The Pussycat Theater in LA was known as the “best air conditioning” in town when the hot days drove you mad, and not everyone had an AC box in their window!
I teach a segment of my Intro to Women & Gender Studies course on the history of the feminist sex debates surrounding pornography and sex work. This will be great for that. x
So cool, clarifies a lot for me. thank you. I am known in my circles as a sexual artists. It chagrins and amuses me. Incredible models are still hiding their names. My stuff is occasional, bland, and narrowly focused compared to the work of others. The separate worlds still exist. I do try to keep it real so the value of my work does not disappear when people come to their senses. There have been benefits for me in world straddling (not financial). I think sometimes jurors accept my work to show that they are not blighted by a vocal minorities need to 'save,' censor and control...
One night, as part of a bachelor party, we watched several xxx movies. My friends cheered. By the end, I felt I was in some bizarre world and I had to get out of there. At home I quickly turned on the Tonight Show until I felt like I was back in reality. But I had PTSD for a week,
For years I've been quoting your observation about most porn actors being very short people because they film better and various body parts look larger. If I remember correctly, you described most professional porn sets as a naughty version of Barbie's Dream House.
Ha! That’s funny, yes, I did say that. You know, many Hollywood folks are quite petite. People who wouldn’t be on the fashion runway. And yes, having shorter legs can make one’s penis look longer on camera. So many career tips!
Excellent story - thanks for writing; I am especially fond of this line: "I stared at him with my mouth full of fries. “Oh, it’s not that bad,” I said, “I only get half as much because I’m bisexual.”
Great history, Susie! In one of my long ago lifetimes, when I was a film student at SFSU in the mid sixties, we would send our short student films off to a lab to be processed. One day, one of my fellow students got the wrong film back, a porn reel of a woman masturbating, kissing herself in a mirror, then putting the mirror between her legs to have a look at her aroused genitals. Rather well done, I think it was a reel of a longer film. We gathered around the Moviola running it back and forth, fascinated. I don't think any of the guys had been to a porn theatre, though they were all up and down Market st. at the time. Later we got a projector, one of the guys took it home and invited friends over. No, I don't think the film was ever returned! The guy who stole it did go on to make porn films in the 70's. Wish I could remember his name! His films were quite good. He was a film student who knew what he was doing and learned a lot from that clip!
Wow, what a story! I have had a lot of mess ups and mixups at the film lab, but not anything that memorable. If you remember who it was, I am dying to know! What you describe is so female-genital-centered, it seems quite unusual for the time, so that makes it even more intriguing.
This was fascinating! I love this image of you in the theater taking notes, yelling at the guys, "You're missing a good part!" And that you were paid well for your work without being asked to compromise your values or unique perspective.
The Pussycat Theater in LA was known as the “best air conditioning” in town when the hot days drove you mad, and not everyone had an AC box in their window!
Fantastic history, Susie! I look forward to teaching it next semester.
Oh really? What’s the course? I always wish I could have been in one of your courses!
I teach a segment of my Intro to Women & Gender Studies course on the history of the feminist sex debates surrounding pornography and sex work. This will be great for that. x
One day the stars will align
So cool, clarifies a lot for me. thank you. I am known in my circles as a sexual artists. It chagrins and amuses me. Incredible models are still hiding their names. My stuff is occasional, bland, and narrowly focused compared to the work of others. The separate worlds still exist. I do try to keep it real so the value of my work does not disappear when people come to their senses. There have been benefits for me in world straddling (not financial). I think sometimes jurors accept my work to show that they are not blighted by a vocal minorities need to 'save,' censor and control...
I heard ya!
One night, as part of a bachelor party, we watched several xxx movies. My friends cheered. By the end, I felt I was in some bizarre world and I had to get out of there. At home I quickly turned on the Tonight Show until I felt like I was back in reality. But I had PTSD for a week,
Sometimes you watch too much of the Tonight Show and you have to do it the other way around. ;-)
For years I've been quoting your observation about most porn actors being very short people because they film better and various body parts look larger. If I remember correctly, you described most professional porn sets as a naughty version of Barbie's Dream House.
Ha! That’s funny, yes, I did say that. You know, many Hollywood folks are quite petite. People who wouldn’t be on the fashion runway. And yes, having shorter legs can make one’s penis look longer on camera. So many career tips!
Excellent story - thanks for writing; I am especially fond of this line: "I stared at him with my mouth full of fries. “Oh, it’s not that bad,” I said, “I only get half as much because I’m bisexual.”
and the last lines
It is one of the ONLY times in my life I had the right timing and the right deadpan to just knock it out of the park!
Great history, Susie! In one of my long ago lifetimes, when I was a film student at SFSU in the mid sixties, we would send our short student films off to a lab to be processed. One day, one of my fellow students got the wrong film back, a porn reel of a woman masturbating, kissing herself in a mirror, then putting the mirror between her legs to have a look at her aroused genitals. Rather well done, I think it was a reel of a longer film. We gathered around the Moviola running it back and forth, fascinated. I don't think any of the guys had been to a porn theatre, though they were all up and down Market st. at the time. Later we got a projector, one of the guys took it home and invited friends over. No, I don't think the film was ever returned! The guy who stole it did go on to make porn films in the 70's. Wish I could remember his name! His films were quite good. He was a film student who knew what he was doing and learned a lot from that clip!
Wow, what a story! I have had a lot of mess ups and mixups at the film lab, but not anything that memorable. If you remember who it was, I am dying to know! What you describe is so female-genital-centered, it seems quite unusual for the time, so that makes it even more intriguing.
This was fascinating! I love this image of you in the theater taking notes, yelling at the guys, "You're missing a good part!" And that you were paid well for your work without being asked to compromise your values or unique perspective.