levasseur@euclid.DEC (Ray EMD & S Admin 223-5027) (02/13/86)
The Naked and the Nude
Jason on Porno
There has been a lot of talk about porno on the net; should it be banned,
will it make you go blind, is it morally wrong, etc? My personal opinion is
that it shouldn't be banned but has it's proper place and time. I beleive
that porno should not be displayed where the general public can complain about
the porno, like at supermarket checkout counters next to "Home and Garden and
Humpty Dumpty" magazines. In Boston most of it is contained within the Combat
Zone, Boston's 3 Mile Island of hot smut. I don't like the Zone so I never
purchased any of my own until recent years when you could rent it on video
casette, but more on that later.
My first exposure to porno was National Geographic Magazine. Mom kept cer-
tain issues hidden that had revealing photos of naked breasts on African women,
usually with a small infant attached feeding. To mom and dad any area between
the neck and knees that wasn't covered was "dirty!", therefore pornographic!
To this day mom feels the same way. Trouble is that there are many more like
mom and dad today who label lotsa things as porno! I sometimes think that those
that scream the loudest for it's banishment are the same ones who attend smut
movies or buy smut books the most. They want it all for themselves. Really
though! I have read theories where the hatred of or disgust with masks the
secret desire for....think about it! same rationale as the closeted homohpobe!
So! for the first years of my life I grew up believing that the naked human
body was dirty. It was consodered a so-so sin just to look at yourself naked in
the mirror. We're talking heavy duty strict Catholic unbringing here folks!
Well anyway my first real exposure to quasi smut was stumbling across some Tom
of Finland drawings in a TV guide sized book back in the early 60's called
"Zeus" or some Greek God's name. Well I snarfed up the rag in my hot little
12 year old hands and made off I was counting the ceiling tiles in the store
as the sales clerk rung up my purchase, hoping he'd only notice the electronics
magazines I'de sandwhiched my treasure between. The sales clerk shocked the
hell outta me when he exclaimed, "hey son! there's a whole pile of these muscle
mags behind that counter if you're interested!" Needless to say I was too em-
barassed to return there again. That issue of Zeus kept my little mind occupied
for months until mom discovered and burned it. I still remember my favorite
Tom of Finland drawing was "Washing the family Car" No they were not washing the
car but I kept wondering if guys really did these things in the process. Some-
times pornograhpers will whitewash the contents of a book with a misleading tit-
le like "Washing the Family Car" or "Bobby's New Kitten". When you open the book
you discover Bobby's new kittten is a 5'7" blond 36-24-26 sheba wearing a leath-
er garter belt and carrying a riding crop. Or how about "Buster's Big Surprise"
I'll give you a hint, it's not a shiny new Schwinn Bike!
My first exposure to real living porno was at a friend's house while in high
school. His folks were away and he dragged out dad's 8mm stag films. I had never
seen people in the act of "doing it!" While the other boys panted over the sec-
retary who was taking on the entire office in the film I was panting over, well
you don't have to guess. I was very embarassed over what my attention was drawn
to and knew the other boys only cared about Miss Plushbottom who by now comatose
from the 27th man she took on. I won't go into the gory details again about my
coming out, so let's fast forward to more recent times.
I now knew that there were gay pornos but still had not seen any myself. I
just couldn't see shelling out ~$5 to sit in a dark dingy, smelling of stale
urine moviehouse to watch two or more actors doing it! Then a breakthrough occ-
ured, VCR's started coming down in price so I got me one, no not for porno but
because I'm a technophile, always in search of new toys. Shortly after buying
the VCR and taping everything from The Wizard of OZ to Ronald Reagan, my roomate
said, "let's rent some pornos!" Good idea, I thought! We spent the evening
watching every sorta guy doing every conceivable thing, some I never dreamed
possible. The little priest who lived in the confessional of my mind kept bug-
ging me, "if you keep wathcing this, your tv will break as God's just punish-
ment". I still felt guilty watching others doing something that's a sin so I
stayed away from pornos for a while. Now I have about 45 smut films in my
library along with the 250 or so more conventional, less than X rated features.
One funny fact about VCR ownership is the number of people who ask, "do you have
any pornos?" upon seeing the machine on the TV stand. I've never had anyone ask
if I had all the episodes of Brothers or Dynasty.
One straight guy who I'm out to asked if there was such a thing as gay smut.
He was shocked when I told him, "sure why?" I guess he figured only heterosex-
uals cornered the market on stag films. From watching X to the Nth gay films and
almost an equal number of heterosexual films I've come to the conclusion that
the two are not too much different in content, except for sexes of the actors.
Pornos used to be dark, black and white movies, with poor if any soundtrack.
Today some are pretty slick; direct to video, good lighting, attractive actors
and actresses and some in "Stereo". Now you can hear one person breathing hard
in the left channel and the other moaning in the right with the bedsprings
squeaking in the center. Well, now on to some of my personal observations and
opinions about gay porno. You non gay folks can read on, substituting the sex
of your choice.
* What izzit it and why do some folks watch it *
o Porno is one or more people in the act of doing what a most people only
do behind closed doors, making love, masturbating, etc. The skin flicks used
to really get my blood pressure up but now I can appreciate them for what
they are. Porno is to Gone With the Wind what a Whopper is to a meal at the
Ritz. It's cheap and quick to make and very profitable for the studios. It
appeals to the voyeurs in all of us. Ok fess up! how many of you would find
it exciting to peek into the neighbors window and watch? These films let you
watch without the hazard of the neighbor catching you and breaking your face.
Some folks watch porno with a partner to get them in hte mood or to learn
new tricks (no pun intended). There are those who cannot find a partner, using
the movies as a fantasy substitute. There are also guys who can't manage to
conjur up a mental fantasy image and rely on the movies for help. I use them
for the first two reasons and also for a few laughs.....read below the section
on the actors and plots.
* Why are they bad *
o First off they're bad (indirectly) because every time you slap down your
$5-7 at the Tri Stud Cimema or purchase a video/8mm, you help feed the Spumoni
Family in Chicago or one of their distant relatives. Like drugs, prostitution
gambling, etc the mob gets fat offa stag films. But then, for that matter most
anything you put money down on helps the mob, my my they're into so many luctat
ive fields today....stop living! Starve the syndicate :-)
o There is also the hazard that a person may *totally* rely on skin flicks
for fulfillment. There are those lonely soles who are too afraid of real human
contact, opting for the safer "watching someone else do it". They can become
almost a drug to some.
o The actors and plots can foster a feeling of "not measuring up" (no pun
again). The plots are sooo fantastic and the actors chosen for off scale
looks and assets that some viewers may consider themselves unworthy of ever
performing like that or looking like Steve (incredibly well hung, outrageously
handsome, cosmicly muscular, untiringly active) 10 Superstud. The straight guy
might have a hard time finding a woman in reality who sizes up to Patricia
Hindenburg Buzooms, wasp wasted, honey blond hair to her knees, godess buns)
Pumphouse. These actors and actresses are chosen for their fantasy qualities.
Again! See actors and plots below.
o They cheapen the act of making love to the level of two dogs doing it on
the street. Most are devoid of any real emotion and show men and women as in-
satiable little fuck machines. Whenever I watch a skin flick I keep in mind
that (as they say in horror films) "It's only a movie" I wouldn't want my own
lifestyle to reflect the lack of values shown for such an intimate act. Keep-
ing this mindset I can laugh at the cheap plots. Porno is almost a rude sort
of humor. Also see plots and actors below.
o They exploit the actors involved. A lot of young men and women rush right
out to the coast or New York in search of fame and wind up in the cast of
"Seven Tight Assed Studds who Left Hoboken in Search of Nirvana and Found each
Other". When I was with my first lover he knew an awful lot of porno actors,
some from big name studios. These were interesting guys to chat with, some at
21-23 have seen and done more in a year than the entire population of San Fran-
cisco. This carries a price tag, the guys I talked with were payed peanuts to
appear in a movie ~$250-500 from what I was told. Many took drugs to deal with
the lifestyle they were living and to keep it up while on camera. A lot have
to put out for producers and others that they might not want to. In other words
a lot of porn actors are just about on a par with prostitutes. I asked the guys
who I met if they enjoyed doing this for a living and most wanted out after
they (if ever) got rich. When I met these guys I could tell from their eyes
and listening to them that they were 30 years older inside than they appeared.
Naw! gee! I never did get to test drive a porn star before anyone asks.
* Redeeming Qualities *
o This is like evaluating the redeeming qualities of a war or an air disaster.
Some of them have little notices on the box or in the leader right after the
FBI warning that it's a no-no to copy, that this film is intended for sex educ-
ation purposes! A handful that I've viewed *did* have beleivable plots and a
message. The most entertaining porn film I've ever seen did ont take itself
seriously at all and is hilarious. No! it's not gay and a lot of you may have
seen it by now, "Flesh Gordon" a sexual satire on the ol Buster Crabb portrayal
of Flash Gordon. There was one where a guy lost a lover in a car crash and
proceeds to take on half of France before realizing that there are other kind
loving people around. Or the warning in Falconhead II" where nasty self center-
ed queens get comsumed by the falconhead's mirror. The backround monologue
telling gay men unless they learn to truly love they will be condemned to live
out their lives in the mirror. Well that just about wraps up redeeming qual-
ities folks.
* The Actors and Plots *
o Ok for those who have never seen a gay porno, let me tell you what you're
in for. One night my roomate and I threw a dinner party and the 9 or so guests
all brought along their favorite gay pron tape and VCR. The floor was covered
with patch cables and VCR's. Yes we were preparing to (gasp! Choke!) copy some
of these movies. My roomate peeked out, the window checking for FBI agents and
then gave the go ahead to "roll'em!" This was a fun party, we sat from 4pm to
2am the next day watching, copying and commenting on the various tapes. Mind
you! everyone kept their clothes on during the screening, we run a high class
kinda dinner party ya know! Well anyway everyone was in stitches laughing at
comments the other guests made regarding, plot, dialogue, etc. Try it some time
it can be fun.
During the late 60's to the mid 70's there were a handful of gay pornos
that won movie awards for cinematography and score. Boys In the Sand was one
of them and had a classical music soundtrack. The movies of this era also
usually had some sort of plot. The later Gage Trilogy was also bett than aver-
age (not for hot action) but because the main actor Richard Locke had an acute
sense of humor and his personality showed through. They also had a semi-plot.
Most of today's pornos exhibit much higher quality video along with some
of the most off the wall situations and settings, pure fantasy stuff if I ever
saw it. The average plot consists of A sitting at home and B who's the cable
TV guy setting up A's cable. B is kneeling down, camera zooms to B's butt as
A appraoches fondlih himself, disco music starts in backround along with dubbed
in moaning, groaning, etc <sex! sex! sex>, disco music stops and A and B ex-
change some trite dialogue....on to next scene...and on and on. Or A is sitting
in his hottub as B, the delivery boy has aa package for A to sign for. B drops
his pen in teh tub and gropes around for it grabbing something else, etc, etc.
The straight films I've seen have similar plots, just juggle the sexes around
stewardesses, secretaries, etc
Some moral leaders claim that watching porno will lead to moral decay. I
don't think it will any more lead to moral decay than my watching Halloween
1, 2 and 3. There are those among us who have a tenuous grip on reality. They
can watch a movie and not know the difference between what's happening on the
screen and what is socially acceptable behavior. The same guy who watches the
Boston Strangler and murders a woman after seeing it is the same type who would
act out something on a porno movie; most of us are much more in control. The
ones who scream for censorship kinda worry me, how in control of their own
drives are they? Maybe they're so afriad of losing control of themselves that
keeping it out of sight for all makes them feel safer. Think about it!
One porno vignette I saw starts with a guy sitting in his living room read-
ing a porno magazine and maasturbating, the doorbell rings and the plumber is
here to fix the sink. Of course the plumber's a muscular hunk. The guy follows
the plumber to the kitchen and starts rubbing himself as the plumber's butt is
in the air, comes up and gropes the lpumber, dosco music starts and the show
begins. I know enough that if I pulled the stunt that the guy did the plumber
would probably put my lights out! These movies treat life as if it's one long
continuous orgy, thank goodness it's only a movie! I enjoy them in part be-
cause the acting is sooo bad to the point of being funny, the plots and dial-
ogue so corny that they're humorous. I was thumbing through the Advocate and
there was an ad for a new Porno movie, "Hard Disk Drive, Sillicon Valley Will
Never be the Same!" I really wanna see this one, should be a hoot to see how
computer literate these boys are :-)
A porn star came to talk to one of the gay rap groups I used to attend.
Someone asked why all the actors are so perfect; the college jock, the swimmer,
the macho construcion worker, etc with faces of angels and bodies of Greek
Gods. The answer was "that's what sells" A few questions came up like why are
there so few older actors or why aren't there any fat ones. Well most older
guys establish careers and can no longer risk the negative publicity and the
market for chubby chaser videos is too limited to be profitable. I tend to
prefer some of the movies with everyday types of guys. There are some out
there that are not filled with the 21 year old California Golden boys. These
are also the ones most likely to have a story to boot.
* Hazards of Porno Comsuming *
o It can become very expensive if a person gets addicted or doesn't have
the equipment to dub copies of the tapes.
o Your mother may stumble upon your cache of smut videos and you'll have
some explaining to do, especially if you're not out.
o If you buy via an ad in a gay magazine, keep to the better known outlets.
A guy I know shelled out $89 for a supposedly hot video and got some sort of
poorly made documnetary on mating habits of an obscure African tribe. There
are a lot off ripoff artists out there.
o Your friends may start thinking you're a pervert.
o Your friends may want to start borrowing your smut collection.
o You may become jaded from watching too many videos, not settling for any-
thing less than the blond you saw in "Cruising the Castro".
So what has all this rambling been for? I've just seen a lot of talk going
on about the morality factor. To me they're neither moral or immoral, but just
are! The dirt or smut resides in the eye of the viewer. I'm not advocating that
everyone rush down to the Eros Cinema or starting your own movie library of sex
from A to Z. Yes they do exploit the actors and the very act of lovemaking but
like my articles, the viewer has to read (or watch) between the lines. If X
rated films are banned, what will be next? There are those who should not view
these films; children, the easily offended and people who might go off the deep
end. For that matter there are folks who should not watch the 7 o'clock news!
In America I can walk down to the video store and rent any movie I want to
watch in the privacy of my living room. No one has to join me and I won't break
their arm to do so. I don't want some self righteous snot telling me I can no
longer do it. If they don't like it they don't have to watch. If they don't
like the freedoms the rest of us enjoy, then they can defect to Russia. Just
me talking again.
Ray (aka) Jason