My Normal

At the beginning, I was a little worried at it's independent film qualities, but quickly realized it had quality actors, writer's, and directors. I'm sure it was way before it's time back in 2009, but it's time has definitely come!

Well, if you like porn film acting without the porn, this movie is for you. Not terribly interesting characters or plot. Not very sexy either. Actually, a couple of the actors were decent, but not enough to save it.

Normal for Natalie (Nicole LaLiberté) is working as a dominatrix, fulfilling men's sexual fantasies, and hanging out with her lesbian co-workers going to shady bars and wearing risqué clothes. The film's title and description makes it sound like it's about Natalie's struggle to get her "normal" in line with society's "normal" as she adjusts to a more customary job in the film industry. Instead, I found it just to be a highlight reel for her lifestyle.

What I liked about "My Normal" is that they aspired to make an original film, they refused to be pigeon-holed by what society deems as acceptable, and the main actress Nicole LaLiberté was great. LaLiberté was incredibly sexy and is likely to become a formidable actress. The film would have been served better if they were able to compare normal for me with Natalie's normal, and showing her having real struggles juggling a more customary lifestyle with her dominatrix one, rather than just the cliché "my girlfriend doesn't love me anymore" drama. These filmmakers appear to be smart enough to recognize that 20-something women do concern themselves with more than just their love life, so they should have showed me that.

"My Normal" more than lives up to its R-rating. If you didn't get enough erotic lesbian sex scenes in "Black Swan", you'll find them here. Another positive for the film is that it shares "Black Swan"'s striking makeup and costumes. It is definitely not for the conservative film-viewer, but "My Normal" might be worth a look for those who like female erotica in edgy films that try to redefine "normal".

I saw this movie in high school and it inspired me to become a dominatrix. It's one of my favorite movies. It became more relatable the further I got into being a Pro Domme. It so accurate to the lifestyle. And I love the way it is portrayed. The family life. The different girls and their relationships. Sitting around the dungeon. The relationship with subs. Being close friends with the connect. The fact that so many dominatrices are lesbian stoners. Ugh. It's a classic and I show it to as many people as I can. And it's so so wonderfully 2000s.

It's got a wonderful low budget vibe. I can tell that the people working on it love the story and that the writer, in a fourth wall breaking full circle way, knows the lifestyle very well.

The greatest redeeming quality of My Normal is that it's so awful it becomes fun (I use that term dangerously loosely) to watch. There are so few truly quality movies produced in the lesbian genre, a quote from a genuinely good movie comes to mind, and forgive me for paraphrasing: (Audiences are|) so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand." The LGBT audience too often praises movies that in the mainstream would be considered unwatchable. When crumbs are all you get, you learn to appreciate even the most indigestible morsels.

The acting here, with the exception of Nicole LaLiberte and Ty Jones, is routinely atrocious. Other actors here simply act as set dressing for the leads. But the producers seem set on damning even their lead character by constantly placing a lit cigarette in her hand. The problem? She so obviously doesn't smoke, she looks like a 12-year old playing at grown-up. Ty Jones, playing a street-wise writer, is given such an astonishingly lack of vocabulary you wonder how he ever wrote a page of dialogue.

It's probably a good idea to have some vague knowledge of the content about which you write a script, but that doesn't stop anyone here. This film's projected as an erotic romp, but with the exception of a single scene or two, it's as innocuous as any prime-time show. Unless, of course, you define erotic as dildos sitting on counters, tables, chairs and stools.

There are few redeeming qualities in the script. The dialogue is actually laughable; see if you can get through an hour and 15 without talking back to the screen. Emotion is non-existent. The answer to stress relief, stress, employment and social lubrication is drugs. And what exceedingly few plot lines are interesting are never followed to their end. This film would much rather go for a broad laugh, yet it misses over and over. Truly, people from all walks of life should be offended by this movie.

There should be more LGBT content out there; God knows there's an audience. But of what does exist, there are scores of better choices than this self-satisfied "comedy."