There's no doubt you'll be entertained by the new DVD documentary, I'm a Porn Star, which is available to rent or own (at $24.95). There are juicy nuggets about the lives and experiences of its four porn star subjects, as well as items of general porn world high jinx and low down scattered throughout the film, even if the final effect can feel rather scattershot.
The film was directed by Charlie David, who's known mostly as a performer. But offscreen, he's garnered experience and awards as a writer, scriptwriter, director and producer. He knows the biz, and although I'd have liked him to focus more tightly on his stars and their experiences, and perhaps left out the fragmenting multiplicity of side trips and diversions, his movie's a jam packed pornucopia every which way. Even if the rapid beats of club mixes that are pervasive on the soundtrack support the movie's snippet-style editing but belie a seriousness of intent. I'm a Porn Star wasn't intended for the intelligentsia, but is, instead, a popdoc.
I'm a Porn Star spends far too much time on a history of gay porn, before getting to its meat�"the four stars whose experience it details. They are Brent Everett, Colby Jansen, Rocco Reed, and Johnny Rapid. They've let their director take us behind the scenes at their shoots, and when they're interviewed, they're forthcoming and candid about their experiences�"who they are, what they like when the cameras aren't rolling, how much money they make, where they've been, and where they're going.
Rocco Reed is low key, realistic about his career, and sensible ("I think the reason there are so many str8 guys doing gay porn is that everyone's a little bit gay"). Johnny Rapid seems a strange one; his description of his off-screen sex life is a little scary. He's filming as many scenes as he can to support his wife, three-year-old daughter and newborn son. "I need my career to last until I get out of school and can earn as much or more than I am now, to take care of my family."
Colby Jansen was, to me, the most fascinating. The well-spoken man's got an undergraduate degree in Physics, and is now working on an MBA. He spent eight years in the Marines, a lot of time playing professional rugby, and more time as a Defense Contractor (he worked in the Pentagon!).
And then he met award-winning transsexual porn performer Gia Darling. He thought she was the hottest woman he'd ever seen. Sometime after being smitten, he found out she had a penis. Even though Gia has since given it up for what Jansen calls a very pleasurably workable vagina, Colby adjusted to it when it was there, and, surprise, found out he liked it. After all, he says, he loved her, and it didn't matter what was between her legs (they've been married for some years). And so, by meeting his wife, Jansen was led into the world of sex with men. So his sexuality is quite fluid, and he's not exactly Gay for Pay (G4P). Actually, his expansive sexuality is admirable, and you'll be fascinated as he details his adventures.
Buoyant Mr. Everett is big-time gay, and a joy. His mother maintains a shrine with awards and other memorabilia of his career, and his father seems proud of his son's gleeful statement, "I got my big dick from my father!"
The other three guys could be considered G4P�"although the fact that they have wives and children and also perform in str8 porn is mitigated by their admission that they'd had sex with guys independent of film work, and continue to do so for personal pleasure. Even so, that brings up questions that the movie neglects to ask.
When Fiddler on the Roof was enjoying a long run and longer tours, it was routinely cast with Greeks, Italians, and the like�"any gypsy who was at all swarthy. The joke being that there was hardly a Jew among them. Well, you don't have to be Jewish to eat lox. But in many intangible ways, I think it helps to be gay if you eat penis. Now, you may know that many porn stars aren't gay (or Jewish). This movie documents how that affects their lives and work, but neglects the elephant in the room. How does that affect the final product, and its viewers?
A narrator claims the men "have the swagger to say, 'I'm a porn star.' " They also have the swag porn stardom provides. I'm a Porn Star makes it obvious that most performers who are G4P, bi, or sexually fluid do it for the money, with other considerations remaining secondary (such as, exploring sexuality). It doesn't probe much below the surface of the situation. What's the impact on viewers, if any, of seeing non-gay men have homo sex?
Three of the four interviewees in the doc admit they think of girls while having homo-sex. I should think that would create a divide, distance them from their partners in so many ways. Yet the performers aren't asked about that. Nor are the film's talking heads�"directors, sex therapists, doctors and, most tellingly, porn producers�"asked about the possible ramifications. Is a gay porn consumer a guy who can reasonably expect his sexuality to be validated by the product he buys, or is he just a mark who is learning to pay?
Another subject mentioned briefly in the movie by a veteran director is the difficulty porn stars have with acting. It's simple, he says. They lack training. I ask, if they can't act, and if they're str8, how can they show or experience emotion? A bigger question is, does the porn industry have any interest in showing emotion? The answer is a big No. Yet they should. Despite my being a fan of a number of G4P performers, I think hiring gay would help the industry more often pin down that elusive thing they call "chemistry."
At its very beginning, the documentary states its thesis: "We must be changed by our consumption of porn. But in what ways, exactly?"
While it answers a host of questions, it never gets around to that one.