On the bus to work today, I read the new issue of $pread magazine. For those not familiar, $pread's mission is to build community and destigmatize sex work by providing a forum for people working in the industry. They publish interviews, feature articles, reviews, news, and personal stories of sex workers from all perspectives.
Reviewers have likened it to a dot-com Pretty Woman, but The Center of the World, the latest film from director Wayne Wang (Smoke, Blue in the Face, The Joy Luck Club), is a far more complex rumination on the intersections of sex, love, and commerce. Set in southern California, the story follows Florence (Kissed's Molly Parker), a rock 'n'roll drummer who earns a living offering up lap dances in a strip club, and Richard (Boys Don't Cry villain Peter Sarsgaard), the lonely, freshly minted computer millionaire who pays Florence $10,000 to spend a weekend with him in Las Vegas.