“American Porno”

Last class we watched a very interesting documentary titled ‘American Porn’. It originnally aired on PBS and was featured on the program “Frontline”. ‘American Porn” is a candid, adults-only report on a multibillion-dollar business that’s come out of the dark alleys and seedy shops to settle itself comfortably in North America’s living rooms. The show focuses mainly on the people who produce and act in porn, big corporations (like General Motors and AT&T) that are now playing a role to distribute it, and lawyers who have fought for and against it in the courts. “Frontline” does an excellent job explaining how this situation arose, citing the boom in new technology, a lack of enforcement of obscenity laws by the Clinton administration and, last but not least, rising public demand for the product.

Porn has ridden the recent wave of new technology and the Internet explosion and has enjoyed years of lax prosecution during the Clinton administration.  George W. Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft were expected to take aim at pornography and its peddlers, potentially crippling amassively lucrative industry. To this date there has been no slowing of the industry by the Bush administration, nor does that seem likely to occur anytime soon. There are far more pressing issues for the government to resolve and the popularity of pornography makes halting the industry very unpopular amongst many voters.

In order to legally stop pornography it must be labeled as  obscene and held accountable to the standards of the community. This is ill suited to new wired world where the definition of a ‘community’ is so hard to define. ‘Community standards of decency,’ are nearly impossible to define and establish online. This makes any actions against on-line prone thta is not blatantly illegal quite difficult.

Something that ‘American Porn’ fails to ask pertaining to pornography is why do more and more people want it? What is causing this increase in demand? I think it is the growing acceptance in our society combined with the easy access that everyone has to pornography via the internet or tv. This increased access leads to increased usage which is likely causing somewhat of a level of addiction amongst users. It is because of these reasons that it appears that the industry is still going to grow. This was an issue that the documentary really did not explore as deeply as they could have. There were no interviews with customers and no real examination of the social revolution that has changed Narth America over for the past four decades.

‘American Porn’ was an effective and somewhat disturbing documentary of the evolution of pornography over the past two decades from the viewpoint of those who produce it and distribute it. What I thought this documantary lacks is any explanation of why pornography, particularly the extreme, ultra-hardcore variety, has an appeal to the masses. That consumer case study will have to wait for a seperate  program. There may be a serious problem developing in our society.