While it is particularly fun to have favorites, to be on a team, or root for one thing over another, the truth is that there are lots of really great things out there to like, and for the most part, it comes down to taste and preference rather than truly distinguishable differences.
I love my iPhone, I have been an Apple boy since I was quite literally a toddler. The Macintosh almost literally grew up with me. There are differences between products, things one system does better than another, but at the end of the day, I prefer Apple. I prefer their aesthetic, their design philosophy, their choices and their execution. It’s not perfect, I’m not going to pretend it is. But I am happy with my phone, my computer, and the Apple digital life.
So what does this have to do with two guys fucking on film?
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| Some rights reserved by LearningLark |
Writing erotica has really helped me understand that entertainment is about consuming things that you enjoy and delivering content that meets expectations with just enough spice to keep a reader guessing and coming back for more. It’s easy to criticize the genre, and to force false comparisons to other types of writing, literary fiction for instance. However, that misses the point entirely.
I don’t go to the movie theater to have my mind expanded. I go to enjoy myself and sometimes see the world a little differently. And I don’t watch erotica to contemplate the solution to institutional racism, but it’s always amazing when unexpected parallels are curated within the scope of the project at hand.
All erotica is not equal, and all studios are not producing equatable media. We need a more intelligent way of talking about what we like, and a better way to help focus our efforts toward audience expectations while still allowing room for growth and surprise.
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| Some rights reserved by Markus Grossalber |
Erotic literature has a flame rating system, and while it’s linear, in fact describes five mostly separate types of stories that appeal to five different reader experiences. They bleed into each other a little bit on the ends, but there is a definite difference between a 1 flame and a 3 flame, and a 3 flame and a 5 flame.
I’d like to develop something even more meaningful for erotic film, and actually something that could cross all media spectrums as well.
I hesitate to call them ratings though, as that has a whole load of moral underpinning that is beside our point here. Let’s think of them as targets, as sub-genres even.
Vanilla (V) — This is the stuff you see on TV after 9:00 or in the skin-a-max flicks on cable. There’s naked bodies, but it’s short and usually window dressing to a story. It’s an opportunity to peek inside the bedroom door, but you’re gonna have to use your imagination to get the juicy stuff.
Steamy (S) — Think Game of Thrones, the camera doesn’t play coy, if there’s a cock out, you see it. If people are fucking, they’re not rolling under blankets, and hopefully it’s mostly physically possible. Sex is more than just a quickie, it may be a moment in the beats of the story, and if your GoT, then you try to have as much naked exposition as possible. But sex is probably simulated, and still not a focus independent of something else story-orientated.
Erotic (E) — This is indie-erotica, where I like to live. Sex is un-simulated, but the story is still a key piece of the cinematic experience. However, it does take time to explore sex for sex’s sake, not only to advance a story. Or the story is being told using sex to show something about characters. But that’s the point, these are characters not just models.
Carnal (C) — Most studios who do high production videos would fit in this category. Sometimes it’s a very simple setup, though more than just “Pizza’s here.” Or it can be something more complex, including full story. But unlike indie-erotica, it’s primary focus is the sex, and usually spends 60%-70% of screen time showing sex. Close up insertion shots may be present to greater or lesser degrees, but the cinematography is still more focused on the beauty of the sex rather than the mechanics of it.
Hardcore (H) — I affectionately refer to this as “Gonzo” or as Devon Hunter calls it “pistons and under-carriage.” There may be a setup, but usually this is a visual focus on the parts of the body, cock shots, ass shots, hole shots, cum shots. POV and amateurs with handheld cameras would fit here, as would studios who focus on close-up action. (We may knock it, but the sheer prevalence of it can’t be discounted.)
So why all the trouble and labels? It’s not to pigeon-hole anyone, rather I think it’s actually freeing. If you make hardcore scenes and your fans want hardcore scenes, you don’t have to be angsty cuz you don’t have story. And if you make indie-erotica, then you don’t have to worry that you didn’t show enough cock or you did some color-grading.
Instead of pretending that we can compare and contrast all erotica, we should understand the intention and genre of each type of erotica, and work to make things better within those expectations. Trying to do story while having 10 minutes of dick time is going to break down both ways.
But these categories are flexible, and not meant as prescriptions for directors and producers to follow. Rather they are a way for us to describe what we’re seeing, and ensure that we don’t fall into the trap of false comparisons. It also lets us talk about what we like and why we like it in a more robust way. It’s not a competition, it’s not a matter of bad vs. good. Each sub-genre has its goals, and its audience, and understanding that should lead to better connections for fans, and a more evolved discussion about the ways we can make all of erotica better for everyone.
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| Max Carter by R. J. Sebastian |
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