“Mood” Rehashes the Poor Sex Worker Trope… But it’s Really Good

Based on her one-woman play, Superhoe, Mood follows the story of a down and out young woman who wants to be a singer and finds her way into sex work through social media and a “bad influence.”

I couldn’t wait to see it.

It didn’t disappoint, and yet it did.

I can’t decide if I want to tear apart Mood or hold it up.

On the one hand it’s brilliantly written, directed, and acted, and it’s very creative with music and dance that never gets in the way of the narrative. It has a terrific three-dimensional main character that’s an awful person in a lot of ways but that you can’t help but root for, and the whole feel of the piece is fresh. It has some of the vibe of Euphoria yet it’s lighter… or is it?

It certainly doesn’t have that heart wrenching, on the edge of your seat, someone’s gonna die any minute anxiety you get from the genius of Euphoria… yet there’s something more insidious about Mood – it’s claustrophobic. Filmed with a ton of tight and up-close camera angles to mimic our obsession with social media (looking at those tiny screens all day), it deals with a woman who is trapped, and you know bad things are going to happen to her. What bad things? You guessed it. Sex work that she doesn’t want to do but must do to survive.

Ugh not that story again.

Ugh it is that story again, but Lecky tells it well.

And this dichotomy is the confusing part of the whole series.

The concept makes me annoyed, but it’s got a lot of heart and is really entertaining. To be fair, there are parts that are very intuitive about the industry and don’t put it down. Yet, it’s hard to look past the fact that Lecky chooses to tell the same old story… that women who get into sex work are screwed up and have no other viable choices of making a living.

Lecky who interviewed real sex workers before writing the piece was indeed quoted about “choice” in the New York Times: “If you are financially secure, and you’re happy and healthy, and you want to go and be a sex worker, go for it… I talk a lot about choice and if you have the choice… and if you don’t, I think you should be able to live in a world where you don’t have to make money solely from having sex.”

I’m sorry, but everyone has a choice. No one is forcing anyone to be a legal sex worker.

In fact, in the series, her character snottily tells the welfare agency she’s not the type of girl who will work at a pub doing a job that pays eight pounds an hour. Right there she made the choice to do something that she is the type of girl to do. She chooses sex work because she likes the pay and hours. You know because it’s easy money. I love how these shows always portray the cash just coming in from sex work like it falls into your lap without any hard work.

Anyhow, the question is even though Lecky could’ve made a different choice to tell a compelling story about the industry instead of the banal “poor little girl has to become a sex worker” nonsense, can I recommend the show?

Yes. A resounding yes.

But it’s also probably gonna piss you off.

Photo credit: iStock.com/aarstudio