 "Photo: National Film Board of Canada")
 "Photo: National Film Board of Canada")
Social fascination with deviance is common and expressed in various ways, from acting on urges, to voyeurism, to experiencing deviance vicariously. Films that address topics such as sex, drugs, and crime offer this vicarious potential with little to no consequences. One can become involved without actually participating. Do not expect Rodrigue Jean's latest documentary to quench your thirst for deviation, but rather to subdue it with an intimate look at the harsh reality workers in the sex trade are forced to live with. Hommes à Louer reveals a side of the industry that is less investigated, stigmatized, and discussed: that of the male sex worker. "I never call people prostitutes," concedes Jean. "It's not a state of being, it's more something you do out of necessity. You and me could sell sex if we want to, if we had to." This absence of labels extends to the sexual orientation of the films interviewees. Most of the men could be called heterosexual, though as Jean explains "sexual identity would be a luxury they can't afford," especially with an almost exclusively male clientèle. Transactions are seen as just that: business transactions or easy money. One of the young men featured in the documentary confessed that he had to get his friends to show him what to do when he made the move from drug trade to sex trade. Jean uses a feminist perspective as a basis for the film, seeing the men and their mothers as victims of a highly patriarchal system that oppresses women and children. "These children were sons of women that were subjected to situations where they couldn't protect their children. Hence, the kids ended up on the street" Most of the featured men grew up in broken or group homes and had a difficult adolescence. These circumstances often led to drugs, and in some cases jail. From there, self-esteem and self-respect declined until sex work became a solution, and ultimately a trap. "I think they're being pimped by the drug dealers and police and the judicial system," Jean explains. "It's a whole regressive system that creates jobs for policemen, judges, prison guards." In a male-dominated society, the sex trade has been an example of men exerting their power over women. This power relation is skewed when men take on that role. "Young women are in a much worse position because when men buy sex they buy power. [In the case of male sex trade workers] they are buying a form of power but it's not the same. The boys - a lot of them - can fend for themselves." And they do, the film proves. Extensive use of testimonials are used to follow twelve sex workers over the course of a year, whose ages range from 19 to 44 . The intimate interviews take place exclusively at night, with a backdrop of blurry city lights that enable the subject to express themselves without judgment or pressure. Occasional artistic montages give pause between interviews, featuring cold winter streets or torrential rain in isolated industrial areas. Even Bastille Day fireworks have a bittersweet tone when there seems to be so little to celebrate in such a life. Jean spoke about a privileged class doing the speaking for the rest of society, and how in an age of coming and current crises, it's time to realize we're all in this together. "People should be listened to, especially people on the margins of society because the outlook can be so pertinent, they've got things to say." And in this film, they say them.
Hommes à Louer begins September 25 at the Cinéma Parallèle (Ex-Centris) . A subtitled version is available.
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