Heartbreaking Moments From Girls Gone Wild Documentary

When I was growing up in the 2000s, I remember catching glimpses of those Girls Gone Wild commercials on TV late at night. It always felt thrilling to see something I knew I shouldn’t be watching at that age. Looking back now, I realize that there was an underlying message in those commercials—about what female sexuality was supposed to be and what the world expected of women like me.

As an adult, Girls Gone Wild faded into the past for me, just another relic of the misogyny of the 2000s that I, and many others, navigated through. But watching Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story brought back a flood of memories and emotions from that era. Here are 31 moments from the documentary series that highlight just how little women and girls were respected during that time—and how much progress is still needed in 2024.

1. Girls Gone Wild featured underage girls. One young woman, Lori, was only 16 when she was approached by two men with a video camera while on spring break in Lake Havasu. They offered her beads in exchange for flashing them, and she quickly obliged. The video ended up in a Girls Gone Wild tape without her knowledge, leading to harassment and humiliation when she discovered it later.

2. In 2002, Girls Gone Wild began to expand rapidly, holding events across the country to film women for their tapes. They specifically targeted cities and towns where they believed women were more likely to participate.

3. Girls Gone Wild events were always crowded and popular. One former pilot for the creator of Girls Gone Wild shared a story of a woman approaching Joe Francis, asking how she could be featured, only to be told she wasn’t good enough.

4. Trista, a college student on spring break in Cancún, Mexico, found herself separated from her friends at a Girls Gone Wild event. She later saw herself in a Girls Gone Wild commercial, realizing she had flashed the camera without full recollection of the event.

These stories from the documentary shed light on the exploitation and disregard for women’s consent that was prevalent in the 2000s. It serves as a reminder of how far we still have to go in valuing and respecting the agency and autonomy of women and girls.