Passionfruit wants to know your favorite porn movie.
We need all the help we can get!
PORNOGRAPHY
One man's trash is another man's treasure. Trash versus treasure, Art or not, Porn versus Erotica. Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder.
After many years of working here at Passionfruit, having many discussions with all different sorts of people, young and old, men and women, Catholic and Agnostic, I have come to believe that when it comes to porn, all is subjective. As the debate about what is Art and what is not, so the porn vs erotica argument seems destined to rage.
Loosely speaking, I guess the only real difference I can detect, is that erotica has more depth, meaning, intensity and emotion than the traditional 'porn'. Of course, how we interpret these traits is completely subjective. Jeff Koons found Ciccollina utterly intriguing for example, others saw her as just another trash model. Art, music, literature, porn - it's how it affects us personally that defines it.
How then, can we choose 'good' porn? It's a question I get asked practically every day. Often I have recommended a title that I thought was pretty good and related closely to the particular wants of the customer, only to be told that they HATED it! It's exasperating!
But here's the thing, more than art or music or books or whatever, our reaction to porn really depends on how we're feeling at any given moment (well for us girls at least). It's the intensely personal nature of pornography that can affect us deeply depending on our mood. What turns us into a raging lioness one day might leave us as cold as a wet cat on another. Such is the nature of sex and the moods and hormones of a woman.
So again, what can we ask of a good porno? Mostly, as far as I can tell, we want story, realism and style - or artfulness. Good looking men without mullets helps too. It doesn't seem a lot to ask but ohhhh it is. Firstly, the storyline. It might be utterly intriguing, but when you're watching porn with the intention of getting turned on and enjoying hot sex with your partner, the story is actually a bit of a distraction. Just get us to the good bit and hold it there!
I think women have the fantasy of watching a movie that builds into something that is exciting and stimulating - the surprise of being turned on and then translating that in to great sex with our partner. That's great when it happens, like when you're watching a late night SBS movie that turns out to be highly erotic. It's the lack of expectation and the surprise factor that nails it.
When you buy porn to turn yourself on, story isn't always relevant. "Give me some realistic sex" is what many women ask. "Hollywood Porn" as I like to call it relies on impossibly beautiful women who no longer hide their careers from anyone. Now they're feted, lauded, earn great money, are 'empowered' and love their job!! Many cross over into mainstream entertainment with barely a battered eyelid. Hollywood Porn is anything but realistic. These girls can take it for hours on end from any number of men and women in every way possible. It's enough to have you pouring another cup of tea in amazement. And their breasts, shaven bodies, lustrous head hair and bleached bumcracks - It's Barbie sex! Give us some realism! It's not much to ask.
But do we really want to watch ordinary people having sex? That might be a bit boring, a bit scary or just plain ugly! Isn't pornography supposed to be about fantasy? Surely its major role is to take us out of our zone of 'normalcy' and lift us in to the realm of the imagination. A realm that can inspire and titillate. Fantasy can be the key that unlocks our passions. So how much 'realism' do we really want? The way to really enjoy and benefit from pornography is to remember that porn IS fantasy. Real women aren't like porn stars, but in our own fantasies, we can be them.
There is room for porn that falls somewhere between the cracks however. Good quality, no Barbies, a bit of a story and a little bit realistic; it does exist but boy is it hard to find! For some reason, when it comes to sex, the market responds with little or no subtlety. For ten years now I've been discarding the packaging from vibrators for example. Marketers still aim these products at men! What woman wants to buy a 'Muffin Mucker' with a picture of a naked women with her legs spread on the box? Either that or buy a Sunbeam product from The Good Guys that calls itself a 'Massager'. Like, derrr! It's the same with porn - all or nothing. Highly stylised Barbie dolls going at it for hours or a documentary - yawn.
Tired of urging Australian distributors to import smaller, more arthouse films has encouraged me to import them myself. Candida Royalle is loved by many women in Australia, appreciated for her couples focused porn featuring story, humor and realism. Joybear films from the UK are another company doing excellent erotica and Comstock films feature real couples enjoying loving sex. Shock Horror! Andrew Blake, long known for his stylish cinematography has featured Dita Von Teese in a couple of his titles and I've even managed to snare HIS latest titles - rare as hen's teeth Down Under. Just remember, don't ask too much of your pornography. Lie back, relax, enjoy and pretend you're in Tahiti with the local boys panting for you.....
Michelle Temminghoff
Passionfruit
We need all the help we can get!
PORNOGRAPHY
One man's trash is another man's treasure. Trash versus treasure, Art or not, Porn versus Erotica. Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder.
After many years of working here at Passionfruit, having many discussions with all different sorts of people, young and old, men and women, Catholic and Agnostic, I have come to believe that when it comes to porn, all is subjective. As the debate about what is Art and what is not, so the porn vs erotica argument seems destined to rage.
Loosely speaking, I guess the only real difference I can detect, is that erotica has more depth, meaning, intensity and emotion than the traditional 'porn'. Of course, how we interpret these traits is completely subjective. Jeff Koons found Ciccollina utterly intriguing for example, others saw her as just another trash model. Art, music, literature, porn - it's how it affects us personally that defines it.
How then, can we choose 'good' porn? It's a question I get asked practically every day. Often I have recommended a title that I thought was pretty good and related closely to the particular wants of the customer, only to be told that they HATED it! It's exasperating!
But here's the thing, more than art or music or books or whatever, our reaction to porn really depends on how we're feeling at any given moment (well for us girls at least). It's the intensely personal nature of pornography that can affect us deeply depending on our mood. What turns us into a raging lioness one day might leave us as cold as a wet cat on another. Such is the nature of sex and the moods and hormones of a woman.
So again, what can we ask of a good porno? Mostly, as far as I can tell, we want story, realism and style - or artfulness. Good looking men without mullets helps too. It doesn't seem a lot to ask but ohhhh it is. Firstly, the storyline. It might be utterly intriguing, but when you're watching porn with the intention of getting turned on and enjoying hot sex with your partner, the story is actually a bit of a distraction. Just get us to the good bit and hold it there!
I think women have the fantasy of watching a movie that builds into something that is exciting and stimulating - the surprise of being turned on and then translating that in to great sex with our partner. That's great when it happens, like when you're watching a late night SBS movie that turns out to be highly erotic. It's the lack of expectation and the surprise factor that nails it.
When you buy porn to turn yourself on, story isn't always relevant. "Give me some realistic sex" is what many women ask. "Hollywood Porn" as I like to call it relies on impossibly beautiful women who no longer hide their careers from anyone. Now they're feted, lauded, earn great money, are 'empowered' and love their job!! Many cross over into mainstream entertainment with barely a battered eyelid. Hollywood Porn is anything but realistic. These girls can take it for hours on end from any number of men and women in every way possible. It's enough to have you pouring another cup of tea in amazement. And their breasts, shaven bodies, lustrous head hair and bleached bumcracks - It's Barbie sex! Give us some realism! It's not much to ask.
But do we really want to watch ordinary people having sex? That might be a bit boring, a bit scary or just plain ugly! Isn't pornography supposed to be about fantasy? Surely its major role is to take us out of our zone of 'normalcy' and lift us in to the realm of the imagination. A realm that can inspire and titillate. Fantasy can be the key that unlocks our passions. So how much 'realism' do we really want? The way to really enjoy and benefit from pornography is to remember that porn IS fantasy. Real women aren't like porn stars, but in our own fantasies, we can be them.
There is room for porn that falls somewhere between the cracks however. Good quality, no Barbies, a bit of a story and a little bit realistic; it does exist but boy is it hard to find! For some reason, when it comes to sex, the market responds with little or no subtlety. For ten years now I've been discarding the packaging from vibrators for example. Marketers still aim these products at men! What woman wants to buy a 'Muffin Mucker' with a picture of a naked women with her legs spread on the box? Either that or buy a Sunbeam product from The Good Guys that calls itself a 'Massager'. Like, derrr! It's the same with porn - all or nothing. Highly stylised Barbie dolls going at it for hours or a documentary - yawn.
Tired of urging Australian distributors to import smaller, more arthouse films has encouraged me to import them myself. Candida Royalle is loved by many women in Australia, appreciated for her couples focused porn featuring story, humor and realism. Joybear films from the UK are another company doing excellent erotica and Comstock films feature real couples enjoying loving sex. Shock Horror! Andrew Blake, long known for his stylish cinematography has featured Dita Von Teese in a couple of his titles and I've even managed to snare HIS latest titles - rare as hen's teeth Down Under. Just remember, don't ask too much of your pornography. Lie back, relax, enjoy and pretend you're in Tahiti with the local boys panting for you.....
Michelle Temminghoff
Passionfruit
0 comments:
Post a Comment