Student Services (original title,
Mes chères études, "My Dear Studies") is a 2010 French television film about the plight of student sex workers in France. It follows Laura, a foreign language student, who turns to sex work after she faints in a lecture from not having eaten enough. Initially drawn in by what seems to be easy money, Laura quickly learns that the life of a sex worker is far from easy, but she can't get out because she still has bills to pay...
This movie exhibits the following tropes:
- An Aesop: At the end in regards to the struggles of French students unable to pay for their education.
- Auto Erotica: Laura's second client can't afford a hotel room.
- Bondage Is Bad: The primary "bad customer" that Laura keeps getting involved in is Joe. On their second meeting, he ties her up and assaults her with a sex toy. On the fourth, it's heavily implied that she's strapped to a St. Andrew's cross and shared with two of Joe's friends.
- Fan Disservice: Laura gets naked multiple times in the film, and has sex during several of the scenes, but the sex scenes with clients are filmed without any music, emphasizing how unsexy the whole situation is.
- Madonna-Whore Complex: Laura tries to divide herself into the two categories. She's not the whore when she's not having sex for money.
- Platonic Prostitution: Never. Even Joe, who likes to talk, is only doing it to warm up.
- Starving Student: Early in the movie, Laura faints in class due to not having eaten properly.
- Unproblematic Prostitution: Highly averted. Laura gets raped, gets stiffed multiple times on her fee, and many of the clients force her into more than she's offering. That's not even including how it drives away Manu, the man she loves.
