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Has "Porn" Become Mainstream? (1 Viewer)

RobertW

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Feb 27, 2000
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the reason so many big owners of cable and hotel chains offer porn to their subscribers and guests is simple-there is a demand for it from the public, and a lot of money to be made from doing it. if there wasn't, then no one would be offering this content.

porn ceased to be the property of the sleazy strip joints and theaters in the 80's, thanks to the vcr and home video. porn moved from the bad part of town to everyone's living rooms. companies like time-warner saw this huge growth, and realized there was a huge market to be tapped here, and a lot of money to be made.

i didn't see the program, but it is one-sided and irresponsible journalism to portray these companies as if they are sleaze-mongers out to destroy people's moral values. as someone posted above, they should have asked around their own office about their co-workers exposure to porn. the answers may have surprised them. porn is no longer some dirty little secret.
 

Jack Briggs

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Thanks for keeping this discussion on an even keel, everyone.

FYI, the business connections of the porn industry were explored in balanced, neutral form in an excellent documentary on PBS's Frontline series about a year ago. There's nothing new here. Since the widespread advent of the Internet, porn has bloomed into a $20 billion industry.

That sort of money suggests a huge demand.

I can't comment on Sawyer's report since I didn't see it. But the bias being reported here is not surprising for a commercial-network broadcast playing to a certain demographic. Balanced reporting has been an endangered species on commercial-network television for decades; it's almost nonexistent now.

If the PBS Frontline edition airs again, do check it out. It was quite fascinating. Since porn hit the big time, it was inevitable that major corporations would want a piece of the pie.
 

Wayne Bundrick

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No more so than the buxom news anchors populating network affiliates, most of SAG, the vast majority of sports journalists, or a sizeable portion of the population-at-large.
It could be true about SAG (every waiter and waitress in Los Angeles has a SAG card) but I can tell you with certainty that both the buxom news anchors and the sports journalists in even the smallest cities tend to have degrees in broadcasting or journalism. Over the past few years the market for these jobs has become oversaturated to the point that even a degree isn't sufficient, as people with degrees and experience are so desperate for work that they are willing to take a pay cut and compete for what would normally be entry level "cub reporter" positions requiring only a degree.

Funny how ABC slammed General Motors just a few days before they'll air a 90-second Cadillac commercial during the Superbowl, for which ABC will collect $6 million. Does this mean Disney is in the porn industry?
 

Karl_Luph

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What is the Disney and porn industry connection? I've heard about this before ,but never found out exactly how much Disney is involved.
 

Brae

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For two years I have contemplated an all-adult HD satellite channel. If sold for a very conservative $19.95 per month as a premium channel, the market penetration (no pun intended) would be considerable.

The drawbacks of any venture, of course, in the investment capital. A brief search about a year ago showed the cheapest production-quality HD DV Camcorder was $60K, from Panasonic, with Sony's starting at $105K.

All things aside, I see why content development and production is at a crawl as few independent and amateur groups have that kind of capital sitting in their hope chests.

Still, I have to ask if you would pay $19.95/month for an all-adult HD channel? BTW, I posted a real poll over in AVS's HDTV Programming forum, too. Only an hour old and almost 50% would pay that. Now consider there are almost 30 million satellite subscribers ...
 

Wayne Bundrick

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JVC has announced a consumer HD camcorder that records to mini-DV tape, so high definition porn has just become a whole lot cheaper.

http://www.jvc-victor.co.jp/english/...03/gr-hd1.html

Other companies will be sure to follow. But what's happening at JVC? D-VHS is their thing, they want to milk the royalties from ancient VHS for as long as possible. Somebody at JVC didn't get the memo and designed a mini-DV based HD camcorder.

Combine cameras such as this with a HD-DVD format, and if HD-PR0N hits the market then I'll no longer be so pessimistic about the future of high definition.
 

Brae

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Now I wonder what the amount of recording time is on that new JVC per each mini-DV tape. I know the professional gear is like 40-minute tapes, which are $66 each. Not bad compared to the cost of 35-mm film, which is $2300 for 40-minutes.
 

Mike Soltis

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This kind of report makes me physically ill...
The impression I got (stop me if I'm wrong)...

Being 'forced into becoming' a porn star = BAD

Being a professional media whore who can look down your nose at the poor poor porn star = GOOD

Sorry, I just don't like this kind of 'reporting' especially with the pre-commercial teasers like
"You won't believe how Fortune 500 companies are making money off of this" implying that GM and AOHell Time Wiener are behind the whole thing.

Of course, that's just my opinion.
 

Ashley Seymour

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"You won't believe how Fortune 500 companies are making money off of this" implying that GM and AOHell Time Wiener are behind the whole thing.

Since ABC is selling commercial time for this "news" program, couldn't it then be said that ABC is making money off P...?
 

Brae

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There are certain careers that entail more risks thank others. Auto racing, bull riding, professional sex, deep sea fishing, etc.
Like hunting down and shooting terrorists, or delivering mail tainted with anthrax. :frowning: So, if you want to legally kill in a profession, either join the military, become a SWAT sniper, or let the stress get to you as a postal employee. Very good points, Max.

Well, I could go on and offer replies to quotes, good and bad, but I do not see the sense of it. Offering commentary of a news article that has its own agenda (what news reporting agency doesn't?) is not worth too much time. Its human nature to do what we do, for the most part. Anyone claiming the moral highground climbed their way out of their own closet of dark secrets.

That news article was produced with one purpose in mind: to get could ratings. If we were all a bunch of ultra-conservatives with no interest in sex they'd be airing a news article on the Amish!
 

Dan Rudolph

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Umm, not sure I would agree. There have been some good actors and actresses over the years, and some have migrated to other forms of the business, including producing content.
What I meant, is from a business standpoint, there aren't very many people who are a big enough draw to be worth mega-bucks. And keep in mind they all get paid pretty well.
 

Brae

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Dan, I am in complete agreement with you. The disagreement was a jest. :) Anyone trying to get into the business needs to have a good head on their shoulders, but this can be said about every business. How far do you think I'd get in telecommunications if I couldn't learn basic networking concepts?

Depending on the state one lives/resides in and the nature of conduct when you turn XX you are an adult and 100% responsible for decisions you make therein. If someone choses to perform in the adult entertainment industry instead of the food preparation business (i.e. taking your order via the drive-through) they make that decision based on their moral/ethical beliefs and desires for an income.

I'm not about to look down on someone making more money than me for something they choose for their profession. And I am not about to blame someone's employer for offering an enticing monetary compensation that seems to easily overcome someone's moral and ethical dilemmas any negates their weak-fiber that one may oppose working in this industry.

This reminds me of the psychologist that was doing some research (uh-huh) about prostitution and ended up changing her profession--from psychologist to prostitute. I suppose the moral majority is going to blame her employer for that decision, too. Right.

Society needs to stop blaming those outside the home for raising their children the wrong way, or not raising them at all. Its not the employers fault if someone failed to raise their child in a manner that keeps them from walking one path and not the other. And when that child becomes of age, its their fault entirely for the paths they chose to make.

Of course, this bars anything along the lines of forced employment (i.e. someone's life is threatened if they do not enter said workforce). It would not be the first, and especially not the last, time that I will hear some young girl or women make a statement that they are going to move to LA to make it in Hollywood. Sorry, there is no accounting for shear stupidity and you cannot blame society (me) for their pathetic genes and lack of common sense.

One can make it in the adult entertainment business if they have what it takes, which is a lot more than a willingness or an act of desperation. The moral majority likes pointing fingers, but certainly isn't doing anything to help those poor lost and [dumb-ass] souls who can't think for themselves. Yeah, I'm going to move to California, because somehow I can immediately and automatically afford their cost of living with my no-talent worthlessness and then cry boohoo to anyone seeking a news article for ratings. Cha-Ching!
 

John_Bonner

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Oct 25, 2000
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I've never really had any interest in hardcore pornography, due mostly to fact that none of the 'actresses' I've seen are particularly attractive.
Are you kidding me? I guess you haven't seen some of the women in the industry lately. Tera Patrick, Tawny Roberts, Katja Kean and many others are incredible looking.
 

Max Knight

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May 8, 2000
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Wow, step away for a weekend and come back to a very interesting and informed discussion. I love this place.

Thanks for the nice words Jack. :)

For those interested, there is a movie (documentary I believe) out called "Live Nude Girls Unite!" about the formation of a union for strippers at a club in San Francisco. I have not seen it, but have heard it is interesting.

I am always quite amazed when people say that they are "shocked" with the demand for porn. It is like someone being surprised at the demand for gourmet magazines and the food network, or HGTV and architectural digest. People are interested in the primary requirements of life: Sex, Food, Shelter. These three things are fundamental to every living thing, it's no surprise we enjoy them!

Anyone who has studied art history can attest to the popularity of pornography through the ages (and I'm not talking about nudes, I mean real show-everything porn). If I recall correctly, a room uncovered in Pompeii was just opened to the public recently that shows some rather explicit adult activities.
 

TheLongshot

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I'm rather amused by the people who are surprised that porn is as mainstream as it is. It has become more acceptable to be a porn star nowadays. Jenna Jamison is probably more well known than any of the stars in the past.

Kinda sad that the media was giving the industry such a negative slant. Reality is always somewhere in the middle. The porn industry is probably in a better situation than it ever was in the 70s and 80s. My understanding is that after AIDS devistated the scene back in the 80s, there has been far better testing going on, and now you have whole studios which are condom only.

That's not to say you don't have bad things going on. For every Asia Carrera, you have a Savannah. (dumb as rocks, drug habit that ended in suicide.) But, when there is large amounts of money involved, there will always be those who can't handle it. (Look at pro athletes.)

After going to Las Vegas for my friend's batchelor party, what I got was a lot of strippers who really enjoyed their job. Hell, one girl I was talking to had graduated from American University and really seemed to be in charge of her career. I couldn't argue with that.

Jason
 

LarryDavenport

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Jenna Jameson played herself in an episode of Mr. Sterling a couple weeks ago, if that answers your question.

And I can't remember the last time I've gone into a convenience store in Seattle that didn't have a ton of porn.
 

Todd Hochard

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If I recall correctly, a room uncovered in Pompeii was just opened to the public recently that shows some rather explicit adult activities.
I've taken a walk through the ruins (way back in 1990), and the very being of the city is rooted in SEX, SEX, SEX. Phallic symbols carved at nearly every intersection, pointing the way to the "action." Drawings/paintings near the doors of the "ladies," showing their specialty in explicit detail. It was interesting.
 

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