The appeal of this film


I really wasn't a fan of this one.

The film is the glorification of a teenager's life as a pornstar who has a big dick, and it doesn't go any deeper than that folks. The characters experience a downfall which doesn't redeem the ludicrous premise "Oh no, Mark Wahlberg had to jack himself off in some dude's car, what a tragedy"

Why is this considered a great film? Let alone in the same league as There Will Be Blood.

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Because its about the porn industry. And Anderson's fan base is overwhelmingly comprised of adolescent, emotionally stunted males who like porn and anything that helps to mainstream it.


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Yeah, that's the reason. Not the genius writing, incredibly directing and cinematography, great characters, acting and use of music. No, it's cool BCUZ ITS ABOUT PORN!!!

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The adult entertainment industry in the US alone generates over 30 billion dollars in revenue per year, which is more than all other US entertainment industries (video games, films, home video, music) combined. You may deplore that fact. You may believe that adult entertainment is rife with drug and alcohol abuse, masochism and other aberrant behaviors, and you would be right. Adult entertainment is nonetheless a powerful influence in our society. It is, therefore, deserving of our attention and consideration. Is it a destructive influence? I believe that it is. We should want to understand its appeal, therefore, not just in terms of market appeal, but also in terms of performer willingness. Boogie Nights took a step toward helping us to do both.

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Good God are you stupid!

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Were you talking to me, Sandy, or was this for another poster?

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The original comment in this thread, the nonsense about "emotionally stunted males." Obviously, that poster was projecting.

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Thank you, and I agree with you. He was projecting to the extent that he was capable of . . . ah . . . EXTENDING himself😂

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I'm not sure how you thought it glorified the business. It all seemed pretty seedy and shallow.

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Exactly, most of them hit bottom pretty hard at some point because of the industry.

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I agree and if anything it shows why not to get into it.
Dirk who was the biggest star in the movie was doing masturbations for $10 and was even kicked out even for that.

Roller girl was shamed and humilated by former students probably couldnt live a normal life outside porn and even that was terrible. She not one once has a stable bf or anyone who remotely cares about her despite being beautiful.

Moore's character despite being gorgeous as well is a sort of pimp and gets pimped being unfaithful and preying on younglings while not having a stable family and then she hits reality when it shows she had left her real family and was totally disturbed with drug addictions.

Macy's character watching his wife constantly getting porked till he is driven to the edge.

We don't even get into the std's, drug deaths, hiv deaths, fan beatings, whore beatings, low wages, fake glamour, and so on. They did touch upon some of the good things like not having a normal life or normal society, not having a normal boyfriend, not being accepted in jobs or even loans. Only being able to date other pornstars and the really seedy life this leads to.

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what are fan beatings and whore beatings?

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Fan Beatings- The last limo guy roller girl rolled was a fan and an admirer but she denied his truths and beat the shit oughta him just cause she was insecure.

Whore Beatings- When they beat up the pornstars. Example when Roller girl is getting beat up by fan.

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This is considered a great film because it IS a great film. Amazing work from everyone involved! Great entertaining rise and fall story!

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What a freaking trolling moron this oringinal poster was. Another example of what helped shut to down the IMDB boards.

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It’s an average film with a paper thin story we’ve seen a thousand times before. People only enjoy it because it was risquĂ© when it came out and had a style ripped off from De Palma/Scorsese films.

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Paper thin story? You obviously didn't pay attention.

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I have seen pornos with a better story.

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Off the top of my head...

-Horner fighting the transition of pornography
-Amber fighting for custody of her son
-Buck trying to find an identity
-Dirk coming to grips with stardom and his growing drug addiction
-The Colonel and his escapades with barely legal girls

I could name several more. That isn't "paper thin".

I realize you are trolling. I just wanted to throw those story-lines out so people that really are interested in seeing the film can learn something. Happy trolling!

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What exactly is so “complex” about those storylines? Those are cliches we’ve seen in dozens of other movies. Moreover, most of those subplots are dropped and never mentioned again in the movie. I get it you’re butthurt fanboy that can’t handle criticism of his favourite movies, but hopefully someone out there can learn something from this. Happy deflecting!

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I think this film is great because it was one of the first to tell the story of a time when the porn industry was in it's infancy. When porn director's and actors were larger than life. (or so they thought) You have to remember when this movie came out Porn had been on VHS tapes for almost 20 years and was seen as a thing that anyone with a camera could make and produce. This movie tells the story when Porn was shot on film and shown on the big screen..The golden age of porn if you will. Film makers like Jack Horner actually thought they would one day be recognized as real film Maker's like the ones at the Oscar's. The actor's who starred in them were just as delusional.

This plus you have an all star cast with amazing acting from not only the stars but the supporting cast that would go on to be A Listers because of this film, and one of the best soundtracks ever is why it's considered great.

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Anderson grew up in the valley as well, so it was a subject near and dear to his heart.

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I didn’t know what to make of it when I first saw it on VHS. Now I’d call it one of my favorite movies of the 90s.

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ONE OF THE TOP 25 MOVIESS OF THE 90S EASILY...ALMOST A PERFECT FILM.

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