Tricked: The Documentary

It's really hard to believe there are stupid people out there who would be critical about this film ...bitching about how one sided it is !?!? If there was a movie about "violent rape" and it interviewed a handful or rape victims would they be saying the same thing ... (in a dopey, slow drawl) "hey I don't know what to think about this film because it's one sided, I would like to hear from the rapists before I make any judgments" Seriously? They are talking about kids in this movie being tricked by adults ! Really do you think teenagers and or pre-teens want to service an old fat men for $30? And then hand over the money? And to do this morning, noon and night? Do you think children are just as smart as an adult? Do you think a child's brain is fully developed? Do you think a child has sharpened critical thinking skills. Do you think adults can manipulate a child's mind and threaten them with violence to them and or to their families to control them? You do realized a human's brain isn't fully developed until 25 right. Do you know when you capture an elephant you need to only chain it up for a few weeks and after unsuccessfully trying to break the chain it can be secured with a rope for the rest of it's life. Well humans are not elephants but the same principle applies at least for a while. The lack of intelligence and compassion with these moronic reviews is beyond me, please go slap your parents for raising a nincompoop.

I saw this at a screening in Denver last night. It's basically an exposé of the teen prostitution phenomenon that exists across the country, as told by cops, pimps, journalists, johns, legislators and (most compellingly) former prostitutes. I felt it offered a very intense glimpse into a dark corner of our society that many of us know little about. It's interesting that, for all us Americans talk about the bad stuff that goes down in other countries, there are apparently things here in the states (e.g. The Players' Ball - look it up) that occur more or less openly and are pretty damn egregious.

The two things I wanted more from this film were: some more direct verbal interaction between people who support "the game" and those whose job it is to destroy it; and more consideration of how the "pimp and ho" culture interpenetrates with mainstream culture.

All in all, though, I was quite impressed. Daniel Steele, the main cop featured in the film, is a freakin' jedi.

Super low budget for a documentary but this documentary catches your attention from the opening scenes. A lot of documentaries focus heavily on the exploitation of women sold into the trade but this one is great because they show you how the trade operates out in the open. Definitely not what I expected, and goes to show you that as smart as you think that you are, the criminals are even smarter. You would be surprised, who is involved in this trade, and what backgrounds they come from.

You can probably catch it on Netflix, as they seem to be the best place for these documentaries.

I think in general this documentary was decent. It could have done a better job of addressing assumptions people make.

As a survivor I really feel the need to address some of the crap being said in these reviews..... 1. "Why didn't they just ask for help they had opportunities " traffickers use so many tactics to discourage victims like threats against loved ones, physical violence,manipulation, ect.... traffickers groom their victims. There is also a lot of shame and embarrassment that victims feel because of what society says. Let's not forget the fear of bot being believed. As far as the police... you never know which ones will help and which ones won't. Some of them (especially in D.C.) help the traffickers. One time when I was arrested the cop kept telling me about how he wanted to bend me over and spank me. When I actually asked for help the officer wrote it up as a welfare check and said "when you go back to work for him if you see me on the track act like you don't know me" and this was a female officer that said this. So yes asking for help isn't always helpful 😑😑😑😒

2. "Most of them are doing this willingly" Nobody wakes up and says hey I think I am going to sell my body today. A majority of these victims have experienced some kind of trauma that helped to push them in this direction. Traffickers prey on people that they think they can control and groom. Victims aren't always kidnapped. I met my first trafficker when I was 15 and he pretended to be my boyfriend for months before he even admitted to being a "pimp".

I would keep going, but honestly the more I am thinking about some of the responses the more it pisses me off because it's these crap assumptions that make it more difficult for victims to get help.

This film depicts prostitution with a set of preconceptions.

The preconceptions are: 1. Prostitution is necessarily exploitative; (it can be voluntary) 2. That prostitution is only a world of pimps and slaves; where pimps somehow enslave unwilling women. (These women, by the way, to the outside observer: ostensibly are free at many times to leave, contact police or otherwise get help) These women it is said in the documentary hand over ALL of their money to their pimps - thus making them slaves - (Again, HUH?!). This argument to me does not make sense in any shape or form. 3. That pimps are somehow the problem with prostitution, (johns a close second) and as if arresting all the pimps, and perhaps then all the johns would solve the problem and stop the exploitation - without looking at any wider implications of laws in other countries. The makers might discover that legalisation may have a role in stopping this 4. That the police are doing a good job - this couldn't be further from the truth. The pathetic stings of vice police in this movie of johns is utterly ridiculous, and a waste of police resources.

I urge anyone considering watching this movie read widely about worldwide prostitution regulation and make up their own mind. To all the USA readers of this review - ESPECIALLY YOU.

I gave this 2/10 because I enjoyed the moralistic spectacle of the policemen crying their hearts out.