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Abstract
This essay considers current trends in US adult content production, distribution, and consumption. Included are discussions of various content forms, various distribution channels, emerging niches, and overall philosophical shifts shaping the adult industry in the United States.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Mark Kernes, Jiz Lee, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier versions of this work, as well as Porn Studies editors Feona Attwood and Clarissa Smith for requesting the writing of this piece in the first place. Email the author with any questions and comments.
Notes
1. ‘About’. Accessed July 28, 2013. http://pvvonline.com/?page_id=2249.
2. When I began PVVOnline in 2010, I had no special access to adult content – I simply began requesting DVD screeners from an ever-evolving list of content producers. My goal was to cast my net wide, engaging as diverse a selection of content as possible. Today, I receive DVD screeners from most major adult content producers in the United States. I occasionally receive projects from smaller US producers and European studios. I would estimate that I have received somewhere between 2500 and 3000 titles since 2010. I have also been given access to content behind website pay walls (approximately 50–60 over the years) and have received review copies of numerous other adult-related projects (various types of books, software, adult novelties, etc.). In spite of my best efforts to reach out to every possible producer, I do not receive content from every corner of the adult industry, either within the United States and globally. Consequently, some dimensions of adult production are not reviewed as thoroughly on PVVOnline. Further, I am physically unable to review all the content to which I have access. Instead I engage as many projects as possible, with an emphasis on content I regard as especially socially significant and/or culturally relevant.
3. See Theories of Performance by Elizabeth Bell (2008) for discussion of the fourth wall, the imaginary divide between theatre performers and their audience. ‘Breaking the fourth wall’ occurs when performers acknowledge the audience.
4. Email correspondence with Adult Video News’ senior editor for legal affairs Mark Kernes (August 23, 2013). Quoted with permission.
5. In addition to assertions made by anti-pornography activists, some scholars have asserted that more intense sex depictions (e.g. gang bang, deep throat, ass-to-mouth, etc.) ‘have come to figuratively constitute characterising elements of gonzo styling’ (Biasin and Zecca Citation2009, 144). This statement, however, is somewhat of an overgeneralization. Although more intense sex depictions are commonly present in more intense gonzo form content, these same depictions can be found in, for example, more intense feature content (see discussion of Wasteland and Voracious for examples). The hallmark of gonzo is the film form, variable iterations and intensities of sex depictions notwithstanding.
6. See IAFD.com for examples of various gonzo form titles such as Latin Mouth Club (2012), Kristina Rose: Unfiltered (2012), Lesbian Sex (series; 2011–ongoing), and Lesbian Bukkake (series, 2004–2011), and Nacho Invades America, Parts 1 and 2 (2011, 2012). Accessed September 20, 2013. http://www.iafd.com.
7. See, for example, The Devil in Miss Jones (1973) and The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1975). Also see discussion in Tibbals (Citation2010).
8. See IAFD.com for examples of parody titles such as Twilight Zone Porn Parody (2010), Batman XXX: A Porn Parody (2010), Hustler's Untrue Hollywood Stories: Lindsay Lohan (2009), and Simpsons: The XXX Parody (2011). Accessed September 20, 2013. http://www.iafd.com.
9. See the production histories of New Sensations and Digital Playground for examples. Both companies initially only produced various forms of all-sex content but subsequently broadened their respective scopes to include high-quality (e.g. New Sensations’ Big Lebowski: A XXX Parody, 2010) and/or ‘blockbuster’ (e.g. Digital Playground's Top Guns, 2011) parody content.
10. Along with gonzo, vignette collections are a form of all-sex adult content that depicts sex scenes only, with no conventional developing narrative. Vignette collections string sex scenes together with an overarching concept. For example, the sex scenes may be connected by a costume/visual theme or by the continued presence of a particular performer. Because of the effort necessary to create a cohesive collection, vignette productions are generally more expensive that pure gonzo. They are not, however, generally as expensive as a feature film.
11. See http://clips4sale.com and http://clips4sale.com/do/storeinfo. Accessed August 1, 2013.
12. See http://severesocietyfilms.com. Accessed August 1, 2013.
13. See http://streammate.com. Accessed August 1, 2013.
14. See, for example, http://www.wickedpictures.com. Accessed August 1, 2013.
15. See, for example, http://www.puba.com. Accessed August 1, 2013.
16. See IAFD.com for examples of ‘teen’ titles such as Lolita (2010), Innocence of Youth (series; 2012–ongoing), My Sexy Kittens (various series, 2006–ongoing), and Cuties (series; 2010–ongoing). Accessed September 20, 2013. http://www.iafd.com.
17. See, for example, http://www.helixstudios.net. Accessed July 28, 2013.
18. See the catalogue for examples. Accessed July 28, 2013. www.girlfriendsfilms.com. It is important to note the development and rising popularity of ‘lesbian’ porn. Different from both girl–girl, which seems to target heterosexual men viewers, and queer porn (see my following discussion on emerging niches), lesbian porn producers such as Girlfriends Films and Juicy Pink Box create amalgamations of ‘realistic’ lesbian sex and cinematic fantasy. See http://www.girlfriendsfilms.com/. Accessed August 1, 2013.
19. See IAFD.com for examples of MILF/Cougar titles such as Housewives of Amber Lane 1 and 2 (2008, 2009), MILF Thing 1–7 (series, 2008–2011), White Mommas (series, 2009–ongoing), and My Friend's Hot Mom (series, 2004–ongoing). Accessed October 24, 2013. http://www.iafd.com.
20. See, for example, New Sensations’ Big Girls are Sexy series. Accessed August 1, 2013. http://www.newsensations.com/.
21. See, for example, http://bbwfanfest.com. Accessed July 28, 2013.
22. See, for example, http://pinkwhite.biz. Accessed August 1, 2013.
23. A note on terminology. In my observations, ‘tranny’ is the attribution used most frequently by performers featured in TS scenes, by TS content producers, and by TS content consumers. Other commonly, but less frequently, used monikers include ‘TS’ and ‘shemale.’ Although I support persons’ rights to be addressed in whatever manner they choose, I struggle with the terms ‘tranny’ and ‘shemale.’ My use of ‘TS’ in lieu of either of these terms is my attempt to distinguish between two genres of adult content that both feature performers of various gender identities and sexual orientations (queer and TS), but are otherwise unrelated, without engaging terms that I find difficult. I am aware that there are colonizing dimensions to this decision; however, use of the term ‘TS’ is the most accurate and least personally and professionally uncomfortable reconciliation I can formulate.
24. See for example Evil Angel's TS Playground 3 (2013), a collection featuring TS performers together (one scene), TS performers with cis-gender men (three scenes), and TS performers with cis-gender women and men (one scene). For web-based content, see for example http://www.shemalepornstar.com. Accessed September 20, 2013.