Marilyn Chambers' Guide To... Masturbation Review

Reviewed by jayo  on  6/2/2007

I'm not sure what to make of this. Marilyn Chambers was a star when I was a kid in the 70s, and she's a porn icon. Along with Linda Lovelace, she was one of the first big movie stars from when porn made the leap from murky one-reel stag films to big-budget feature films that ran in real theaters. Nina Hartley's made a good second career from her instructional videos, I guess Marilyn's trying to do the same.

I wasn't sure what to expect: since Marilyn is a porn star, I figured this wasn't so much an "instructional' like what you'd get from Dr. Ruth or Betty Dodson; it would just be porn for guys like me who like watching women make themselves cum.

The DVD begins with Marilyn talking about masturbation, and showing off some toys and lubes, and while I didn't learn anything new, it was fun watching her go through the stuff. Once she loosened up the talk seemed spontaneous and fun and relaxed.

Then we get into the "instructional videos," which are simply three scenes with three different girls getting their jerk on. This is what I was expecting, and it's what I got: a porno version of masturbation: pretty girls, closeups, some professional camerawork, and that god-awful porn music.

There's some decent information here, and I suppose this could be a couple movie: it's more like a regular porno than something you'd get from Dr. Ruth, but it's not crass like "Massive Insertions!" or "The Four Finger Club."

Marilyn obviously isn't the girl I saw getting it on the pool table in "Insatiable," but I was still disappointed not to see any skin time with her. But the three models are nice enough. The first is a pretty brunette who demonstrates fingers and a couple of vibes. The next is a blond who adds in some anal (including some time with a vaginal-and-anal vibrator with a pocket-rocket rubbing her clit. Last is another brunette with a pocket rocket and a vibe.

The sex looks about as convincing as the typical porno masturbation scene.

The "extras" was a photo gallery. Woo hoo.

I wasn't repulsed by it, but I'm not impressed either. As an "instructional" it's pretty lightweight and too porn. As a porn it suffers from all the usual stuff: fakey looking performances and ear-grating music. If you want instruction, you'd be better off with a Betty Dodson video. If you want sex, you're better off with something from AbbyWinters. Ultimately, I think it would have been better having Marilyn (or some other host) doing the demonstration and talking at the same time.