Hyphen magazine - Asian American arts, culture, and politics

Directed by Wendy Slick and Emiko Omori

Tell everyone you're reviewing a documentary on vibrators and you get reactions from "You're reviewing a documentary on what?" to "Can I borrow that from you when you're done?" It's amazing the response vibrators can incite from people. Passion & Power has information to astound everyone, from the prudish to the enlightened. It's easy to guffaw at the idea of vibrators as the centerpiece to women's rights, but the film uses vibrators as a way of looking at state laws and taboos placed upon female sexuality. The documentary is well done and strays from overt sexual imagery - which is difficult when the topic is vibrators. While some images are too poetic and flowery, Passion does well with evoking provocative thoughts without showing them. Omori is known for her Asian American documentaries like Rabbit in the Moon about Japanese internment. Omori and Slick spent seven years shooting this documentary, taking the vibrator beyond a mere sex toy and using it to convey a powerful social issue that's been unexplored. - Dianne de Guzman