Television Reviews : ‘Prostitute’ Takes a Strong Look at a Tragic Topic

Whether crime ever pays or not, few criminal pursuits seem less worth the time and effort than prostitution. Now there’s real job stress. If you’re not convinced, tune in Channel 9 Sunday at 8 p.m. and see.

The stated focus of “Prostitute,” a one-hour documentary in KHJ-TV’s occasional “Changing Family” series, is on the monetary cost of jailing prostitutes (Los Angeles spends $20 million a year in the process), its ineffectiveness, and the possibility of legalization as a partial solution to the problems--robbery, spread of diseases, etc.--associated with the sale of sex.

However, the biggest impression left by the powerful if somewhat overly sensationalized program is disgust with the fact that so many women and homosexual men choose this self-destructive profession (“That kind of life--it just leaves you like the walking dead,” says one ex-prostitute, convincingly).

The other most striking aspect of this show, hosted by France Nuyen, is the assertion by a Presbyterian minister who runs Los Angeles’ only rehabilitation project for prostitutes that “the women with whom I work were, without exception, victims of child abuse, neglect and--probably 85-90% of the time--were victims of incest.”

Again and again, as we hear from working prostitutes, jailed ones and ex-hookers, their experiences support this view.

Made by Emmy Award-winner Rob Sharkey, “Prostitute” leaves one feeling that most of these women are more victims than criminals, and that punishment in place of compassion is doing little good. At the same time, though, the show does not ignore the opinions of those who feel otherwise--giving time to policemen and others who feel that current prosecution measures need to be continued.

Where “Prostitute” goes wrong is in a few unnecessary “sexy” images and a final, maudlin section on a transsexual prostitute who died recently of AIDS. Otherwise, this is a strong, sensible view of a terribly distasteful subject for those who can take it.