comment #1

OtownRog says ...

It's an interesting angle and an oddball story pitch. And not everybody gets invited to take a free plane ticket and free London hotel stay to pimp a Wes Anderson movie on Rupert Murdoch's behalf.

comment #2

Rich S. says ...

Steven Soderbergh obviously does not agree with the premise of Jeffrey's post. I'm assuming LexG will stop by shortly to take issue, as well.

comment #3

Eloi Manning says ...

"people who want to be famous and live pulsing lah-lah lives but who have absolutely no acting or filmmaking talent whatsoever, and who generally aren't the sharpest tools in the shed either."

To be fair, you just summed up 90% of everybody in Hollywood, not just the porn industry.

comment #4

Bilge says ...

Jeff, what on earth are you talking about? "Icky behavior and lower-depths sleaze" is pretty compelling subject matter for any journalist. You might as well ask why anybody would cover a war or modern-day slavery or sweatshops or mad dictators or corrupt politicians. I mean, duh.

Also, what Eloi Manning said.

comment #5

mccool says ...

says the guy with the permalink to fleshbot.

Everything you said is true ... but, drawing a fast food analogy, you forgot to add the part where you say "...but it tastes good and every once in a blue moon I just crave their fries"

comment #6

DeafBrownTrashPunk says ...

Why are porn stars and anyone involved with the porn industry considered "SCUMBAGS" to you, Wells?

I watch porn and I don't have any problem with porn stars or pornographers. I guess I have some kind of a morbid curiosity about *why* they'd make porn when I never would.

Just because you don't agree with someone else's lifestyle (or job), doesn't make it less so.

and I've also noticed the "FLESHBOT" link on your website.. !

comment #7

Nick X says ...

That was a pretty well-written and mesmerizing article. And depressing.

comment #8

Strangeways says ...

no, I'd have to rank the majority of "reality" tv under porn...at least porn makers are honest about their sleaze; it's all up there on the screen.

and 99% of porn is dreck (but 99% of mainstream films/tv are dreck, too) but there are porn makers who make interesting films, or at least, are capable of creating interesting moments in their films that are sometimes narratively and pictorially creative and challenging.

comment #9

JohnCope says ...

I think porn is inherently fascinating for reasons that extend way beyond the surface and I've written several pieces which have attempted to explore the dimensions and implications of that world. I know this sort of argument is seen as pretext or self-justification by many but I maintain my stance (porn's mechanical effects are only part of what is interesting about it).

comment #10

Stringer Bell says ...

Jeff got comped for his UK trip ?!?!?

No wonder he has a nice hotel room instead of asking his UK readers to crash on their couch. It makes all kind of sense now!

comment #11

Glenn Kenny says ...

Who was it that said words to the effect that journalism is publishing what some other party very dearly does not want to see published, and that everything else is publicity?

Possibly not the best sentiment to cite to a man on a junket, but what are you going to do.

As for the "why" of Breslin's piece, it's pretty tidily summed up in her last lines, which also imply that anybody who's ever consumed porn has little standing in terms of "why are you bothering with this" indignation. Yeesh.

comment #12

Floyd Thursby says ...

Reality TV is much worse than porn.

Meanwhile, Eloi Manning would be a great porn-star name--gay, straight, or bi.

comment #13

drbob says ...

She probably decided to write about porn for the same reason Paul Thomas Anderson decided to make Boogie Nights. Was Boogie Nights a worthless endeavor?

comment #14

Gordon27 says ...

"why do you write about these scumbags?"

Asks the man who spent a month constantly not only writing about Polanski, but writing sympathetically!

comment #15

DeeZee says ...

I'm just wondering what Jeff thought of Caligula.

comment #16

Griff says ...

Great question, Jeff. Might be her version of combat journalism...being in the trenches, so to speak. Martin Amis wrote an absolutely horrifying article about the porn industry a few years ago, but it's not his constant subject.

comment #17

Gordon27 says ...

"trying to talk to Jim about their latest recession-busting, pirating-proof project in which porn fans have sex with porn stars live on the Internet."

It's funny that their big idea is something they took from 'Boogie Nights'.

comment #18

Ulysses says ...

This article reminds me of one about the porn industry that appeared in Premiere years ago. The "ick" factor is pretty high when omelettes made with semen are discussed. ACK !

comment #19

LexG says ...

I'd do porn in a New York minute. Seriously, where do you sign up for that Internet fans get to bang a porn star thing? I'm at the point where I'd sign up for one of those 300-guy-on-one-chick videos they used to make. GOOD IDEA.

At the end of the day, the choice is:

Having sex with a porn actress vs. NOT having sex with a porn actress, so as with many things that the high and mighty look down upon, WHO'S HAVING THE LAST LAUGH?

Do you want to go through life NOT banging Sasha Grey, or do you want to bang her? What are you, man or mouse?

I'd like to be taken seriously as a writer, or comedian, or actor, but failing that, fuck it, doing REALITY SHOWS or PORN are better than nothing, at least you get fans and you GET PEOPLE WATCHING YOU, which is what life is all about.

I have wanted to be famous since I was EIGHT YEARS OLD and though I went to film school and have studied Classical acting and done open mic standup, I'm getting too old to split hairs over what's "proper" or "respectable," which is why I try out for Survivor and Big Brother every chance I get.

Being famous is the ultimate sign of being a GOD ON EARTH, so I can't deride anyone for being a famewhore or cluelessly thinking THEY'LL be the one to jump from reality or porn to legit work.

Fuck, there are movies and TV Shows now with cast members of The Real World, The Hills, American Idol, and So You ThInk You Can Dance, and the filthiest starlet in adult just did a STEVEN SODERBERGH MOVIE (which Wells LIKED, I might add).... so THERE ARE NO BARRIERS ANYMORE.

LEX HAS SPOKEN. BOW.

comment #20

crazynine says ...

Get off my lawn time again.

Porn, on an individual basis, is boring-- well, scratch that, it's exciting for five minutes or as long as you're using it, but beyond that, it's boring.

But the *industry*? The industry is FASCINATING. Far more interesting than blogging, that's for sure.

Read a couple months of Christian Sings the Blues (NSFW).

http://cwians.typepad.com/christian_sings_the_blues/2008/01/index.html

Watch "Deeper Throat" on Showtime, with Sasha Grey. More interesting than 90% of what's on cable.

Think it's all stupid? Watch Vivid, Wicked, and Digital Playground movies. Learn who Belladonna and Joanna Angel are. Get to know Evan Stone and Randy Spears and learn to enjoy their company escorting you through the wonderful world of visual entertainment.

Is porn seedy? Sure. So is Hollywood, and if Wells tries to argue that it isn't, he's a hypocrite given everything he's ever written about film.

The thing about porn that Wells doesn't get is that it's NOT about film. Comparing porn to film is like comparing books on tape to music-- they both use the same medium, but for very different purposes. The visual and auditory requirements of porn-- and the demands those requirements place on the "talent"-- are as different from film as film is from theater. I watch film, I know the director is trying to manipulate an emotional reaction out of me-- laughter, tears, anger, whatever. I watch porn, I know the director-- and more importantly, the actresses & actors (porn, like theater, is inherently an actor's medium)-- is trying to get a *physical* reaction out of me.

Sexual excitement may be a "base" instinct, but so are laughter, tears and anger. Denouncing all porn as bad is like denouncing all comedy as bad-- that's ridiculous. You just haven't seen a movie that made you laugh, and you just haven't seen a porn movie that scratched your itch.

Trust me, that movie is out there (Rule 34 in play). NOBODY is more creative than the porn industry at exploring new, interesting, fun, deranged, deviant ways of getting its audience off.

Is it newsworthy to cover it? You're damn right it is. Billions of dollars, thousands of actors, exposure worldwide, and it's *NOT* a legitimate subject for journalistic discussion?

Live in a bubble, man.

comment #21

moviemaniac2002 says ...

From the standpoint of video retailing, here's what I find most hilarious....the forest-destroying, ultra pretentious packaging of porn product....DVDs packaged as if they're Ultimate-Director's-Cut-Of-Lawrence-Of-Arabia....extra wrap-around cardboard sleeves...4 disc sets including two bonus discs and a soundtrack CD...logo typeface so baffling, it looks like un-readable CIA code...all of this effort for video camera footage of people screwing....
You may think of them as scum, but let me tell you, the Pornfolk think of themselves as the Spielbergs of Semen, the Pacinos of Penises, the
Swanks of Wanking.....

comment #22

hunterd says ...

You know, I grew up in the middle of "Porn Valley". I have family friends who produce porn. Heck, I've known/dated a few girls who went on to work in that arena, and you know what? There are a lot of girls who were abused working in porn. You know what else? There are lot of girls who were abused working in Paper manufacture. And Modeling. And school teaching. And Law. And Medicine. And the Judiciary branch of the government.

Some people do porn to act out. Some people do porn because it allows them to express parts of their sexuality that they could not otherwise express.

Begrudging someone their freedom of choice is poor form for a journalist. The right to make decisions for one's self, especially decisions of which others may not approve is the cornerstone of freedom.

comment #23

eyeswiredopen says ...

"people who want to be famous and live pulsing lah-lah lives but who have absolutely no acting or filmmaking talent whatsoever" - the perfect description of Jeffrey Wells, tee hee

comment #24

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

"Having sex with a porn actress vs. NOT having sex with a porn actress, so as with many things that the high and mighty look down upon, WHO'S HAVING THE LAST LAUGH?"

Here's a clue: it's not the guy with herpes. BAD IDEA.

comment #25

George Prager says ...

"There is nothing wrong with pornography except that it makes you look at more pornography."

-- Gore Vidal

comment #26

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

"There is nothing wrong with pornography except that it makes you use more kleenex."

-- Al Gore

comment #27

Ryansi51 says ...

"Not when there's an intern around."

-- guess

comment #28

George Prager says ...

"There is NOTHING wrong with POUNDING YOUR CLOWN to SOME HOT CHICKS rubbing CLAM (except that I got to pay big bucks for DVDs because if you look at internet porn you get spyware on your PC)."

-- LexG

BOW