Not that I obsess over these things, but there are two oddities that have always puzzled me about the porn industry:
How are the actors/actresses not charged with prostitution, if in fact they are receiving money in exchange for having sex? If there is some loophole in the law regarding sex on film, couldn’t busted johns just tell the police they were only “auditioning” the person with whom they’re caught?
Why aren’t all the porn stars dropping dead from AIDS? Some of these people have been around for literally decades (Ron Jeremy, for instance, claims to have filmed over 1,000 scenes) and rarely, if ever, use condoms during filming.
I have no idea about question #1, but for #2, it’s probably because the producers make absolutely sure that all the actors/actresses are completely healthy before casting them. I seriously doubt that they would just pick someone out of the blue before casting them into a sexually demanding role. Just a lil personal insight for ya.
This is an artistic endeavor. Thus their work is protected by the principle of freedom of expression.
There are limits, of course; snuff films and pedophilia are generally frowned upon. And yes, you can argue that your activities in the red light district are inextricably linked to your artistic expression. Just convince the court, and you’re home free.
John Holmes is probably the most famous porn star to die from AIDS, but there were numerous others. You can find a list at: http://www.rame.net/faq/deadporn/ Many of them may have been infected before the epidemic was known or the virus identified.
The “mainstream” porn industry requires frequent HIV testing. If an actor tests positive, anyone s/he had sex with in a certain time period (not sure exactly how long) is “quarantined”, i.e., forbidden from taking part in any activities involving exchange of body fluid until enough time has passed to retest and ensure s/he remains negative.
This of course doesn’t entirely prevent the spread of the disease, but it helps keep it down.
It seems to be very professional. And, therefore, scary that that many stars died of AIDS. One just assumes that they take great precautions, but, of course, 20-30 years ago, they didn’t know.
If this board starts a FAQ forum, this will be the question I’ll submit. No offense, G-Man, but this question has been asked at least five times on this board already.
The answer is simple. Adult filmmakers aren’t stupid. What they’re doing would be illegal in many locations. So they wisely choose to avoid making their movies in those locations. In point of fact, virtually all professional adult films are made in an area of Los Angeles where the LAPD and district attorney’s office had tacitly decided not to prosecute adult filmmakers.
Perhaps they view it more as “I’ll pay you money to allow me to film you having consensual sex with a partner” than “I’ll pay you to have sex with that guy.”
Some days, you can’t get a single soul to even view your GQ, let alone answer it. But if you drop in the magic words like “sex” and “porn”, watch us all come out of the woodwork just to check it out.
