With the commercial and critical success of Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights and the modern Lolita tale American Beauty, the wide launch of adult superstores such as Castle's (we have a local store, though I've never been inside--at least not without my Jerry Falwell Halloween costume), and the massive array of adult sites on the World Wide Web--ranging from professional hardcore to Gram and Gramps do the nasty in front of their webcam--I think we can all agree that pornography has become a pervasive force in mainstream media. The question of whether it's harmful, however, has been the subject of contemporary debate ever since 1953 when Hugh Hefner brought erotica out of the back alleys and onto the nation's newsstands with Playboy. Hosted by Martin Kove (The Karate Kid), Jon Schneider's A Drug Called Pornography makes a compelling case for pornography's addictive and potentially destructive affects, drawing on commentary from health professionals, convicted sex offenders, social critics (including Jackson Katz and Andrea Dworkin), and--most frighteningly--the man on the street. Divided into five segments on addiction, sex mis-education, desensitization, conditioning and acting out, the film explores the relationship between porn's ubiquitous availability and changing attitudes, particularly among young adult males in their twenties, whose diet of porn and hardcore rap have influenced their tendency to see women as sexual objects. While the jury is still out on establishing a direct relationship between pornography and violent sexual crimes, there is little doubt that the more extreme sexual fantasies catered to on the Internet pose troubling questions for the future. Even more disturbing is the fact that for the first time in history very young boys--10 and under--have the means to access all kinds of pornographic material, and we've literally no idea what the long term effects of exposure to violent, sadistic sexual images might be for children at such early ages. While the program does occasionally feature TV-like dramatizations to break up the talking head aspect, there are no pornographic images or explicit language (though the talk by the young male interviewees is depressingly frank and insensitive regarding views on women). Sure to be very popular, this affordable, thought-provoking documentary makes a fine contrast to the older Patently Offensive: Porn Under Siege (VL-12/92). Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)
A Drug Called Pornography
(2000) 56 min. $29.95. United Broadcast Group. PPR. Color cover. Vol. 15, Issue 5
A Drug Called Pornography
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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