Airs told XBIZ that “Orgasm, Inc.” started unexpectedly after she asked her friend Liz Canner, a filmmaker, for help editing some erotic videos for a drug trial for Vivus, a company hoping to create the first FDA-approved pill to cure the disorder.
The videos were to be used during sessions of “self stimulation,” aka masturbation, in a lab as part of research to get Female Sexual Dysfunction classified as a disease treatable by medication.
“Orgasm, Inc.” takes a look a look at the pharmaceutical industry’s marketing techniques that sell diseases to consumers in order to get them to buy their product.
“These commercials make you feel like a hypochondriac,” Airs said. “They sell you stuff by making you feel like you have a serious problem.”
Nevertheless, as Airs pointed out, many aging baby boomers experiencing natural decrease in sexual desire are indeed looking for that “magic pill.”
Airs appears several times in the movie, which was filmed over the course of nine years, including scenes of a sex toy presentation at a conference for the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (SSWSH).
As a member of the organization for more than 13 years, Airs said she’s presented sex toys in front of several health professionals with little to no knowledge of their sexual health benefits.
The film has received positive reviews from The New York Times, Variety and Time Magazine.
Airs travels to Brookline, Mass., on March 25, to participate post-film discussion, along with Canner and others, following a screening of “Orgasm Inc.”
Screenings will be held in Los Angeles on April 1, at the Laemmle 5 on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, with a post-screening Q&A sessions slated after the shows.
