I pretty much agreed with everything in the review, except for the message behind the Asylum reality (if we're moving upwards in steps from the 'dance reality'). What I got from that was not statements of abuse and violation - for god's sake the second level is a brothel we already have that - but a criticism of the view that these sort of films are about 'female empowerment'.
I'm not sure how clearer a metaphor we can get - a bunch of girls imprisoned and abused by an all-male staff placing themselves in fantasies specifically appealing to that particular set of trashy male desires. That's not a criticism of the men, we already have that. That's a poke at all the girls who go 'oh this was a chick flick about yada yada' and buy into the same stereotype simply from the other end.
It's a shame about the acting and shallowness of the plot devices. I did get the feeling that the film was deliberately trying to be a bit like a 'suspiciously stained anime comic' with some shock value thrown in, but it certainly looks like it alienated the vast majority of its audience. It didn't manage to achieve that Tarantino style self-mockery that people would more easily recognise, probably because it was too busy having a laugh.
I'm not sure how clearer a metaphor we can get - a bunch of girls imprisoned and abused by an all-male staff placing themselves in fantasies specifically appealing to that particular set of trashy male desires. That's not a criticism of the men, we already have that. That's a poke at all the girls who go 'oh this was a chick flick about yada yada' and buy into the same stereotype simply from the other end.
It's a shame about the acting and shallowness of the plot devices. I did get the feeling that the film was deliberately trying to be a bit like a 'suspiciously stained anime comic' with some shock value thrown in, but it certainly looks like it alienated the vast majority of its audience. It didn't manage to achieve that Tarantino style self-mockery that people would more easily recognise, probably because it was too busy having a laugh.