When I was eighteen I did what many budding homos from the burbs did. I moved to Hollywood. My mom helped me secure my first apartment, gave me her old car and wished me luck for finding work.
I’d have gotten a job sooner, and not depleted my minuscule savings so quickly, if I hadn’t lived right down the street from Santa Monica Blvd and its prize pink jewel: The Pussycat Theater — with its always flashing, always tempting marquee.
And there was a new enticement each week. Who wouldn’t want to explore The Opening of Misty Beethoven or Beyond the Green Door? It didn’t bother me in the least that these were 100% heterosexual porn films. Straight or gay — if a film featured buff guys with boners thrusting about various orifices, I was interested.
If only the colleges in California taught what colleges across the country are now offering: Porn-studies. I would have gladly returned to school (something I swore I’d never do after escaping high school) to learn more about my “calling.” And I would have launched my career as a porn publisher much sooner — instead of waiting until I was 40 and intrepid and slightly crazy. Think about it. Studying the theory of porn, the art of porn is a fascinating compliment to the blind, instinctual consumption of porn. I would have felt so much more balanced.
How great it would have been to attend classes where professors deconstructed old timey stag reels and probed the aesthetic, societal and philosophical properties of smut. Too, I would have relished the sort of cachet and respect one associates with “going to college.” Yes, I can see it now: Me and my fellow students staying up late in coffee shops discussing Freud and Foucault — Johnny Wadd and Marilyn Chambers.
Time magazine recently reported in a feature titled Sex in the Syllabus that universities across the nation are now offering porn curriculum. With a small but growing number of scholars teaching porn in academic departments ranging from “literature to film, law to technology, anthropology to women’s studies.”
This is logical. This is sane. And this is the first step in the right direction for taking off some of the bizarre stigma associated with porn. Granted some of that stigma lends porn its taboo-ness; always critical for keeping things hot. And yet, still, I’m all for smarter porn loving people. This ups the chances for seeing better porn. God knows something fresh needs to be brought to the table. Does the world really need another “reality-based” porn site featuring people who fuck in vans that are being driven around the city or countryside?
No.
Let’s bring back the style and the art of porn. Characteristics that did typify many of those great films I’d catch at the Pussycat. And, yes, queer porn had its auteurs too. Joe Gage anyone? And his thrilling trilogy Kansas City Trucking Co., El Paso Wrecking Corp., L.A. Tool and Die. Gosh, what I wouldn’t give to see something that sexy, that smart again.
But enough daydreaming of my halcyon days. I have a web site to run: Yet another offering from one of our nation’s many high school drop-outs.
Think of what I could have done with a college education. I could have been a contender!
those dudes rocked!!!
lucky 2 have known most of them././
hey dude
you are so correct wirh your analysis…….
LOL, keep doing what you’re doing, DK. it’s great
And if you make smart smut screen stories, I do believe you might be surprised at the success and demand!
Hugs & Chugs
This is a brilliant observation as I also happen to agree. Where is the fun, the technique, and the imagination in porn? I’ve constantly got my eyes open (and other bits) for something new and worth spending time appreciating - from the 2D image or the moving frame - and there are some signs of people doing, making, creating porn they enjoy. It’s part of what has made Nightcharm a destination, the obvious love for all that’s porn-y.
dont you guys like girls
What do you think, Sherlock?
Some folks say Porno…
I say PORN YES!!!!!
i think the little princess should star in her own porn film.
Nope, fully grown men for me!
All I can say David K. is Amen, brother. Well said.
Must be the best article on the subject I’ve ever read.
Thanks.
P.S. John - Get a clue.
David,
Regardless of your educational background, you are a contender!! This is one of the smartest porn sites on the net. I also agree I miss the days when porn had a story arc, production values, and cinematography. Hopefully we’ll see a return.
The voice of David K. appears all too infrequently on the site these days. These remarks are like a gust of fresh air.
MAYBE I’M NOT JADED AFTER ALL!
I’d love to listen to a professor describe modern gay porn and how it doesn’t resemble anything from the past gay or straight (well maybe bad hair 80’s porn.) Joe gage went from rugged men to juiced up fembots tweezed, shaved and with more make-up than Tammy Faye. I hear Titan went Blue-Ray. I guess we can see all the botox, and body pain up close and stretching/blocking every pore. Now if Titan could do something about the horrific sound of their porno. How many S’s are there in the phrase “Fuck me Daddy”?
Very true in your assessment. “Modern” porn is pretty much derivative crap, be it straight or gay. The only positive thing I’ve found in it is the slightly funny joke, “I thought “Big Asses 27″ finally captured the true meaning that the director was looking for but missed in the first 26 “Big Ass” videos.”.
Even if the “acting” wasn’t Oscar-worthy, there was still an attempt to deliver entertainment with porn, and for the most part, the attempts have more of both than today’s porn.
BAT you rock that is hilarious!!