There are only a few things Don Jon truly cares about: his body, house, car, family, church, friends, women…and internet porn. Yeah, he’s aware the last part sounds off, but he doesn't care; porn to Jon is nirvana to others, pure bliss…or so he thinks.
The initial name for the very funny yet thought provoking film Don Jon (written, directed, and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the title role) was going to be Don Jon’s Addiction, and after you hear him phrase his favorite things you pretty much know what the “addiction” is (here’s a hint, it’s not his car).
Jon (a typical stereotype of the “New Jersey Italian” kind of guy) spends most of his time working out, partying, and bringing home the ladies. Yet he also loves porn; so much so that he prefers it over typical sex (to him sex is boring and bland while porn is exotic and exciting). Things begin to change when he begins to pursue a beautiful woman named Barbara (Scarlett Johansson); who soon becomes his girlfriend. Barbara’s isn't an “easy” woman however, and refuses to sleep with Jon until he begins to change his habits (like going back to school, ceasing to clean his own house, meeting each other’s parents, etc…). While Jon is willing to make changes for Barbara, her moving in with him forms a problem as it interferes with Jon’s ability to watch his favorite pastime without her knowing.
As serious as the term “porn addiction” is when it comes to film (just watch Shame and you’ll see what I mean), Don Jon is quite a hilarious film. I found its strong points to be the way situations were humorously edited throughout. For example we’ll have a scene where Jon is shouting rage fuelled obscenities out his car window while driving, only to quickly cut to him walking into church. This is followed by scenes where Jon confesses all his sins to a priest, “I’ve had sex 7 times this week, and watched porn 11 times this week” only to be given the same minimal punishment over and over, “say 10 Hail Mary’s and 5 Our Father’s”. To which Jon does in an entertaining fashion by saying each line of a prayer for every sit-up/chin-up he does.
Yet for all the humor placed into these scenes, Don Jon does an excellent job making them all relevant to the serious portion of the plot. The angry car scene gets used later on as a darker look into how Jon’s lack of watching porn affects his anger, to the point where he smashes another driver’s window. The funny confession scenes also become a serious look into how the church has reversed back to the old days where as long as you keep confessing you’ll be forgiven no matter how many times you sin or repeat the sin.
Likewise the look into Jon’s addiction is done with a clever mix of comedy and seriousness. Addictions are a hard thing to explain to people who don’t have them (how can you possibly explain an unexplainable urge), and I found that Don Jon does a fairly decent job in explaining the craving. Heck, Jon’s explanation even makes sense at times. Like when he explains how in real life beautiful women won’t always perform every little fantasy you want, not to mention the male has to do the majority of work during the act; while on the internet you can find many beautiful women doing every fantasy possible for minimal effort (all you have to do is click and watch). Yet even if he wanted to, Jon cannot stop watching porn, to the point where he comes up with excuses “every man watches porn all the time”, lies to others about watching it, and sneaks a peek at it in places his girlfriend won’t catch him (such as his classroom).
There is sympathy for Jon however, particularly since he himself doesn’t understand why he loves porn so much; which makes it even harder to watch when his girlfriend catches him and calls him “sick” and “beyond help” (the viewer can practically feel the sting Jon feels as those words are shot into his heart, particularly since he has deep feelings for her). The more Jon is thrown into a corner the more confused and frustrated he gets. The only character that shows understanding and sympathy to him is his older, yet wiser classmate Esther (Julianne Moore) who instead of criticizing Jon, tries to help him understand why he needs to watch porn constantly.
The whole idea of Jon’s porn addiction plays off as a way to show how society’s over-sexualizing of everything has altered Jon’s (and society in general) perception of how women should be, act, and look. There is a hamburger commercial in the film which consists of a topless woman eating a burger while the voice-over states something along the lines of “she’s dying to eat this meat”. Basically the commercial is one step away from being actual porn, yet is treated like normal by Jon and his family; showing just how far this family’s perception on accepting sex has become. And while this idea may be over-exaggerated at times, its overstatement helps to emphasize how life has altered the way Jon views reality and people.
Don Jon’s major strength is it’s witty and often laugh out loud humor, but at the same time its take on porn addiction is done both well-intentionally and with a great deal of respect. When I watched the film Shame I was blown away by its raw power and emotion, yet at the same time its look at sex addiction felt depressing, grim, and hopeless for its main character to escape. While that’s still a fascinating look at porn addiction, I feel anyone watching the film with said addiction would leave the movie worse off than when they got in. However if that same anyone went to see Don Jon, they may not leave cured of their addiction (that’s for professionals to help with), but at the very least they’ll get the feeling that it’s not hopeless; and that with a bit of strength, will power, and help, they too can overcome addiction.
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