With the release of the new Bonnie Blue documentary, Channel 4 has a history of producing excellent documentaries.
Channel 4 has defended the decision to make a documentary about online porn star Bonnie Blue – insisting it is “proud” of the film and that is wants to “stimulate debate”.
Viewers tuning in to watch 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story this week will receive an on air warning about the content before the documentary airs at 10pm. It features multiple scenes of graphic sex not normally seen on TV.
Tia Billinger uses the stage name Bonnie Blue and invites men to have sex with her which she films and makes money from online. She is also known for angering and abusing other women online, including by suggesting she likes to sleep with married men.
She claimed to have slept with 1,057 men in 12 hours, sparking outrage on social media in January.
The Channel 4 documentary’s crew and director rarely question her about the abuse she gives to other women and her financial claims of earning millions each month also go unquestioned or unproven on screen.
Even though Tia would earn thousands from the movie, she also uses other younger girls to make one movie, which they claim they aren’t paid. The tone is largely celebratory, aside from Tia’s expressing some reluctance to walk alone in public.
Asked about their decision to broadcast the documentary, Channel 4 told the Mirror: “Tia Billinger, via her stage name Bonnie Blue, has gained worldwide attention and millions of pounds in the last year. 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story is an observational documentary in which director Victoria Silver follows Tia over the course of six months. The film questions Tia’s methods and the divisive style of her social media and hears from colleagues and collaborators in order to understand her polarising business model.
“Part of Channel 4’s remit is to reflect modern Britain and stimulate debate amongst viewers, and a film such as this, exploring changing attitudes to sex, success, porn, and feminism in an ever-evolving online world is an important addition to those conversations.
“Channel 4 has a proven track record of programs that examine the porn industry from a variety of viewpoints. In the last two years, we have broadcast programs like Sex Actually with Alice Levine, which examined a range of sexual experiences, and OnlyFans Got Me Fired: Untold and Confessions of a Cam Girl, which examined the personal costs of porn for content creators.
They argued that it was necessary to include a section of the documentary where Bonnie had sex multiple times throughout.
They continued, “The content and the way it is included have been taken into account. Making pornographic content is Bonnie’s job, and this film is about her work and the response to it, and the explicit content in the documentary is editorially justified and provides essential context. The viewers will be informed of the sexual content in a programme warning right away to ensure they understand the nature of the program. Additionally, the content is presented in a non-gratuitous manner.
The movie was shown to journalists last week at a screening on Channel 4 where Tia even expressed surprise at how many “sex scenes” “weren’t there.”
Commissioning Editor Tim Hancock, who was in charge of the movie, said before the screening that “I think it’s the job of Channel 4 to tell stories like this, trying to uncover the truth behind the headlines.” Real-world events are captured on camera. We take pride in producing movies like this.
Director Victoria Silver questioned why there was so much porn in the documentary and whether she was prepared for complaints. “I had to explain to her (Tia) that if I was making a film about a musician or some other performer their work would be there. I believe that seeing what she does is crucial.
Source: Mirror
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