Forty Years of Porn Watching

The first time I saw a porn film (yes, it was film) was 1971.  I was a freshman in college.  "I Am Curious Yellow" had worked its way across the country to the small college town where I went to school, and my dorm buddies and I giggled our way through what was, by today's standards, R-rated fare.  More importantly, there was also a video arcade in the next town/city and I had lots of quarters. I was young and still got wood from the idea of seeing sexual penetration, regardless of context.

I've watched a lot of porn in 40+ years.  Too much, probably.  The reasons for that aren't important to this essay.  So let me come to the point.

For much of the modern porn era, which I'll say for the sake of argument began in the early 70's, most of the industry has been locked into an insert-tab-A-into-slot-B mentality.  Lots of porn has been of the "gimmick" variety, starting with "Deep Throat."  Various trends have swept through the industry -- first as novelties and soon standard fare, like shaved genitals, anal sex, gang bangs, internal cream pies, etc.

Over the past few years, however, there has been something of a paradigm shift in the industry.  The shift has been toward showing human sexuality in a much more real, even raw, context; allowing performers to expose more than just their flesh -- we now see their true feelings and responses.

There is a new, "organic" shooting style that exemplifies the paradigm shift.  What I mean by this is that sex scenes are allowed to develop on their own without any obvious plan from the writer/producer/director.  The human interaction seems to develop naturally (hence the term "organic") and is allowed to proceed to a natural conclusion.  Dan O'Connell, Nica Noelle, Mason, Melissa Monet, Dana Vespoli and others portray this type of performance better than any other current directors.  I haven't seen human sexuality captured on the screen in this fashion since Anthony Spinelli's "Reel People" (vols 1 and 2). 

The performers are allowed, even encouraged, to forget the cameras and the director and just enjoy each other.  It must be incredibly difficult to pull this off.  I know I couldn't perform in a room with two or three camera operators a tech crew, and a director.  But, a number of current directors are casting and shooting performers who have the ability to perform on camera without acknowledging the camera's presence.  If this is acting, it's damn good acting.

Of course my favorite director as far as this discussion is concerned is Nica Noelle.  As a director, Nica seems to get inside my head, figure out what I want (even if I don't know what it is) and put it on video.  It's uncanny.

The first time I saw the opening to a Sweetheart video with Nica's voicover promising "real sex, real passion, real orgasms," I said, "yeah, right."  I'm a cynical bastard after all.  But she defeated my cynicism by delivering the goods and spoiled me in the process. 

The new paradigm?  Find people who have good chemistry, put them in a comfortable location, get out of the way and let them have at it.  That's what I want to see on the screen, and my porn dollars are going to go to the directors and performers who provide it..