The new series on Starz "the Girlfriend Experience"
Only 2 episodes in, it's not bad, but I was wondering about
The Madame getting 30% of "the date" is the going rate nowadays?

When I was working with agencies I never personally paid more than 25% to 30%, but I've heard that there are some agencies in Boston taking 40%.

Is it worth watching, or will it just piss me off by making me feel like some sort of exotic zoo animal being  ogled by a pretentious director?  

I read a comment on another website that said it was pretty bad and unrealistic.  

If you are watching with others and notice some problems, control yourself and don't blurt out, "THAT'S not how it works, you take the empty envelope with you and never leave used condoms in the trash cans! ... No, no, no ... I never do it THAT way, you should always do it THIS way!"  

Ooops!  

"I mean, I read someplace that it isn't done that way!  I love to read, you know."   Old story:
HS Bio teacher: Semen is substantially protein.
Student raises hand.
HS Bio teacher: Yes, Mary?
Mary: Then why does it taste so salty?
Mary turns purple as other students react.

-- Modified on 4/13/2016 11:36:34 PM

I just watched the episode 1. After the episode the series director claims that the whole series is being based on the interviews with women that actually do this sort of thing, i.e. the escorts. I have a feeling that it eventually will lead the heroine onto Seeking Arrangements or something like that. It seem all to be about power struggles.  

Maybe I'm about to render a premature judgement which may yet change but I'm already ready to rename the series as "Making of dominatrix" or "Dominatrix experience" or something in that regard. Maybe even "Who is on top?" and I don't mean in direct sense.  

There is a young lady that obviously is an outright jerk who enjoys power and gets off on fucking guys just to be able to tell them off the day after. Obviously there are some "dominating daddy", "absence of daddy" or at least "hate my daddy" issues there to be worked out.  

I know people like that exist. But is it what it's about for a typical escort? Obviously none of us, hobbyists, would ever know for sure but for many of us the escorts are not there to provide us with power games but rather an escape from them. Power games we get plenty at home.  

I know there are men who like to be beaten up and dominated and be put in their place and all that but are they the majority? Or even a large minority? And wouldn't they rather go to dominatrix and not simply an escort?  

Just wondering.  

As for the episode itself I found it somewhat heavy handed and for sure heavy on my head. To me Secret Diaries of the Call Girl seemed a bit lighter, somehow more human and more realistic. It also in many ways reflected the ladies that I met through here and the way many of them present themselves to us.  
I know I'd get tired after 2 minutes of figuring out who's got the power. But maybe once you get with the really high rollers it all becomes about people asserting and reasserting themselves over each other? I have my doubts. Imagine, after pulling 12 hour day dealing with sharks like Buffett, Gates or Trump calling an escort to get more of the same from her? Hm... Thank God GF Experience comes in 30 minutes episodes. I'm not sure I could absorb 1 hour of continuous "who is in charge" routine.  

Agreed, this show is not realistic. I binge watched it *guilty!* and don't want to leave any spoilers but an escort's life is surprisingly low key compared to what it's portrayed on on the show. Keep in mind this show was written and directed by men as well.

A beautifully made documentary by a sex worker that has something to teach us all.

Hm... I thought it was written and directed by a woman.  

The director was interviewed on the Inside episode at the end of the episode 1 and was the one who claimed that the show was based on the accounts of 20 or something actual escorts. I think she was maybe exaggerating a bit

but there's no way people are gonna watch it if it's too low key.

The sizzle sells. I prefer the live broadcast

It was definitely interesting ... oddly, it was recommended to me by someone who was in it, and it turned out I knew someone else in it as well under a different name.  Small world.

I found it to be very entertaining.  As for the 30%  that's what the booking agents want

My s.o. wanted to watch it, and I was biting my lip not to point out all the "technical errors".