonest can anyone get?They attempt also to tie in pornography - which is of course an extremely broad term - with the overt claim that this is another pathway to "prostituted women", indeed they have the audacity to claim that "pornography" is itself a form of sex trafficking, with the unspoken corollary that we need these same sanctimonious creeps policing the Web. Hey, perhaps all cameras should be registered and before any photograph is published on-line it should be submitted to some sort of moral watchdog?Then there is all the usual garbage about the trafficking of women and girls. One "john" is asked how old he was when he "bought" his first woman. Not once in this propaganda piece is there any attempt to see the point of view of any of these so-called johns, some of whom are clearly physically undesirable individuals for whom buying sex is the only option bar celibacy or perhaps rape. Indeed, the start of the First World War saw young men - in reality boys - queueing up to lose their virginity to whores so that they would die "real men". How sad is that? No mention of such sad cases, social inadequates, the disabled or just plain ugly men here. In short, this film is a total crock, whatever the good intentions of the police concerned in taking teenage prostitutes off the streets.

Derick I live in Seattle, and I watch a lot of documentaries. This one happened to come up & watched it because it had good reviews. I had no idea this was happening in areas I am in all the time. I also had no idea that my cousin Joel Banks was in it - he's known me since I was a baby, and I used to play with his oldest daughter & son all the time growing up. It is heart breaking hearing that these girls don't think they have any value in life. The documentary is worth the watch. From a critical standpoint the documentary is done well, but not fantastically. The subject matter pulls you in though & the story is not boring to watch.

willdaviswd I was hoping this film would offer a different view than what we have come to expect from mainstream media. I was disappointed to say the least. I have done an extensive amount of research regarding the sex industry, and while I agree that trafficking and violence against women needs to stop, continuing to approach it the way this film does, is not going to help.The film makers were irresponsible (I'm sure to give it some sensationalism). Aside from the film containing a lot of inaccurate information and statistics, the opener starts with them chasing someone down and causing an accident. I'm glad it wasn't my property, kid, or wife the guy hit. Some of the police officers are completely unprofessional and actually engage in behavior that would escalate a situation, exactly the opposite of what they should be doing. And, rescuing these victims results in them going to JAIL! How is that helping them? It only serves to stigmatize them more!The only reason I gave this four stars is because of the women in the film. They are genuine and real, their stories heartbreaking, I feel for them. They are the true victims, and the backlash from a film like this will only serve to victimize them, and others like them, more. This film is not representative of the industry. American Courtesans is a movie you should see for real insight. All the women show their faces and tell their life stories. People interested in this subject need to educate themselves about it. People who produce media like this, along with police, most social workers, citizens, politicians, etc., have absolutely no idea of what the real issues are or how complex they are. Nobody is ever going to solve a problem they don't understand. This film only clouds and minimizes the issues.

jean-marcus (Not sure if its a spoiler but I don't want to chance it)Let me start out by saying that my rating of a 9 is actually more like a 10 because I don't rate documentaries higher than that because they lack the production value needed for a 10 rating. None the less this was such a great documentary that will completely change your mind about the way you think, look, and feel about that girl "walking the streets".I went to see this film knowing that we had a problem with prostitution and the sex trade in America just like every other country. I knew there were girls and boys who were kidnapped and taken here and other countries to be enslaved in the sex trade. My grasp of the over all extent of the levels of prostitution and enslavement were way off though.I thought any person who was actually enslaved was one of those girls in some seedy whore house or locked in the basement of a "massage parlor". I did not even think about the fact that these girls walking the street, or in the films online, or any of them in fact could be held without their will for fear of their life if they try to leave. Or after years of just being worn down emotionally to the point where they don't feel they have any other option. This film was a real eye opener. And hearing these women telling their stories of how they ended up in this life without their willingness was completely heart wrenching. It's something that will haunt me till the day I die. And I'm glad that it will. Because I don't think anyone should ever forget the injustice that is happening in this world. We all need to step up to make sure this cruelty around the world stops.