Larry Clark's Short = The Best One?

While I am fully willing to admit that I might (subconciously) have liked Larry Clark's Impaled over the other shorts in "Destricted" [as Impaled - more than the other shorts - most resembled a straight ahead "erotic piece of pornography"], I don't believe this is the case. Larry Clark - who is ALWAYS interested in the sex life of under-18's in America (some might say TOO interested, but whatever) - wanted to explore the idea that anyone born 1980 or later had very easy access to pornographic films, thanks to the VCR & the proliferation of adult films on video.

I was born before 1980, so I'd be interested in what people that age would say (i.e. - agree or disagree). Personally I don't think you could make a distinctive "cutoff date" like that. In my experience, access to pornography has always come down to "what do your parents/older brother have stashed away?" or "what can you gain access to?". For instance, if you read Jerry Butler's autobiography (he was one of the first male "porn stars", and certainly the first adult film actor to write a book about the industry), he talks about how his dad had the old 8mm "stag reels". So, if he wanted to watch one while his family was out, he would have to set up the screen, the projector, load the film reels, and play these 10-minute "films". And if his dad came home (or if he was just "finished with the movie"), Jerry would have to use a pencil to wind the film back to the exact spot that his dad had left it at, take down the screen, etc.

But that would have been the only way (before VHS) for under-18s to watch porns, as they couldn't exactly go into an "adult theatre" or anything. And if you skipped over Larry Clark's "born in 1980 or later = unfetterred access to VHS porn", you could pick a later birth year (I dunno - 1985? 1990?), and say "All of the people in that group REALLY had non-stop access to porn... and not just 'adult movies', but freakshows of all kinds, thanks to the internet."

I think it would have been fascinating if Larry Clark had taken the idea further, or simply made a "sequel" to see "how uncensored access to porn affected the ways in which men of [a certain age group] viewed sex and pornography". Because that was Larry Clark's stated idea for Impaled, so I just think comparing a) the guys who had to sneak their dad's tape out of his closet, have an "exit strategy" in case he came home early, etc. to b) the guys who just had to type in "big boobs" into a search engine, would have been fascinating.

JMHO

"I am insane... and you are my insanity" - James Cole, 12 Monkeys

-ak