STRIP DOWN RISE UP REVIEW

Well, it’s here. I don’t know about you guys, but I only learned this documentary, “Strip Down, Rise Up” was coming to Netflix about 3 weeks ago, when Amy Bond, one of the featured pole dancers, posted the trailer on her Instagram. Of course, I immediately stalked the producer/director Michèle Ohayon. Who was the creator behind the first documentary covering pole to make it to Netflix? I guess I wasn’t surprised to find out she wasn’t a pole dancer; I probably would have heard something about the doc sooner if she had been. I had rising concerns when I learned she wasn’t a pole dancer though: 

Would she portray pole in a way that does justice to the industry?

Would she shine a light on the “founding fathers” of the industry (strippers), or would she aim to please the masses by shying away from that topic, or worse, casting a negative light on strippers and sex workers? 

After watching the film and hearing the feedback from all the pole dancers who responded, I have mixed feelings about the film and whether it really did much for pole dance. But the fact is, it wasn’t really about pole dance, or rather, it was a singular angle. 

Here are my thoughts…

In creating a film for something as big as Netflix, the story had to be compelling. It did a good job here; The characters were interesting, relatable, and their traumas real. While there was a handful of cheesy crying moments (“I don’t think I can!), ”Remove your glasses…”, and cringe-ey moments, the story was overall okay. If I were a non-pole dancing feminist, I probably would have seen this film and thought, “Wow a story of women’s empowerment - This is wonderful!” (still need to talk to those viewers). It did a great job of illustrating what pole is for many people - something that transforms lives internally and which eventually creates change externally. I also liked that they included a variety of body types and hey, they even had a lesbian! (I heard they interviewed a trans woman but she was not included - boo on that!). Which leads me to the not-so-good…

As a pole dancer who embraces the sensual side of pole, I enjoyed the parts about the women connecting to this side of themselves...however the methods employed by S Factor owner Sheila Kelley is where I struggle… 

It felt forced and unnatural the way she had them confront their inner demons and past. They are not licensed therapists and it felt like for some, not all, that this was not the right space for them to overcome these traumas. Dance is absolutely a tool for healing, but it’s just that...a tool. There was a lot of conversation that came during and before dancing through their traumas and it seemed like if anything, this program should have come AFTER they have had a chance to talk with a professional about their experience. Instead, Sheila Kelley was trying to single handedly knock down walls that these women built and have had for YEARS. It bothered me that the women were seemingly cornered. Even if they could say “I’d rather not share”, I think there was unsaid pressure against this. The girls were in a circle and it seemed as if Sheila was prepared to pry the answers out of them in efforts to help.

The “Don’t wipe your tears - It’s a sign of apology” was silly to me. First of all, it’s annoying to have water running down your face, it’s not a sign of apology to wipe it. Second of all, you just made a girl cry in front of a room of total strangers AND camera crew. If you’re going to encourage her to cry, let her wipe her damn tears! I wonder if the girls knew what they were getting themselves into.

The S Factor studio is NOT the typical “pole studio”. There are no mirrors and it is dark. It is less about learning pole tricks and techniques as some students have told me. The way they instruct how to climb the pole is... questionable - if we’re being nice.  The S Factor studio program is a unique experience, but not for everyone. In my opinion, connecting to your sensuality is something that should be introduced slowly, and these women were thrown into the fire. So, a concern of mine and many others is, will people see this film and think this is what most studios are like? God, I hope not, because I don’t know anyone that would try a pole class if they knew that is what was coming next.

There were questionable moments around Sheila Kelley’s idea of femininity and masculinity for me. The girl who identified as lesbian was sitting a particular way and Sheila had her change her posture to sit in the shape of a “more feminine S-figure” - she was applauded her for finding her feminine side. Firstly, I don’t think she was actually more comfortable sitting that way and second - why should she abide by Sheila’s definition of feminine, or sexy? For me, feeling sexy is about confidence, and Sheila telling her to reposition her body in a conventionally more flattering shape was not that.

And then there was the scene where they introduced “masculinity”/male figures. That was extremely weird and made the film take a turn. We have all these women finding confidence within themselves, and then she introduced males to stand for whatever the girls wanted them to be in their mind. I am still processing the psychology behind this. Maybe it was because I was watching it on Netflix, but something felt SO wrong about this scene... Almost like, okay, now that you have your confidence you can have the prize of a male figure. I think the film could have done without (along with the random *unhealthy* weight loss journey thrown in there). 

This was not a documentary about pole dancing...it was about women’s empowerment through sensual movement. It is a nice story, but does not show what pole is really about. The moments that breathed light into this film from the pole dancer’s perspective were the spotlights on Jenyne Butterfly and Amy Bond. Jenyne is a legend and hero for many - her Youtube video of her performance is the reason many people signed up for a class in the first place. I would love to make a movie just about her story alone. The competition scenes were cool and inspiring and I would have liked to see more of that. That could be a film in itself, but maybe in a post-covid world at this point….

Overall it was an entertaining film, but harshly different from reality of pole and something I was not expecting. It did not cast stripping in a positive light, but rather glossed over it to get to “the real stories” of the characters. It would have been nice for them to acknowledge the origins of pole dancing more. I think the reference to Pantera via Jenyne’s story was the only time they really acknowledged this in a good way. There is a LOT of work to be done on changing world perspective on stripping and sex work, and I would have thought a film supposedly about crushing the patriarchy would have put in a little more work here.

That’s all I got for now, and I’m looking forward to seeing reviews from pole dancers, and non-pole dancers, conservatives and liberals. As I find the path for my own series (or whatever it will be), Pole Dance Diaries, I will definitely be taking notes on your responses and comments so I can paint the most accurate picture of pole as it stands today - the good, the bad, and the ugly!

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