Let’s talk about sex, honey – plot and dialog take their turn
I personally like the direction the industry is taking, that is to breach the gap between "mainstream" cinematic productions and porn movies through a more attentive look towards technical aspects of movie making which have always separated porn production and non-porn production. Here are some of my reasons:
1) As someone who works with it in an academic level I cannot be naive enough and believe pornographic films exist only for my pleasure - all puns intended. It is a political tool, an economic trade, a virtual space for the questioning of so many aspects of society that it would take me hours to name them all. Therefore, in order to get a more approachable mode for discussion, I need to embrace all formats, contents, functions.
2) I can perceive how such change will enable the porn industry to be dealt with in a less "hidden and ashamed" manner, meaning this can facilitate in terms of sex workers rights, on-set health safety, decriminalization of sex workers and their empowerment face an economy that highly relies on them and, yet, denies them a voice. I am not sure of figures, but I ballpark it in very high numbers the amount of revenue the pornographic industry generates for a state like California, so I can only imagine it on a world wide scale. Yet, workers are not able to count with basic workers’ rights, and once porn is no more a "hidden" industry it will be easier for them to demand to be treated like other entertainment industry workers. If a way to diminish - if not to eliminate entirely - the distance between both sides of the industry is by a less "amateur" production of porn movies (meaning to mimic the expected levels of pre-production, on-set production and post-production, not to mention the qualification of performers in terms of acting - something to be considered on a second moment, I propose) then so be it.
3) A "plot and dialog porn" might go along better with the narrativization of sex which is characteristic of the feminine desire in comparison to the masturbatory fantasies of sex performed by men - a great name for this discussion is Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, in his film "The Pervert's Guide to Cinema". So a "plot and dialog porn" (and this will totally become a genre to me) might foster better the feminine sexual desire, therefore enabling them to explore this façade of their sexuality without feeling oppressed and compelled to comply for their male partner's pleasure only. I have recently come in contact with some movies from New Sensations’ Romance series, which presents a very "basic" and "romantic" story line not as a background for sexual plays, but having the same value and weight in the cinematic experience. I am yet to study the reaction of females (in market terms) towards these films, but I have friends who have served as “guinea pigs" for me and, as heterosexual married women who are not into porn, they confessed to be much more attracted to "plot and dialog porn" than to "regular porn". Maybe this new genre will be able to restore female sexuality not as an extension of the masculine ideological woman, but as an entity which stands for itself.
4) The industry has already noticed there is space for the marketing of scenes and not full features, meaning, there is an audience who prefers a 30 minute sex scene in detriment of a 2 hour porn movie. The old joke that says that a porn film is never watched until the credits is about to change not because the format will disappear, but because the industry is making available shorter versions as well and longer versions: audience can now purchase whatever caters their own needs. The intention is what shapes the format and not the other way around. Form follows function. Again.
5) On a personal note, I like both shorter objective scenes and long, "plot and dialogue" films. It all depends on my mood. Strangely, isn’t this what sex is all about?
- Published February 25, 2012