Quote Originally Posted by basschick
on a more pragmtic note - if you live in the u.s. and can argue that your content promotes a healthy sexuality, you might have a defense against obscenity that is hard to beat.
Hmmmm, you know, that's a really good point. I wonder if anyone's tried that yet. Ideas ideas...

Glad you agree with me. I know a lot of people think of me as the 'loudmouthed trouble-maker.' And I guess it's OK if that's how I am perceived. I make no bones about the fact that I got into this business specifically to shake things up, to rattle the cages and keep people on their toes. I've already gotten a few comments from people in the business who are offended by my reviews of their movies, saying they think I should judge them by more "traditional" standards of pornography. But if that means that we can just put out CRAP all the time and not be held accountable for it, then I vehemently disagree. Likewise, when I try to point out how something like the straight-guy niche can be viewed as one that has the potential to send potentially damaging and counter-productive messages about gay sexuality, I get slammed for "alienating webmasters."

I often look around this business and I am so disheartened by what I see--the types of guys we claim are sexy, the negative body images we readily promote, the ideas about sex we trumpet through badly directed and lazy filmmaking, the indirect messages about identity that we send to gay men, the alienation we help to encourage--and all in the name of money.

When you turn sex into just a business and you ignore the responsibility you have in representing it, you trivialize its importance. You cheapen its social value. It's not "just porn" or "just sex," as so many directors and webmasters are quick to say when you try to get them to take responsibility for their work.

I truly care about adult entertainment. It was the first time I ever saw two men having sex, and it changed my life. And it has the power to do that for everyone. Which is why I think we need to put MORE thought and MORE care into what we create. I truly believe that gay men are hungering for more exciting representations of their sexuality on screen. I know that *I* am. And if I am, then there are many others like me who are looking for the same thing. And by that, I mean MORE than just suck-and-fuck. MORE than just penetration, MORE than just cum shots. I want something that REEKS of the true meaning of male-on-male sexuality, something that explores the pyschological meaning of what it means to be gay, what it means to participate in being gay. I want something that tells me "It's good to be gay. It's OK to be who you are."

So when I think about the "bigger picture," that's what I come up with.