Sin #76: A History of Porn

“Cinema history is the history of boys photographing girls”

Jean-Luc Godard

The history of pornography mirrors the history of photography and cinema; one could almost argue that it has been instrumental in defining both arts, technically and artistically. The first erotic pictures came commercially around 1845 and featured heterosexual and lesbian sex (around those days male homosexuality was actually a crime). Around the 1870’s “postcard porn” was invented and in the following decades became hugely popular all around Europe. Of course pornography has always been a victim of censorship by groups of so-called moralists (at the beginning of the 19^th century there was actually a task force in Britain to fight porn). Today there are age limits and laws that control its content.

With the invention of cinema, pornography took on quite a more radical type of frenzy. There were special theaters where movies were screened and several sub-genres began to emerge (porn based on voyeurisms, fetishes, races, etc.). Once home entertainment was reached, porn became a multimillion-dollar industry.

The seventies were a defining decade for the adult industry and they are wonderfully chronicled in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights”, a mesmerizing mosaic of the people working in and around porn. We meet a young waiter who becomes a porn actor (with the provocative name of Dirk Diggler), the hotshot director, the veteran actress and the crew who all make for an unusual family of sorts. “Boogie Nights” is set on the near horizon of videocassettes which enabled customers to view pornography from their homes and also resulted in the birth of amateur video porn (which since has taken its full potential in our internet age). The movie is filled with terrific performances all around (especially from Mark Wahlberg who gained respect as an actor; before he was a hip-hop star).

Technology has defined porn and, in a way, porn has defined technology. In the “war of the formats” (VHS vs. Beta, Laser Disc, vs. DVD, HD DVD vs. Blu-Ray) it has become a deciding factor. Now that 3D has had a sort of renaissance with the popularity of movies like “Avatar” and “Alice in Wonderland”, porn movies are being shot in 3D (the first movie is a Chinese production called “3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy” due for release in May 2011).

Pornography is often seen as a controversial subject, especially from a religious and political viewpoint. For ordinary citizens it’s more of a casual activity (for writer Salman Rushdie it is vital to the freedom in society). Wikipedia claims that more than 70% of men from ages 18 to 34 visit a pornographic site in a typical month.

There’s a funny independent movie called “Humpday” about two friends who decide to make a porn video as a part of a local festival held in their town (it stars Joshua Leonard, from “The Blair Witch Project”). The situation is funny but the movie is actually heartwarming and true, and it enlightens on issues of marriage, friendship and sex (it’s in no way morbid about its subject). While politicians gamble on shaky values and moral hypocrisy, society needs to wake up to the needs of human nature and accept its dispositions; it’s an integral part of protecting our freedom of speech.