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Movies
And Specials: The History Of Pornography
Synopsis:
Ten years in the making-- due in large part to its taboo subject--
this six-part series tells the history of pornography for the
first time on American television.
The History
of Pornography charts the changes in sexual imagery prompted by
the advent of new technologies over thousands of years: from ancient
times to print, photography, film, video and the Internet. With
unprecedented access to the modern porn industry, interviews with
pornography experts and historians, and an unparalleled collection
of archival material, it is also the story of how these technological
mediums influenced the development of pornography, who had access
to it, how it was distributed and how it was censored.
The History
of Pornography puts aside the usual moral arguments that have
clouded the issue for decades and takes an objective historical
look. Pornography, far from being some smutty sideshow on the
margins of society, has in fact played a vital and central role
in civilization and our cultural evolution.
The Cast:
Production
Info:
Airdates:
It debuted on Trio, June 8th.
Episodes:
Episode One: The Road To Ruin - Antiquity
Sexual imagery has been at the heart of culture all over the world,
from the Cerne Abbas man to the painted walls of Roman Pompeii.
When the early Victorians started digging up the obscenities of
the past they were horrified by such graphic images and were determined
to restrict their availability to a small club of gentlemen and
academics, often called Secret Museums.
Episode
Two: The Sacred and the Profane
The arrival of the printing press turned sexually explicit expression
into something far more dangerous. The Pope censored the 16th
century engravings of 16 sexual positions and put their engraver
in prison. Pornography was instrumental in fermenting the French
revolution with shockingly explicit satire directed at the monarchy,
and the Marquis De Sade spent most of his life in prison imagining
and documenting the most extreme and elaborate sexual perversions.
Episode
Three: The Mechanical Eye
Photography was the greatest leap forward ever in the history
of pornography. What people found so shocking about the photograph
was how real it was. Pornographic photographs were more expensive
than a prostitute and were limited to an elite few until the late
19th century, when photo reproduction on paper allowed for the
birth of the porn magazine. With the growth of the international
postal service came a new breed of businessman: the porn dealer.
Episode
Four: Twentieth Century Foxy
Blue movies or 'stag' films emerged in the early 1900s. Shot illegally
and anonymously they were smuggled into towns by travelling salesmen
for bachelor parties. These gave way to the porn peepshow booths
of the 60s, but in the early 70s films like Deep Throat, Behind
the Green Door and The Devil in Miss Jones suddenly and unexpectedly
pushed hard core pornography above ground.
Episode
Five: Sex Lives on Videotape
The advent of video at the end of the 70s killed the sex cinemas,
and the video remote control allowed fast forwarding to the action.
Video was cheap, resulting in a huge porn boon both in Europe
and the States. Professionals picked up the camcorders of the
mid 80s and started making documentary sex films. When video cameras
became less cost prohibitive, consumers turned into producers
as well. The audience held cameras and recorded their own sex
lives.
Episode
Six: Pornotopia
The Internet has made the pornographic fantasy more accessible,
more interactive, and, in turn more outrageous. The plethora of
content has forced providers to become more and more extreme in
what they deliver. The advent of this technology, more than any
other, has raised serious questions about its ease of access and
the country's obligation to protect children from unsuitable images.
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