Customer Reviews

Sex: Annabel Chong Story [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There's no denying that the life of Annabel Chong is fascinating to observe -- from her life as a feminist scholar to porn-star celebrity to nothing and back to porn-star celebrity.

Unfortunately, with such great material the filmmaker doesn't do a good job. First of all, this documentary is just like an Annabel Chong Home Video collection done by the ex-boyfriend (which is what the director was). It follows all her through her daily and not-so-daily life and nothing more.

Never does the filmmaker ever ask "Why?" Why does she do this? How has her past trauma (being gang-raped) affect her (it barely even acknowledges the rape)? Why does she go back to porn after promising her humiliated parents to make it up to them? It just lazily notes these things and moves on to her going around and doing her daily tasks.

Worse, at times it misrepresents Chong. There's one scene where Chong is cutting herself without explanation. Wow. Screwy, right? Except in the BONUS MATERIAL, you learn that that's the scene when the director breaks up with her and SUGGESTS they take turns doing cutting themselves and films it.

The filmmaker may be incompetent but that's not to say the DVD isn't interesting. With a life as... complicated... as Chong's it's hard to make it boring. The most moving part is when she moves back with her parents in Singapore and they discover from strangers her secret life has having being the center of the world's biggest gang-bang.

So the documentary is worth the viewing, but don't have your expectations up there and you'll be fine. Also be forewarned: they do show clips of Annabel Chong uncensored.

I originally viewed this movie in a theater catering to the liberal elite of Houston. It is very fair to suspect that few in the audience were of a fundamentalist religious persuasion. Nonetheless, the consensus opinion of these viewers after the movie were of utter disgust and pity for the pathetic Ms. Chong. This documentary follows Annabel Chong around as she allows others to belittle and take advantage of her. She claims to be a champion of sexual freedom and female rights, but this is not in the least bit convincing. Never for a moment do we take seriously her pseudo-intellectual rants. Chong's low self esteem is readily apparent. Annabel aims to please and personal degradation is a price that she is more than willing to pay. The porno film makers don't hesitate to cheat her out of money and are carelessly indifferent whether she contracts a venereal disease. I am utterly convinced that if this were a work of fiction the audience might be tempted to conclude that the story line is a bit over the top. In this particular case, true life is much more compelling than make believe.

Many of Chong's friends wish to be nonjudgmental and pretend that she is doing nothing out of the ordinary. Try as they may, these individuals fail to carry it off. A most telling scene is where Chong tells a platonic male friend that she is a porno movie star and has had sex with hundreds of men. The young man initially seems to think that Chong is pulling his leg. We then observe his horror as he realizes that Annabel is not joking. Eventually Chong's parents learn of her exploits and are rightfully shocked and appalled. This film is not easy to watch. Are you looking for erotic titillation? If so, you will want to avoid The Annabel Chong Story. This documentary may inadvertently present the best case against pornography ever presented to the general public. Is pornography a victimless activity? Even those espousing a very libertarian philosophy will have a hard time answering this question in the negative. The Annabel Chong Story is ceaselessly sexually explicit and definitely not for the faint of heart. Almost certainly, this is the only reason why it didn't receive an Academy Award nomination. It is well worth a few hours investment of your time. Paul Schrader's recently released Auto Focus should also be on the top your list. The latter film indirectly deals with the consumers of Annabel Chong's dubious talents.

Part of what makes this a decent documentary is that there is no certainty about the filmmakers biases--not to me, at least. At times I think he admires her, at others, I think he despises her, and I am never entirely sure.

And so, absent a forceful guide, a viewer will view this film through her own theoretical and experiential lenses. A young porn fan might find it light and fun. My view is my own, filtered through my mind, my education, my experiences.

Seen through that lens, the film took me on an interesting journey. Ms Chong's putative reasons for her choice to be a porn star seem, at first, convincing. Yes, it would be a wonderful thing if women in our society were to take control of their own sexuality and celebrate it. No, women should not feel shame about being very lustful or sexually active. Indeed, some religious traditions other than the ones Westerners know do celebrate sex as way to mystical union with the All. Good thoughts, every one.

As the film progresses, however, it became obvious to me that while Ms Chong may talk the talk (though always fumblingly), what she is walking is not the walk, but a hike through hell. Drug use, painful shyness, an inability to maintain eye contact with anyone, subjecting herself to an orgy with the ugliest collection of losers ever to appear naked on screen, financial exploitation at the hands of the sleazes who film her, empty relationships with personality disordered others, lying to and (unconsciously?) intentionally hurting her mother, the only person in her life who actually does seem to love her, the self-mutilation scene.... gah! By the end I felt I had sat through a session in a "Treating Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse" seminar (and I'd not be surprised to find this film is used in that milieu).

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing--or at least, in this case, an embarrassing thing. Chong's education (not a hearty recommendation for USC, this film, nor is their unctuous professor who appears several times) has taught her a few feminist phrases and a pat Marxist deconstruction or two which she parrots badly while she desperately tries to act out her skewed MTV vision of a liberated woman. "I'll do [this and that]," she says in one possibly scripted scene, describing degrading sex acts, "if I like the girl" (apparently loathing the men who sodomize her is just peachy with her) "but I'M ANNABEL CHONG and I want at LEAST a thousand dollars!" Her actions, at best, contradict her "feminist" and "marxist" rhetoric.

But I'd be simply a coldhearted leftist academic to notice that dissonance without also noticing that no sane person with an ounce of self-respect would take a million dollars, much less argue their way up from 800 to 1000, to do what Chong has just agreed to do. Her rhetoric is either a scam or a self-deceptive lie. Her scream of "I AM" seems a scream from the soul of a lost little girl wanting to believe she exists and matters. That the name she screams is not her own makes her desperation and failure to believe in herself more poignant.

I watch the film as she replicates on herself on a daily basis, horrifically, the buried trauma that must drive every sex worker. The film ends up convincing me that the porn industry is exploitive and evil, populated solely by victims and abusers. It convinces far more powerfully than a year of dogmatic anti-porn lectures ever could. I leave the film feeling some compassion for the woman, some revulsion, but little hope that she'll ever find her way back from her chosen hell.

The Vidiot is making one of his regular visits to the video store when he spies this in the new release section. A highly acclaimed doco about a 22 year old College student who decides to have sex with 250 men over a 10 hour period to break the record for the World's Biggest [love fest]. At seeing this The Vidiot assumes his not-so-famous Roger Moore acting position- right eyebrow raised, left eyebrow raised and then re-reads the video slick. Yep, his eyes did not fail him. Being the lover of controversy he is, and with his interest in the darker side of human nature he rents it.
First I'll make one thing clear: This is not a porn movie. Those of you after cheap thrills can get your fix elsewhere, this may change your ideas on pornography forever.
Annabel Chong is the stage name for Grace Quek, a humanities student who decides the break the WB[love fest] record. The viewer is never given a good reason as to why she chooses to do it, just a multitude of [weak] excuses about being a powerful woman. To any normal person, being filmed having sex with 251 men you don't know is not the way to go about being a normal person. It's just downright sad. Quek tries to have us believe that she is a strong woman in control of her destiny, but even the most gullible person won't be fooled. There are scenes of Chong self mutilating, her family's heartbreak when she tells them what she does, and the utterly sad and pathetic scene where she inevitably turns on even the film crew making the documentary, eventually seeking comfort in the arms of a porn director who specialises in rape videos. Yuck.
SEX is endlessly fascinating, as well as being emotionally draining. You won't want to see this picture more than once but you should see it. But be warned it's not for the faint hearted and is definately NOT recommended for anybody under the age of 18 (or 17 depending where you live). However there is one memorably amusing scene of ...actress Jasmin St Clair verbally abusing some stupid dolt while trying to break the Gang Bang record.

A critic once said that this movie was "....like a car crash on the motorway, you can't stop yourself from watching" - this summarizes it very well. Sometimes its painful to watch (mainly due to the undignified acts Annabel puts herself through) and the movie itself is not that well structured (jumping from segment to segment in a fairly random way). But, the story being told here is fascinating in a ghoulish, extreme-reality tv kind of way - and consequently makes riveting viewing.

Why did she do it ? How did she get to the stage in her life when she wanted to do this ? These are the questions that viewers are seeking the answers for, and of course there is no clear answer - just stories and images from which we are left to make up our own mind.

The film is a fly on the wall style documentary of Annabel before, during and after the world's biggest gang bang. There are interviews with her mother, her friends, her teachers and herself giving a mosaic (at times random) view of her life. Sometimes the film is a traditional interview, sometimes just as a passive eye on the proceedings and never does the film pass any judgments directly in a Michael Moore fashion - and this style works well for this movie.

My opinion is that there is also a bizarre mask about what everything she says and does, that makes me think she is not being honest even with herself, for example :
- she claims to be having the time of her life during the act itself but eventually has to give up due to internal injuries and the line of the most ugly wannabe porn stays taking their place in the queue surely could not be much of a turn on (or could it ??).
- she does not get paid her $10,000 for the whole event but claims she did not care about ripped off for the whole thing, cause she wasn't after the money.
- Finally, she says that if she catches AIDS out of the whole thing then so be it and considers it an occupation hazard.

After statements like these I found myself shouting at the television telling her to sort herself out and to look at the reality of what she was doing. So if a good documentary produces a strong reaction in its audience - then this one is pretty reasonable.

I see on her web site, she has abandoned her porn star persona and is now making a good living as a computer geek. Good for her - I hope she is very successful - you could say it was inspirational to see have a crazy lifestyle while younger and then and successfully reinvent themselves.

This documentary tells, in a rambling, confused style, the story of Annabel Chong, the woman who participated in 251 sex acts in 10 hours.

Although not being a fan of the porn genre, I have always been curious to understand why people would choose to give their working lives to such an appalling industry. This documentary - in a fragmented way - gives a suggested explanation in Annabel's case.

Grace (Annabel's real name) was brought up in a fairly strict, but loving, family in Singapore and given a first-class education. She then came to London for a brief period to further her studies. Tragically, there she was brutally sexually attacked by multiple assailants. This seems to have set her on a new course in life: looking for something to alleviate her pain and come to terms with what has happened.

She then decides to study sexuality, in particular "female empowerment", at USC. I have since learnt that Grace was reading Law in England, hence this represents a radical step - something the documentary-makers completely fail to discuss or even mention.

This quest for empowerment leads to her misguidedly seeking sex with as many men as possible. It's only a step from there to the notorious "gang bang" movie. Of course, the men who run the Californian porn industry are delighted to have such a promiscuous and hard-working "talent" on their hands and go out of their way to exploit her apparent enthusiasm.

After the event, Grace clearly has not found the sense of self-worth she was looking for. Quite the reverse, she descends further into harm and unhappiness; the most upsetting scene of all is when her mother finally finds out what she has been up to in the States.

Don't watch this film if you are looking for titillation. It is one of the most distressing, least sexually exciting films ever made. And expect to come away with more questions than answers.

The story of this woman is a wake-up call to anyone who thinks that porn is just a bit of harmless fun. It's just a shame the producers weren't more committed to their subject.

This was an interesting documentary. I was very curious about this woman, and honestly never heard of her. Grace found what she did empowering, and a way to take away the negativity that comes with women being in the sex industry. Her issue is when men have sex with multiple women, they are looked at as studs. When a woman does it, she is looked at as loose. She is tired of the double standard, and I honestly can't say I blame her. Her goal was to have sex with 300 men, but she had to stop at 251. Later someone did beat her record of 300. What was disturbing was her answer regarding STD's, especially HIV. Her answer was simply she would have no regrets and that she did an amazing thing. But if what she was doing was so amazing why hides the fact she was a porn start from her mother? She was a mixed up person, and sometimes seemed a little infantile to me. If you are expecting to see a lot of sex while watching this, you will be disappointed. You will have to be open minded to watch this DVD. The documentary is done with interviews and outtakes, some which can be shocking IMHO. The part where she was cutting herself was very disturbing. It's really sad that some people feel they have to mutilate themselves in order to feel pain.

What was more disturbing is she puts her life at risk to do this, and was not paid her $10,000 fee and did not even fight for it. If she was promised $10,000 she should have gotten her money!!! What kind of stupidity is that? She says that the United States is repressive, but she keeps what she does a secret. So it would appear that Singapore is repressive as well, and the emotional outburst when she does reveal to her mother shows how much Grace/Annabel is confused.

When the documentary ended all I got out of this was this woman is confused and in a lot of turmoil. I feel this documentary is interesting to rent, not purchase.

I saw SEX - THE ANNABEL CHONG STORY at a film festival when it first came out and, happily, Chong herself was there for a Q and A afterwards. The movie itself explores the interesting, and often contradictory, personality of Annabel Chong. Born Grace Quek into a traditional family from Singapore, Chong had, as it seems, a taste for something a whole lot more. The film tries to get at exactly what it is that drives a woman to gain infamy as the receiving end of the world's biggest gang-bang. Given the type of person who would aspire to such, it is not surprising that it does not quite succeed despite an admirable effort.

Chong comes off as troubled at times (she cut her arms with razors at one point), but, as a whole, more put together than coming apart. Pleasant and appreciative of her fans, she seems to have a decent sense of the moral quandries of her actions. The scene in which her mother discovers her daughter's true work is particularly tough. And the actress who breaks Chong's gang-bang record is so nasty and self-centered that Chong cannot help but seem like a decent person if only by comparison.

Chong never achieved true fame through porn. Her name is not as well known as, say, Jenna Jameson or Tera Patrick. But her films are so wild that she gains in notoriety among those who do recognize her what she lacks in name recognition. During the Q and A she seemed nice though a bit overwhelmed in front of so many people and being peppered with (for the most part friendly) questions. SEX - THE ANNABEL CHONG STORY is worthwhile for those interested in a bit more backstory to the porn scene.

this would've been so much better if the subject had her sh*t together. instead she comes off as a typical, messed up, unhappy, attention-hungry, self-absorbed club-kid. she's so bent on being different, going against the grain & "not conforming" that it's like she feels impelled to shock & titillate. she's into cutting herself. she chain-smokes. she spits cliches like it's going outa style. and she straight up lies when she pretends to enjoy getting banged by 251 losers. have a look at her face & tell me she's enjoying that. uh, right.

her reasons for going into porn might be questionable, but fair enough. it's her decision. but why, after coming out to her mother, and promising to restore her pride (after all, finding out your daughter is in porn has gotta be a hard pill to swallow, perhaps even more so for a traditional, conservative Singaporean family), why then does she later go back into porn? is it the easy money? what became of her gender studies at USC? the documentary glosses over this event & gives no explanation. in the end, Grace seems to take more interest in her 15 minutes of infamy & burgeoning porn career than she does in her future & ends up looking like just another washed-up L.A. porn floozy, instead of the bastion of feminist theory she fancies herself as.

This documentary profiles adult film actress Annabel Chong (real name: Grace Quek), who in 1995 broke new records in sexual history when she performed 251 sexual acts in 10 hours with 70 different men for the porn movie "The World's Biggest Gang Bang." This documentary, which included (the MILDEST of)actual footage from Chong's X-rated movie, was difficult to watch at times and, predictably, elicited gasps from the audience with its subject matter. However, the shock value of the film's central focus eventually wore off, and the filmmakers-- intentionally or not-- leave us with a portrait of a woman with a uniquely admirable quality: Miss Chong shows herself to be unapologetic about her passion for sex (incidentally, with both men AND women), is completely intergrated with the sexual side of her personality, and has no regrets about her astonishing act-- even though she faced an HIV scare afterward, and got stiffed (no pun intended) for the $10,000 salary that she was supposed to receive for her work in "The World's Biggest Gang Bang." Annabel Chong, of course, is not the first or only person in the world who has expressed her sexuality and sexual desires without apology. At the risk of portraying an adult film star as a role model, however, Miss Chong's comfort level with her sexual attitudes and activities is refreshing. Her honesty and freedom of expression form a sharp contrast in our society where even as we slowly break down barriers dealing with sexuality, confronting our sexual behaviors and activities still remain a potential source of conflict (both internal and external) to us. It's debatable over whether Annabel Chong's life warrants an 86-minute documentary-- but nevertheless, this is fascinating stuff.