The Girl Next Door

Not one viewer during a screening of Christine Fugate's entertaining and eye-opening documentary, "The Girl Next Door", wasn't squirming in their seats while doctors performed surgery to reduce breast implants, and then later, perform liposuction on the lips and hind-quarters of porn star, Stacy Valentine. Squirming, by the way, was often accompanied by groans and non-sensical gross-out noises. So it goes for the life of a porn star. When the gym doesn't do the trick, it's plastic surgery time.

Stacy Valentine, born Stacy Baker on August 8th, 1970, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, of all places, is the star of such venerable films as "Pussyman Auditions, volume V", "Anal Professor", "My Horny Valentine", "Dirty Bob's Xcellent Adventures 36" and "Sex Commandos", to name a few (my personal favorite titles!). Stacy professes to love what she does for a living, but truth be told, the proof is in the pudding (so to speak). The recent (1999) documentary of porn star Annabel Chong gave new meaning to what it is like to 'really' enjoy one's work. Ms. Valentine talks a good game, but it is difficult to see through the façade she has built for herself.

Ms. Fugate's documentary follows Stacy behind and away from the camera, and includes interviews regarding her personal relationships with men. Beginning with an abusive father, Stacy went on to a short-lived marriage to an overly dominant husband who strongly encouraged her to pose nude for adult magazines. From Gallery Magazine to the cover of Hustler, she soon found her way into film, and into the arms of her (then) current boyfriend, Julien. A fellow actor, Julien often co-starred with Stacy, though his jealousies regarding her on-screen passion with other men would ultimately get in their way. A particularly intrusive and telling moment appeared on Ms. Fugate's lens while in the middle of a "movie" shoot, Julien petulantly sulked on the corner of a bed while Stacy, just inches away, engaged in sex with an other man.

Craving the attention of the public, and the recognition of her peers, it is the dream of a lifetime when Stacy finally attains the elusive Hot d'Or Award (the porn equivalent of an Oscar) for "Best American Starlet". Her joy seems only matched by Sally Field's Oscar acceptance speech ("You like me, you really like me!). She has worked hard, and has paid her dues to get to this point. Although she allows that the life of an actress in pornography is limited, and she gives herself only two more years in the industry (and then off to cosmetology school), it's not clear whether Stacy is truly deluding herself.

One of the most endearing aspects of "The Girl Next Door" is Stacy's apparent confessional honesty. She is able to justify her current lifestyle, and seems to believe with all her heart that she is in control of her life. There are moments in the documentary when Stacy lets her guard down, and those are the most affecting of all. The film allows for enough empathy that the audience is pulling for Stacy to realize her dreams, and eventually find the elusive love of her life. Perhaps there will be a "The Girl Next Door: The Later Years".


THE GIRL NEXT DOOR ***
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not rated ("X"-rated material) Running time: 82 minutes
Released by: Indican Pictures

Directed by Christina Fugate.

Starring Stacy Valentine, as herself.