Pornographic films are motion pictures with the purpose of promoting sexual arousal in the viewer, often featuring depictions of sexual activity. They appeared shortly after the creation of the motion picture in the early 1900s. Pornographic films have much in common with other forms of pornography. Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of Sexual subject matter with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer Pornography is often referred to as "porn" and a pornographic work as a "porno. " Older names for a pornographic movie include "adult film," "stag film," and "blue movie. " In general, "softcore" refers to pornography that does not depict penetration or "extreme fetish" acts, while "hardcore" refers to pornography that depicts penetration and/or extreme fetish acts. Softcore (or soft porn) is a form of Pornography, either video or nude Glamour photography, that is less explicit than hardcore material Hardcore pornography is a form of Pornography that features explicit sexual acts.
Throughout its history, the movie camera has been used for pornography, but for most of that time pornographic movies were typically available only by underground distribution, for projection at home or in private clubs and also night cinemas. This article is about motion picture film cameras See Video camera for cameras which record images electronically Only in the 1970s were pornographic films semi-legitimized; by the 1980s, pornography on home video achieved distribution unimagined only decades earlier. Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or hired for home entertainment The rise of the internet in the late 1990s and early 2000s similarly changed distribution of pornography, and furthermore complicated legal prosecution of obscenity.
Pornography is a thriving, financially profitable business: according to a 2004 Reuters article, "The multi-billion-dollar industry releases about 11,000 titles on DVD each year, giving it tremendous power to sway the battle between two groups of studios and technology companies competing to set standards for the next generation". [1]
Contents |
History
Early examples
- See also: History of erotic depictions
Pornographic motion pictures are nearly as old as the medium itself. The history of erotic According to Patrick Robertson's Film Facts, "the earliest pornographic motion picture which can definitely be dated is A L'Ecu d'Or ou la bonne auberge", made in France in 1908; the plot depicts a weary soldier who has a tryst with an inn's servant girl. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Robertson notes that the Argentine pornographic film El Satario might be even older; it has been dated to somewhere between 1907 and 1912. Robertson notes that "the oldest surviving pornographic films are contained in America's Kinsey Collection. Alfred Charles Kinsey (June 23 1894 &ndash August 25 1956 was an American Biologist and professor of Entomology and Zoology, who in 1947 " One film demonstrates how early pornographic conventions were established. The German film Am Abend (c. 1910) is, as Robertson writes, "a ten-minute film which begins with a woman masturbating alone in her bedroom, and progresses to scenes of her with a man performing sex, fellatio and anal penetration. Masturbation refers to Sexual stimulation especially of one's own genitals ( self masturbation) and often to the point of Orgasm, which Sexual intercourse, in its biological sense is the act in which the male reproductive organ (in humans and other higher animals enters the female reproductive tract Fellatio, also called fellation, is Oral sex performed upon the Penis. Anal sex most often refers to the sex act involving insertion of the Penis into the Rectum. " (Robertson, p. 66)
Pornographic movies were widespread in the silent movie era of the 1920s, and were often shown in brothels. For the 2008 film of this name see The Brothel. For the television series of this name see Cathouse The Series. Many pornographic films were made in subsequent decades, but given the usually clandestine nature of the filming and distribution, details of such "stag films" are often difficult to obtain. It is probably reasonable to assume that many sexually explicit films made before about 1950 are now permanently lost. A lost film is a Feature film or Short film that no longer exists in either studio archives or private collections
1960s and 1970s: Changing laws, changing attitudes
In the 1960s, some attitudes towards the depiction of sexuality began to change. European movies like I Am Curious (Yellow) (1969) and Kärlekens Språk (1969) were sexually explicit, but were framed as a quasi-documentaries, which made their legal status uncertain. I Am Curious (Yellow (original Swedish title Jag är nyfiken - gul) is a 1967 Swedish Film directed by Vilgot Language of Love (Kärlekens språk is a 1969 Swedish Film directed by Torgny Wickman.
In 1969, Denmark became the first country to legalize hardcore pornography, and soon started producing theatrical feature film sex comedies such as Bordellet (1972) and I Jomfruens tegn (1973), starring mainstream actors and usually not thought of as "porno films" though including hardcore pornographic scenes. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Bordellet (1972 is a Danish, theatrical sex comedy film made by pornographic pioneer Ole Ege and notable for being Denmark 's
In the 1970s, more permissive legislation permitted the rise of "XXX-rated" movie theaters in the United States and many other countries. Cinemaaustraliajpg|thumb|A movie theater in Australia ]]A movie theater, movie theatre, picture theatre or cinema is a venue The United States of America —commonly referred to as the There was also a proliferation of coin-operated "movie booths" in sex shops that displayed pornographic "loops" (so-called because they projected a movie from film arranged in a continuous loop). sex shop, erotic shop is a shop that sells products such as Sex toys Pornography, erotic Lingerie, erotic books and Safer sex
Notable American hardcore feature films of the 1970s include Deep Throat (1972), Behind the Green Door (1972), The Devil in Miss Jones (1973), The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1975) and Debbie Does Dallas (1978). Deep Throat is an American Pornographic film released in the summer of 1972, written and directed by Gerard Damiano (listed in the Behind the Green Door (1972 was the first hardcore Pornographic movie widely released in the United States. The Devil in Miss Jones is a 1973 pornographic Film, written and directed by Gerard Damiano The Opening of Misty Beethoven is an American Hardcore pornography film released in 1975 Debbie Does Dallas is a 1978 Pornographic movie starring Bambi Woods and Christie Ford (appearing These were shot on film and distributed in movie theaters. In New York, Gerard Damiano's Deep Throat gained particular notoriety and a certain social acceptance, giving rise to the term "porno chic", perceived as a cultural trend. The City of New York Gerard Damiano (born August 4, 1928) is an American director of pornographic films Deep Throat is an American Pornographic film released in the summer of 1972, written and directed by Gerard Damiano (listed in the The term " porno chic " was first used in the early 1970s to describe the wave of Pornographic movies like Boys in the Sand, Behind the
One important court case in the U. S. was Miller v. California (1973). Miller v California, was an important United States Supreme Court case involving what constitutes unprotected Obscenity for First Amendment The case established that obscenity was not legally protected, but the case also established the Miller test, a three-pronged test to determine obscenity (which is not legal) as opposed to indecency (which may or may not be legal). Obscenity (in Latin obscenus, meaning "foul repulsive detestable" is a term that is most often used in a legal context to The Miller test is the United States Supreme Court 's test for determining whether speech or expression can be labeled Obscene, in which case it is not protected Decency is conformity to sociocultural standards of conduct and speech
1980s: New technology, new legal cases
With the arrival of the home video cassette recorder in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the pornographic movie industry experienced massive growth and spawned adult stars like Ron Jeremy, Ginger Lynn, John Holmes, and Traci Lords. PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT THIS IS A GENERAL ARTICLE ABOUT VCRs/VIDEOCASSETTE RECORDERS Ronald Jeremy Hyatt (born 12 March 1953 in Bayside Queens Jeremy has also appeared in non-pornographic films with studios such as Troma Entertainment Ginger Lynn (born Ginger Lynn Allen December 14, 1962) is an American pornographic actress, remembered for her work in the 1980s John Curtis Holmes ( August 8, 1944 – March 13, 1988) better known as John C Traci Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma on May 7, 1968) also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American One could now not only watch pornography in the comfort and privacy of one's own home, but also find more choices available to satisfy specific fantasies and fetishes.
Similarly, the camcorder spurred changes in pornography in the 1980s, when people could make their own amateur sex movies, whether for private use, or for wider distribution. A camcorder is a portable Consumer electronics device for recording Video and audio using a built-in recorder unit
It has been suggested that, among other things, Sony Betamax lost the format war to VHS (in becoming the general home video recording/viewing system) because the adult video industry chose VHS instead of the technically superior Sony system. ---- Betamax is a home Videocassette tape recording format developed by Sony, and released on May 10, 1975. A format war describes competition between mutually incompatible proprietary formats typically for Data storage devices and Recording formats for Electronic
The year 1987 saw an important legal case in the U. S. when the de facto result of California Republic Versus Freeman was the legalization of hardcore pornography. Personal life Harold "Hal" Freeman was born and raised in Chicago Illinois Hardcore pornography is a form of Pornography that features explicit sexual acts. Ironically, the prosecution of Harold Freeman was initially planned as the first in a series of legal cases that would have effectively outlawed the production of such movies.
1990s
Two technologies became prominent in the 1990s that changed pornographic movies: the DVD offered better quality picture and sound, and was embraced by pornographers just as enthusiastically as it was embraced by major Hollywood studios and by private consumers. DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is DVD allowed innovations such as "interactive" videos that let the user choose such variables as multiple camera angles, multiple endings (e. g. , "Devil in the Flesh", 1999, Private Films), and computer-only DVD content. Erotic film producers are expected to play a major role in deciding the next DVD standard: large outfits tend to support the high-capacity Blu-ray Disc, while small outfits generally favor the less-expensive HD DVD. not insert the publicly disclosed HD DVD key into this article for the time being
However, the internet arguably changed the distribution of pornography more than any earlier technology: rather than ordering movies from an adult bookstore, or through mail-order, people could watch pornographic movies on their computers. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks Rather than waiting weeks for an order to arrive from another U. S. state, one could download a pornographic movie within minutes (or, later, within a few seconds).
The internet also complicated legal prosecution of obscentity cases: if someone downloads a video clip that no one else in their town sees, are community standards violated? If a pornographic movie is produced in one U. Community standards are local norms bounding acceptable Conduct. S. state and downloaded in another state (after having been routed through half-a-dozen states via an internet service provider), in which jurisdiction should the legal case be introduced? These and related questions are still being sorted out in U. An Internet service provider ( ISP, also called Internet access provider or IAP) is a company which primarily offers their customers access to the Internet S. courts.
In 1998, the Danish, Oscar-nominated film production company Zentropa became the world's first mainstream film company to openly produce hardcore pornographic films, starting with Constance (1998). The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. "Zentropa" redirects here The 1991 film Europa was released in North America as "Zentropa" Hardcore pornography is a form of Pornography that features explicit sexual acts. Constance (1998 is an erotic film for women directed by Knud Vesterskov and produced by Puzzy Power, a division of Lars von Trier 's film company That same year, Zentropa also produced Idioterne (1998), directed by Lars von Trier, which started a wave of international mainstream arthouse films featuring explicit sexual images. The Idiots ( Idioterne) is a 1998 Danish film directed by Lars von Trier. Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish Film director and Screenwriter. Around the same time, the Danish TV-channel Kanal København started broadcasting hardcore films uncoded and for free (as of 2008, it still does, courtesy of Innocent Pictures, a company started by Zentropa). The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe
In the UK, attitudes to censorship became more relaxed. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located It is not illegal to make or to perform in pornographic films in the UK. Films with sexually explicit content have been shown on national TV.
The turn of the millennium
Lars von Trier's The Idiots (1998) is a Danish film which won many international awards and was nominated for a Golden Palm in Cannes. The Idiots ( Idioterne) is a 1998 Danish film directed by Lars von Trier. The Palme d'Or ( English: Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded to competing films at the Cannes Film Festival. It was shown on British television in 2005, though it includes a shower sequence with a male erection and an orgy scene with close-up penetration footage (the camera viewpoint is from the ankles of the participants, and the close-ups leave no doubt as to what is taking place). These scenes were included when the film was shown on the national TV channel Channel 4. Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began
In eastern Asia, pornographic movies are also known as Panu.
Legal status
Sub-genres
Current pornographic movies can be divided into a number of sub-genres by the sex of the performers, the types of sex act portrayed, and the intended audience. Pornography laws differ widely from region to region Below is a brief summary of pornography restrictions sorted by country Australia See also Censorship in The following are common sub- Genres of Pornography. This list may not be comprehensive as there are many genres of pornography
Criticism
Pornography as a genre as often been described by critics has having underdeveloped plots and characters, thus making it very uninteresting length-wise. The term anti-pornography movement is used to describe those who argue that Pornography has a variety of harmful effects such as encouragement of Human trafficking Critics often state that pornographic films are all based on a same template that is repeated over and over, hence a saturation of the industry and the impossibility for new sub-genres to flourish. That tendency, however, has been reported to decrease with the rise of internet pornography and the mass distribution it allows.
Opponents of pornography in general claim that it leads to sex crimes, sexual infidelity, offends religious values, or degrades women.
AIDS and the porn industry
With the outbreak of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, the pornography industry instituted a system of testing for HIV, the virus responsible for AIDS. Human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) is a Lentivirus (a member of the Retrovirus family that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome The industry's voluntary system involves testing actors once a month for HIV. If the actor does not pass the test, he or she is barred from performing in any more pornographic scenes.
The system seemed to be effective, with very few AIDS cases among porn actors. Marc Wallice, a known IV drug user, tested HIV positive in 1998, sending shockwaves throughout the industry.
In April 2004, an AIDS scare rocked the heterosexual US porn industry when two pornographic actors tested HIV positive in California, the hotbed of U. Heterosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the opposite sex or to a heterosexual orientation A pornographic actor/actress or a porn star is somebody who appears in Pornographic films or Photographs, live Sex shows or California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. S. porn production. The straight segment of the porn industry voluntarily shut down for 30 days (a 60 day moratorium was originally announced but it was lifted early) while it tried to deal with the situation.
As of August 2004, estimates put condom use in the straight porn industry at around seventeen percent of adult performers, virtually the same usage rate as before the industry scare. The gay porn industry is more adamant about condom usage in their productions.
Two actors, Darren James and Lara Roxx, initially tested positive, and were barred from further sexually explicit content production. Darren James (born February 25, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan) is an African-American ex- Pornographic actor who sent Lara Roxx is the stage name of a Montreal Quebec -born Canadian porn actress, who in March 2004 became the first known individual in four years to contract About sixty actors who had contact with James or Roxx were barred from working until their next round of HIV testing was completed and they were declared HIV negative. A total of five actors were diagnosed with the virus by the end of the moratorium: one male and four females, including one transsexual.
James most likely contracted HIV while filming a pornographic movie in Brazil and then passed it to the other women, excluding the transsexual, who was considered an unrelated case. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Roxx was shocked by the news of her HIV status, believing porn actors to be cleaner than the general public. This belief is now in doubt.
Due to this limited outbreak, the California State government is considering regulating the industry. Some propose to mandate the wearing of condoms during sexually explicit scenes. A condom is a device most commonly used during Sexual intercourse. Industry insiders say this would ruin sales of their wares since the unprotected content is one of the selling points of some of their films. They say the wearing of condoms ruins the sexual fantasy of many viewers. Insiders say that such regulation would force the industry underground, where it would be more prone to health risks for performers. The non-profit Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation is working with the government, trying to develop policies that both the industry and the government would find acceptable. The Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation (AIM is an organization which tests Erotic actors for HIV and other STDs on a scheduled basis
See also
- Adult Theater
- Amateur pornography
- Carnography
- Porn star
- Gay pornography
- List of pornographic movie studios
- Sex worker
- Sex industry
- Pornography by region
- Pornography in the United States
- Pornography in Japan
- Pornography in India
- List of porn stars
- Censorship
- X-rated
Sources
- Patrick Robertson: Film Facts, 2001, Billboard Books, ISBN 0-8230-7943-0
References
- ^ Porn Business Driving DVD Technology - BizReport. An adult theater is a Movie theater where Pornographic films are shown to an adult audience Amateur pornography is a category of Pornography that features models or actors performing without pay or for whom this material is their first or only paid modeling work Carnography (from Latin "carnis" meaning "meat" and Greek γραφή (grafi "writing" is a Neologism for writing films images or other A pornographic actor/actress or a porn star is somebody who appears in Pornographic films or Photographs, live Sex shows or Gay pornography is the representation of sex between men with the primary goal of Sexual arousal in its audience This is a list of movie studios that produce pornographic (or "adult" films. A sex worker is a person who works in the Sex industry. Sex workers may be employed as prostitutes strippers go-go dancers burlesque performers escorts dominatrices Sex industry is the internationalisation of commercial enterprises which supply Sex workers in various capacities The production and distribution of Pornographic movies are economic activities of some importance Pornography in the United States is a legal term at the federal level except the generic terms " Hardcore pornography " and " child pornography Japanese pornography has some unique features which separate it from Pornography in other cultures especially Western Pornography. Pornography in India is illegal and attracts several penal provisions Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable harmful or sensitive as determined by a censor Retrieved on 2006-08-26. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1071 - Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert.
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic