Orgazmo (1997)

Title: Orgazmo (1997)

Director: Trey Parker

Cast: Tery Parker, Matt Stone, Dian Bachaer, Ron Jeremy

Review:

You’ve probably not seen Orgazmo, it’s an obscure sex comedy that no studio wanted to put up the money for because of its crass nature and by crass I mean rude and vulgar and all those nice things that 99.9% of the population find ‘offensive’. Because of this, Orgazmo might not be the kind of film you will see playing in theaters, but on the land of straight to dvd, a film like Orgazmo can do just fine. It can thrive, find its audience and become a cult film. How I came upon Orgazmo is I love the South Park guys, their sense of humor (based mostly on crude sincerity) clicks just fine with me. To me their shows and films are like a lightning bolt of truth. They are refreshing because they are sincere with their material. Blunt? Sure, but I love how they say things unfiltered, which to me is something that is really missing in this world we live in. Humanity needs more sincerity and truthfulness and Trey Parker and Matt Stone have it to spare and share it with the rest of the world and it’s the reason why I enjoyed Orgazmo so much. 

Orgazmo is all about Joe Young, a faithful Mormon who goes house to house preaching the word of the bible to others. He wants to marry his beautiful girlfriend Lisa, the only problem is that the wedding is expensive and Joe doesn’t have the cash to marry her yet. But fear not! One day while preaching he knocks on the door of a pornographer who is right smack in the middle of shooting a porn film about a superhero named Orgazmo! The problem is that the actor who plays Orgazmo has just quit and now the pornographer is one Orgazmo too short. When the porn director sees Joe, he knows he’s found his replacement! Will Joe take the 10,000 dollars that the porn king is offering him to play Orgazmo or will he remain faithful to God?

Aside from being a genuinely funny movie, Orgazmo talks about sexual repression amongst Christian parishioners. A distinctive element of Christian religions is how they suppress sexual desires amongst their followers. Yes sir, sex in its many forms is a big no-no for Christians. At least until they are married, then it’s okay to open the gates of lust and desire. But if you are not married, then sex is a sin and you’re going to hell in a hand basket for doing it. According to the bible having sex before getting married is one of the worst sins you can commit. In 1 Corinthians 6:18 the bible states that “He who commits fornication, sins against his own body” You see, according to the bible, our bodies are temples for God, and they are not our own. That’s right our bodies belong to God’s, so we gotta take care of them. What startles me about bible scriptures like this one is how they equal the act of having sex with something evil, they demonize sex. I personally think this demonization of sex is something really hypocritical, most people find a way to have sex no matter what the church says. As anyone who’s gone through puberty can attest, when you’re a teenager there’s no stopping those raging hormones! The makers of Orgazmo agree, sexuality is normal, no need to demonize it.  This is why they place their main character, a Mormon, right smack in the middle of a very sexual situation: the making of a porn film!

Which is where things get really funny! Placing a Christian on the set of a porn film makes this a fish out of water story, the fish being Joe Young (Trey Parker), the results being comedy gold. The porn industry is ripe for jokes, and only a couple of films have ventured there. Last one I remember watching was The Amateurs (2005) which stars Jeff Bridges as an amateur porn producer/director. Another one that comes to mind is Zack and Miri make a Porno (2008), a film in which two roommates team up to make a Star Wars themed porn film in order to get some money to pay the rent. With Orgazmo I laughed like a mad man in many a scene, including one in which Joe has to have sex with this ultra fat and old porn actress, who also has a very manly voice. That moment is so awful for Joe that he mentally escapes to a beautiful sunny country side, smiling and running through the grass with his girlfriend. Or watching Orgazmo’s sidekick ‘Choda Boy’ wearing his dildo hat or shooting his dildo missile! I know that sounds nuts, but it’s exactly what happens. I mean, how genius is to have a super hero who has a gun called the ‘Orgazmorator’ which gives its victims instant multiple Orgasms? When Orgazmo shoots his enemies with the Orgazmorator, they actually say “thank you!”! The ‘Orgazmorator’ reminded me of the ‘Orgazmatron’ from Barbarella (1968), in that film the villain Duran-Duran tries to kill Barbarella with it by giving her nonstop orgasms.

As you can see, sex comedies are nothing new. Barbarella is an early example, and so is Flesh Gordon (1974). Though they are scarce today, these type of comedies proliferated like babies, especially during the late 70’s and 80’s. The only thing that makes Orgazmo different is that it’s not about teenagers trying to have sex for the first time, it’s about a Christian, putting himself through the experience of making a porn film so that he can pay for his expensive church wedding, and then, with the help of his side kick Choda Boy, he really does become Orgazmo! For real! Ha, hilarious premise! Highly recommend checking out this incredibly underrated comedy. It has cameos by a bunch of famous porn stars like Chasey Lane and Ron Jeremy. It was directed by Trey Parker, whose not only one of the creators of South Park, but also the director behind Team America: World Police (2004) and Cannibal: The Musical! (1993). Parker found it difficult to get funding to make Orgazmo, but he found his money and he made his movie. There’s no denying that Orgazmo can be considered vulgar by many, but there’s no denying it is also very funny. Ebert called it “sophomoric and witless” but I say if you’ve seen an episode of South Park than this type of comedy shouldn’t be all that shocking. The uninitiated Trey Parker’s and Matt Stone’s unique brand of blunt humor might prove to be a bit too harsh, but for the rest of us, it’s as funny and as cool as it’s ever been. Up next for Trey Parker and Matt Stone is a film called ‘The Book of Mormon’, I’ve yet to understand their fixation with Mormons (they have made fun of them in two films and a couple of South Park episodes) but if it’s anything as funny as Orgazmo, then sign me up!

Rating:  4 out of 5