Pandora’s Box
By The Colonel
Now comes the final era of the Sibyl’s song;
The great order of the ages is born afresh.
– The Fourth Eclogue of Virgil
To the strains of Richard Strauss’s tone poem Thus Spoke Zarathustra, a hominid invents the first weapon in the history, using a bone to kill prey. As the hominid tosses the bone in the air, Stanley Kubrick cuts to a 21st century spacecraft hovering the earth, skipping thousands of years in technological development. This is the opening sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Godfather of Sci-Fi genre. At the time the movie was made in 1968, 2001 was a distant future; many had high hopes and great expectations for the 21st century, and imagined there will be an era of peace and prosperity, a time in which technology will unite people across the globe and improve their lives and livelihood.
Eventually 2001 came, and none of dreams became true. Instead, September 11 happened, invasion of The Middle East happened, and the global economic collapse happened. Technological advancements did not improve lives and livelihoods, but shattered them into pieces. Now as we’re heading towards the most dangerous, uncertain era of human history, perhaps it’s time to ask: When was the turning point; and what was the cause? I believe the answer is August 6, 1991, the day CERN, a pan European organization for particle research, publicized the new World Wide Web project, the day the internet as we know it was born. The day Pandora’s Box was opened.
Arthur C. Clarke once wrote: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. That applies to the internet. It’s such an amazing tool, a global cyber library where the entire history, culture and civilization of mankind is catalogued, categorized and stored; and everything is accessible by a click of the mouse. The internet changed things, and there’s no going back.
At the same time it united our consciousness, the internet obliterated any and all physical boundaries and territories: there is no such thing as privacy in the cyberspace, everybody is exposed to everything, and anybody can be anywhere and do anything.
For better or worse, this advanced magic-like technology is in contradiction with our primitive nature and our centuries long established habits and business models; and that’s how the internet is destroying the economy and hence lives and livelihoods. It’s hard to imagine 5 to 10 years from now anybody can earn a living by for instance being a musician or journalist or pornographer, because everything is available to everybody all across the globe, and everyday people feel less compelled to pay to listen to the music or read news or watch porn.
In fact, a human society is like a complex machine, with each and every individual as a cog in this giant machine. When somebody’s profession and livelihood is ravaged by the internet, consequently that will have effects on other parts of the machine and cause so much malfunction until the whole machine will eventually collapse.
Here is an example: imagine a guitar player losing his job, because people get his music from the internet for free and no longer pay for it. When that guitar player doesn’t have a source of income, he won’t be able to pay his mortgage and his house will be foreclosed. Consequently, the gardener who’s been mowing the guitar player’s lawn and the handy man who’s been repairing his house will lose a customer; and they will continue to lose more customers who lose their livelihood because of the internet until that gardener and that handy man won’t be able to provide for themselves and their families, either, even though their profession has nothing to do with the internet directly.
This is the unfolding tragedy: We’re in this together, everything is connected, and nobody’s safe. Whatever we do, will come back to us. We are at the process of globalization: One planet, one nation, one language; and inevitably one government. A new order of the ages: The New World Order.
Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku refers to this process as transiting from a level zero civilization to a level one civilization on a cosmic scale. Professor Kaku emphasizes on how dangerous this transition is, and theorizes that there have been many civilizations in the past, both on earth and across the galaxy, that have failed during such transition and eventually destroyed themselves; and there is a clear and present danger that we too are on the path to self destruction.
What goes against any opportunity for peace and prosperity is not an outside force, there is no Satan conspiring against mankind to take his vengeance on God, it’s us. We are our worst enemy; our greed, our selfishness and our ignorance will inevitably break us down and exterminate us.
As Jean-Paul Sartre so eloquently said: There are only two ways to enter the final chamber, free, or not free.
Looks like we’ll be entering not free; and I no longer care.
The end came when America gave up democracy in December of 2000. History will show that a civil war between the States would’ve accomplished a lot more more than the Irag invasion. I was ready at the time.
Democracy simply doesn’t mean anything to most Americans. If it did, why on earth are there two U.S Senators in Wyoming, a state with less than 400,000 registered voters, etc. This is a joke. What democracy?
There’s a lot of truth here; it’s sort of like the old trappings of modern life argument. Having traveled around a bit I’ve seen it countless times- the old days were always better. Still, nobody wants to give up what they’ve got today to go back to that “idyllic” time.
Eventually, there will be a movement. People will start to throw away their Netbooks and Ipods. They will just go outside and play again.
Adapt Overcome Improvise
Nothing is permanent except change
Lotefa says:
‘Adapt. Overcome. Improvise.’
That sounds more like the title of an Anime cartoon rather than a comment; but if you have any brilliant ideas on how musicians, journalists, pornographers and everybody else who makes a living off of copyright can compete against the free and convince consumers to pay for their product, I’m listening.
Great post, Colonel. You bring up some compelling points, and arguments. Nice sci-fi analogy as well – ‘2001…’ is one of my all-time favorite films, and I’ve read Clarke’s entire catalog.
I do disagree that technology is solely a destroyer of culture or the societies within which it develops, if I’m understanding you correctly here. Technology, in my view, while certainly possessing destructive aspects, is equally creative and empowering. Of course, it must be wielded with forethought and wisdom, of which humankind is sadly deficient, so that comes with a big caveat.
For example, take the Dark Ages in Britain and Europe, when the ability to read the (hand)written word was held only by the church. This ensured that the common people had to rely completely on the clergy to relay—and interpret—the bible and all other written decrees that effected everyday life and commerce. With the advent of the printing press, that total control was lost and democratized, with the result that the church’s control was diminished and civilization flourished.
You could apply the same analogy to the Web, which has empowered the entire word with information that was hitherto available only to a few. Indeed, there have been, and will continue to be, impacts on aspects of commerce that such technology encompasses; however, this same technology presents new and still unfathomed avenues to evolve old commerce scenarios and create wholly new ones. Arthur C. Clarke first imagined the orbiting communications satellite decades before it became a reality, but when it did it didn’t kill off all other forms of communication. Humankind embraces each new technology and uses it to create the next. I like to believe that our brains develop along a similar curve, and our race will survive in some part as enlightened, compassionate, and intelligent.
To quote John Lennon, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…”
I think that the protection of intellectual property will have to rely on some form of data encryption. Since technology appears to be moving away the transfer/sale of goods as physical media, and toward streaming data, it will also enable methods to encrypt or copy-protect that data. Whoever develops such tech will become very, very wealthy, so there’s obviously the motivation.
For musicians and mainstream movie & tv producers, as long as they make a product that I’d like to watch/listen then I’ll continue to buy them.
As for pornographers, they’re fucked. Unlike songs, movies & tv shows, porn can be sliced, chopped & diced into individual segments. Porn clips can be named in a near infinite amount of combinations that copyrights would be difficult/impossible to prove.
On top of that, pornographers have flooded the market with so much content that even if they were to stop making new porn right now, no one would notice.
I totally agree, once I found a girl I like, I can watch her scenes free on the web, no need to buy porn again unless is the Coronel/Ruby scene that Ruby do not wants to make.
Porn is done. Porn is the fast food of media, one you has watched an scene one or two times you move on to another.
i think it would be nice for ruby to go out to la and do a couple of milf series. have her seduce a young stunt cock, he wearing a t-shirt that says “got milf”.
I disagree that porn is going to be completely killed off by free content, or by the glut of (mostly bad, poorly produced, with sub-standard talent) content available. That’s a silly Chicken Little perspective. Viewers will always seek out—and pay for—new content from their favorite performers, and this accounts for the ever-growing popularity and financial viability of top solo star web sites. Fans want updated new content, and a virtual “relationship” with that girl – the one they can never have in reality. We’ll see continued diminishing returns on the whole, and I’m pretty confident we’ll never see the previous glory days again, but the “death of porn,” never. Content is still king, and quality will always have value.
Napster and other file-sharing sites didn’t kill the entire music industry, nor did the same scenario kill the home-entertainment segment of the movie industry. Both continue to thrive, but have had to adapt through technology and new business strategies. In particular, independent producers in both music and film have created their own platforms of production and distribution, where the majors have been slow to react. I personally have many associates in the music, film, and porn industries, who are making a comfortable living and still look forward to the creative and business challenges ahead. But they aren’t sitting on their asses, wringing their hands and wondering what to do. They’re working their asses off to act on the opportunities presented, and applying their creativity to maximum effect.
The porn biz got fat and lazy and when a sudden change hit it in the face, it went to its knees and whined like a little bitch instead of muscling forward. I’m more than happy that the majority of fat, lazy bastards will fall by the wayside. It leaves more cash for those of us who can turn on a dime and take advantage of new opportunities and a more open playing field.
As far as porn being “the fast food of media,” I don’t see McDonald’s doing too badly as a fast-food provider. They even grabbed a hefty share of business from Starbucks by being smart and adapting to consumer demand. That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout.
Thank you, Third Axis, since the topic of this thread is technology advancement and it’s effects on human life, and I’ve been a fan of Stanley Kubrick for as long as I remember, I felt compelled to mention his futuristic Sci-Fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey.
I do believe that technology, particularly the internet, is like a two bladed sword that has as many benefits as hazards; it depends on how it’s used and to what purpose. Unfortunately like any other technology, the internet has been perverted and twisted into a tool for all kinds of criminal activities, from fraud to planning terrorist operations, stealing copyright protected content, etc; and due to the fact that the internet is boundless and infinite, it’s almost impossible to set and execute any definitive guidelines to control and regulate it.
As old business models crumble, the only hope for survival remains in utilizing technology itself to fight against it. In regards to porn, I believe the solution might be in plans such as changing the primary method of content delivery from the phisycal format (DVD distribution) to digital (cable and online broadcasting, streaming live shows, etc.), filming in 3D and manufacturing 3D glasses. The goal must be breaking free from old business models and providing consumers with something more than what they can access for free via hundreds of tube and file sharing web sites, because right now *free* is very attractive and very hard to compete against.
To quote Fox Mulder in the last scene of The Truth, The X-Files series finale:
‘Maybe there’s still hope.’
To KlausV’s rant about democracy, the framers set it up so each state would be evenly represented in the Senate (the political body that is designed to be more ‘moderate’ and ‘rational’) by two people. On the flip-side, in the House of Representatives, the number of elected persons is determined by a state’s population (thusly, giving more clout to more populated states). Likewise, this makes the House the more ‘riotous’ of the two legislative bodies. At the end of the day, I’d say that each state has PLENTY of democracy at work.
As for the Pandora’s Box that is the internet, people will simply have to adapt. It’s not as if there weren’t telegraph operators who were endlessly crying about the invention of the telephone — or guys who delivered blocks of ice endlessly whining about the invention of self-sufficient refrigerators. Out with the old, in with the new technology.
Pornographers are simply getting a rude wake-up call on HOW their product is really being consumed. It’s like how one of the biggest laughs in Boogie Nights comes when Burt Reynold’s Jack Horner character tells Dirk Diggler he sincerely hopes to be able to keep people in their seats AFTER they’ve finished secretly jerking off in the theater. The laugh comes from how ‘quant’ a notion, however real it was at the time, is to modern audiences who have been renting porn for over a decade and most likely, NEVER watched an entire feature from start to finish even if they were in the privacy of their own homes.
The same could be said of a LOT of porn producers in the VHS/DVD era who thought their customers were renting/buying their movies and watching the ENTIRE scene and then some. Here they are offering movies that are twice as long than the traditional 70-80 minutes with all sorts of bells and whistles (BTS, cast lists, special menus isolating small clips of certain sex acts, trailers, cumshot recaps, still photos, et cetera). When all the typical user wants is a well lit scene with a reasonably attractive chick giving her 120%.
To counter your argument, Sammy; how then do you explain the strong sales for most of the recent big-budget productions like ‘Pirates I and II’, ‘The 8th Day’, ‘The Sex Files’ and all the other parody releases (the biggest-selling genre)? The ‘Pirates’ franchise has even made major bucks in its softcore versions. All of these full-length releases are built around “stories” and don’t necessarily have the hottest/hardest sex, so consumers must be buying them—at full retail price—for something other than a quick segmented stroke. Could it be that “adult entertainment” might actually be just that: adult AND entertainment?
My favorite quote from the great ‘Boogie Nights’ – Jack to his cameraman, who’s taking too much time trying to get the lighting right for Dirk’s debut scene: “There’s shadows in life, baby.”
I’d say to that argument, part of it is pure media hype (it helps when there’s been multiple mainstream media stories about ‘Pirates’; everything from the NYT to Daily Variety to all points inbetween). Heck, even the recent CNBC special on porn HAD to mention DP’s Pirates series (as again, this is impressive to Hollywood proper — but it’s not as if they’re going to hire Joone to helm the next Lethal Weapon flick). The sales for the other features you mentioned (8th Day, various parodies) are due to the Couples Market for porn (of which I never said there wasn’t a sizable consumer base).
Many guys who are porn fans, or to a lesser extent women, trying to get their partners to watch with them would sooner pick up a glossy vanilla sex feature from the likes of Vivid, Wicked, or a silly porn parody than the latest Teenage Spermaholics or Anal Expedition.
It doesn’t change the fact, consumers who ARE watching the newest Cum Coat My Throat or Fetish Fuck Dolls are simply jerking off to a small part of the entire movie.
From Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights to James Cox’s Wonderland and Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno, almost all of the movies made by Hollywood about porn have one thing in common: A serious lack of accuracy and realism. They always fall from one end of the roof, and either depict the porn valley as a shiny, happy place where making adult movies is the easiest, most fun thing to do and consists of nothing but fucking beautiful women and partying 24/7, or they paint a dark, grim and nasty picture in which women are almost always enslaved victims and men are blood sucking, monstrous, vicious pimps. The reason is because none of these directors, though some of them are talented indie filmmakers, have never been involved in the porn valley; therefore what they depict is their conception, not their real life experiences.
The truth of the matter is that the business of making pornographic movies does not fall into a black or white area. It’s not entirely easy and fun and profitable, and it’s not entirely evil and destructive and gloomy, either. It’s a human thing, and like all things human, it’s complicated, incomplete and yet somehow attractive. It’s hard to explain, but those who have experienced it know how it is.
OK, so that also doesn’t change the fact that a large segment of porn’s consumer base is in fact buying big-budget releases. That’s not just “media hype;” although the media hype you go on to mention is part of the very machine that helps to sell porn, and is further proof of its marketing power within the larger entertainment industry. You prove my very point. Your notion that, “modern audiences who have been renting porn for over a decade and most likely, NEVER watched an entire feature from start to finish even if they were in the privacy of their own home,” is a generalization. The fact remains that a significant percentage of “modern audiences” are paying for all of the releases I referenced, and it makes no difference whatsoever if they fall under the “couples’ market” or any other market. Sales are sales, my friend, and the scripted—and parody—releases are selling now, and will continue to sell.
You also generalize with the statement “a large segment of porn’s consumer base”. That’s like saying a large segment of Taco Bell’s consumer base are White people who like non-authentic Mexican food.
Unless you’re going to start showing me inside baseball sales figures of each genre of porn sales, you’re just verbally pissing in the wind.
The ‘proof’ of porn’s marketing acumen within traditional media is also a general statement. For again, you might as well be saying that ‘proof’ of the successful marketing of cocaine is in how often it is depicted in your average mainstream action movie.
Sex sells. Porn doubly so.
You’re right, Colonel. There is no reliable formula for what’s successful in porn or Hollywood. Tastes change, cultural mores change, the very techniques of filmmaking change, and both industries continually produce hits and misses from decade to decade. A film can be a miserable flop upon its release, and then become a cult legend years later. The answer is, just do what we do with honesty and dedication; those who get it, get it. Those who don’t, look elsewhere. Splitting hairs about what makes something successful and another thing unsuccessful is an exercise in futility.
Sammy, I speak with numerous retailers all over the country, and also with marketing people in VOD and online sales. I certainly don’t rely on XBIZ or AVN to be my business barometer. Can I quote for you accurate nation-wide sales figures? No. Show me where to obtain them, if you know. In the absence of such, your assertions are as verifiable as mine. I still disagree with you.
Sammy sez:
“The ‘proof’ of porn’s marketing acumen within traditional media is also a general statement. For again, you might as well be saying that ‘proof’ of the successful marketing of cocaine is in how often it is depicted in your average mainstream action movie.”
Umm, you’re the one who stated about ‘Pirates’ on CNBC, Variety, NYT, etc. In fact, I’ve seen it mentioned in a number of other major publications and TV networks both domestically and internationally, making it probably the most-hyped porn production in history since ‘Deep Throat’. Your “general statement” is an obvious non-point, and your argument is shot full of holes.
Post #22 & 23 = Exhibit A as to why Porn Valley will never get their shit together long enough to figure out how to survive…
Really? Explain.
… and please spare me more lame mixed metaphors.
Metaphors too far above your pay grade?
Please, is that the best you can do to support your failing argument? I expect more.
Didn’t think so. Stay down.
When one just regurgitates a person’s original statements, it’s truly useless to try and debate them. You’re free to say whatever porn you like best is the current sales champ, as I am just as free to assert isn’t the case from a longtime fan’s perspective.
You want to sit there smug and say, “show me the numbers Glick!”.
I say, show me the numbers beyouch…or have a cup of STFU Beer with your ‘retail/marketing’ buddies who are telling you THEIR shit is selling more than what is being reported to the public-at-large.
Someday democracy will come to the USA, sammyglick. Will you adapt?
Pure democracy doesn’t exist. America has a representational democracy. Either participate or don’t. No one is forcing you to do your civic duty and vote. You apparently have problems with the fact that in a democracy, the majority rules. While I might not have voted for George W. Bush, he ultimately became my President. While I found fault with his party’s policies, they had a majority to enact such legislation. That is the American system of government.
So in the next election, support those candidates who support your views. If enough like-minded people do likewise, you’ll get the government you want and those who voted for others will have to take issue and find fault with the ‘tyranny of the majority’. It’s as simple as that.
You have any problems with that, move to a REAL tyranny and see if that suits you better than living in relative freedom and equality. Otherwise, there’s prime real estate to be had on the moon, Mars and Venus to name a few other planets lacking in KlausV’s wisdom and leadership….
Sammy, you ignorant slut, you obviously missed the entire point of our exchange. I wasn’t talking about sales figures, and even clearly stated that I, nor anyone else, has accurate, quotable numbers. You continue to chase your own tail, contradicting your very own words in generalizing about generalization. Sheesh! Do you even read the stuff you write before tapping the return button? My point is valid, and the sales of big-budget, scripted porn features are still doing OK, which indicates a solid demographic for that type of product. It’s a simple fact. Unlike you, quite obviously, I do have an established network of industry professionals, who have no reason to blow smoke up my ass about how their business is doing. They’re friends and associates, and I trust their information. Anybody who has the slightest knowledge about this business knows that accurate sales figures are simply not available; however, anyone with a basic understanding of porn’s retail/wholesale economics can gather enough data to make an educated estimate of what is selling and where.
I’m not debating your point that the latest cheap-ass gonzo blowbang vignette release is getting sliced up like day-old deli meat and getting served up free to college kids posted-up on tube sites, with their econo-size lube and a roll of Costco toilet paper at their side. Thanks for that insight, professor. My counter-point, however, is up there for you to read… so I don’t have to waste your or my time repeating it.
“Globalization”, as Michael Parenti notes is “an attempt to extend corporate monopoly control over the entire globe; over every national economy, over every local economy, over every life. It does this by treating international corporate property rights and international corporate investment rights as supreme; as taking precedence over all our other rights, including our democratic sovereignty”…
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6573660441809242121&ei=pSsLS8-iBIH8qAOvu73cDQ&q=globalization+conspiracy&hl=en#
Third Axis “latest cheap-ass gonzo blowbang vignette”
When did I even suggest…!? I’m I talking to a brick wall? Beuller, Beuller…
This entire debate stated when I made the point, which is still quite valid if you’d take the fucking time to think about it instead of telling yourself how cool you are, that pornographers are suffering right now because they refuse to think about how their product is being consumed. Period, end of story.
Yes, I’m aware that porn features are profitable and are not in any danger of disappearing tomorrow. Yet on the same token, people who spend days/weeks/months even, crafting the next Digital Playground Pirates/Not XXX Parody/et cetera porn feature are deluding themselves if they think their ‘product’ is somehow on par with even the shittiest shit on mainstream TV and multiplex movie theater.
It’s not and never will be.
So you can quote all of the real, imagine, and inbetween sales figures (as you say “Anybody who has the slightest knowledge about this business knows that accurate sales figures are simply not available”) to back up whatever wild Palinesque fantasies (aka your so-called “educated estimate of what is selling and where”) you have of someone rushing out to buy the latest Brad Armstrong/Joone/Paul Thomas/Will Ryder yadda yadda yadda porn feature, popping popcorn…ordering a pizza and sitting down to watch it as if they were tuning into a $100M Hollywood movie or whatever scripted piece of nonsense NBC is airing.
Otherwise, I appreciated the nod to the great days of SNL when they were actually funny (although to be fair, they had the genius of Aykroyd).
As Dr. Michael Parenti says in the video I submitted (you can see it once Cindi approves) “The most dangerous addiction in America is wealth. It’s not drugs.” One man’s freedom is another’s slavery. We’re a snake eating ourselves by the tail. We’re the Roman Empire on crack. Once upon a time, “Don’t tread on me” was to possibly be our national motto. Today we tread on everyone else as well as ourselves via “globalization”.
Jeremy Steele says:
‘We’re the Roman Empire on crack.’
Well said, my friend.
Today, we’re facing two major threats: An external threat, poseed by the government and multi national corporations that own the government and set guidelines and protocols to preserve and prolong their profit at any cost; and an internal threat, posed by our perverted, twisted sense of individuality, self obsession and excessive consumption. We’re living in the most dangerous era of the human history.
The Prisoner, a Sci-Fi miniseries which was recently aired on AMC deals with the subject of individual vs. the state in a very delicate manner. The miniseries, written by Bill Gallagher and featuring James Caviezel and Ian McKellen, is the re-make of the cult favorite British TV series from the 60’s about a government agent who is kidnapped and sent to a remote island known as The Village. If you missed it on TV, be sure to look for it on DVD.
The Prisoner tagline:
YOU ONLY THINK YOU’RE FREE
Well, I’m playing Bob Marley’s “Natural Mystic” while keeping finger’s busy.
Are we free? Are you kidding me? Income tax, sales tax, tax on tax, social insecurities, Are we free? Are you kidding me? Sounds like a song, sing along… Are taxes voluntary?
9-5 to keep alive, not to mention the time it takes to drive…
Free to say what you think? Every bite of truth has it’s price.
“Free speech” zones… standing out all alone, far from the rolling cameras, on my own.
But still I scream “Fuck You….
How the fuck are we free? Are you kidding me?”
I’m free to dream.. when I’m not occupied feeding something, such as a giant beast of which I am but(t) a hindquarter barnacle.
I’m free to dream while sleeping…
Are we really free in the land of the free?
Sammy, pardon me, but now you’re all over the place with your comments. Please go back and read your #15 comment, which elicited my initial response to you. Neither there, or anywhere else in our exchanges, did I compare porn to mainstream fare in any regard, so what the hell are you talking about? I did mention that mainstream media did a good job of advertising and probably boosting sales of ‘Pirates’ through its coverage, nothing more. You pointed out the same thing.
And to recap, you were the one who attempted to neatly define—although you can’t really define at all—the “typical user” and how they consume porn. And I apologize for characterizing your fine examples such as, “the latest Teenage Spermaholics or Anal Expedition… Cum Coat My Throat or Fetish Fuck Dolls,” as cheap-ass gonzo blowbang vignettes. I’m sure you had a loftier concept in mind there.
While I don’t think of myself as all that cool, I do have a good idea of how various porn products are consumed. Yes, I can rely on an educated guess coupled with much actual experience in this biz for well over a decade now; therefore, I find your “fan” perspective a bit lacking in informed knowledge related to sales and distribution. Go ahead and take all the pot shots you want, but your aim is still off.
It’s obvious that producers at all levels are suffering from falling sales, and once again, I never quoted a single sales figure, imagined or otherwise. A movie that costs $10,000 to make will still probably make a better profit comparatively than one that costs a million bucks, or eight million bucks (estimated prod. cost of ‘Pirates’ sequel, but you can refute it if you want). The fact remains that there continues to be buyers for products at both ends of the scale, and that was my essential point. Now go ahead and apply your Bedazzler with more run-around rhetoric on my actual words.
I agree that Danny was the best Not Quite Ready For Prime Time player. Well, Belushi too.
A point of clarification, Sammy. I agree 100% with you that consumers of “the latest Teenage Spermaholics or Anal Expedition… Cum Coat My Throat or Fetish Fuck Dolls,” are doing so for the simple stroke. I mean, what else would you do with it? Obviously, such a product is tailored to be cut up into individual scenes since it has little or no unifying story element. This is also why it has so little value in our culture of “free.” The big movies, on the other hand, have a wider sales potential, with softcore versions that are licensed for hotel pay-per-view as well as the HC, etc. With women being a growing porn-consumer demo, the features are more appealing to them as well. There are still LOTS of people who want to watch porn on their big HD screens, and not just crappy streaming clips. Next thing, we’ll have 3D to add to the playing field.
I know this is all stating the obvious, and I do get what you were saying at the beginning.
Thank you for Michael Parenti’s lecture on globalization, Jeremy, great stuff.
In this interesting clip, Jordan Maxwell explains how and to what extent the entire world operates under two common laws: Civil Law, and UCC (Uniform Commercial Code): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fADeOwFHQyc
I think that the companies who are saavy in their internet marketing will survive. I was asking a civilian which porn brands he had heard of by running different names by him and the ones he was most familiar with were Jenna Jameson, Tera Patrick, Bang Bus, and Hustler. BangBus is the youngest of the three and advertises 99% online, which reveals that a strong internet presence that is viral and interesting is the way to stay relevant for any porn company. The new generation wants to be entertained, they are less loyal to one girl than the prior generations.
Here’s a good article by Parenti on Capitalism’s apocalypse:
http://www.michaelparenti.org/capitalism%20apocalypse.html
I get your points Third (especially how much Aykroyd/Belushi are missed on SNL). Yet I would also add to all, that even a company like Vivid had to eventually bend to (some) of the realities of porn consumption. In that, long ago they started making movies that are more of a collection of scenes with a thin plot, than a super strong plot from which the sex scenes are a result of. From what I’ve read, I could be wrong as who the hell am I, they did this so they could create endless compilations.
Irony upon ironies, they were probably in a better position to transition to the internet than other feature companies. As they now had plenty of workable content for internet users who are not going to sit through tons of silly dialogue just to end with Porn Star X getting screwed on the dining room table because she’s getting her revenge on a shady husband who earlier in the storyline, slept with both the maid and the nanny before telling the wife he wants a divorce because she won’t do anal or take a facial (the backstory attempting to make the dining room table fuck that much hotter).
Tying in a little of what Freepornstarpix discovered with his unscientific poll, BangBros I only know of from the DVDs they release (as I hate getting porn via the internet). Obviously, they’re just doing the reverse of what Vivid has been doing; taking internet clips and putting five of them on a DVD under various headings (MILFS, Cougars, College Girls, Sports, Teachers, Latinas, et cetera) with ZERO plot.
Finally, Colonel — AMC’s The Prisoner remake was beyond awful. Granted, it was a good attempt to update the original, but really…it truly pales in comparison. Anyone wishing to delve in the mind-bending eye-opening world of the Prisoner would be better off just going out and getting the originals right now.
Number Six: Elections? In this place?
Number Two: Of course–we make our choice every 12 months. Every citizen has a choice. Are you going to run?
Number Six: Like blazes, the first chance I get.
Free Porn Star Pix says:
‘I think that the companies who are saavy in their internet marketing will survive.’
True, but in fact even the internet marketing is changing and evolving fast and beyond anybody’s expectations and predictions. Case in point example, the companies you mentioned (Club Jenna, Tera Vision, Bang Bros,etc.) all are subscription based web sites that were established in the late 90’s and during the height of dot.com era. Today, people no longer feel compelled to subscribe to a web site and pay a monthly fee just so they can access to a limited archive, while most of that archive consists of outdated, recycled scenes with no stroke or visual value. Today, if an investor tends to launch a new web site based on the old business model, the chances are that investor won’t be able to attract enough traffic and will eventually fail.
See, that’s the great challenge the adult industry is facing today: consumers want everything, right now, free of charge. Good luck satifying their hunger.
Come on, Sammy, The Prisoner re-make is brilliant. I agree it doesn’t have too much in common with the original series, and that’s intentional. According to Bill Gallagher, the writer of the miniseries, this is more like reinvisioning the story rather than rewriting it, in order to address and discuss the concerns and issues that we’re currently dealing with today, in this day and age. In that aspect, I believe The Prisoner re-make does a wonderful job. The key to relating to it, is to accept it on it’s own terms without comparing it too much to the 60’s series. That way, you can see it and appreciate it for what it is.
With all due respect to Gallagher, he misread the series…as it’s truly timeless.
I was just re-watching the (original series) episode Free For All. It could have been written a month ago; it was that topical and relevant to the issues voters face today. Be it voter apathy, lack of understanding of the issues by the electorate, mindless voting for candidates who don’t represent a voter’s core views/values, empty political rhetoric, lack of true political power (as there are hidden, and not so hidden forces, who actually control the system), candidates who are more celebrities than knowledgeable politicians, and so on and so on.
If Gallagher had taken the time to really think about the original, he’d seen that the best thing in doing a remake…would be to simply update the graphics and special effects. Otherwise, the original’s overall content still addresses today’s world.
Reporter: How will you handle your campaign?
Number Six: No comment.
Reporter: (writing) “Intends to fight for freedom at all costs.”
Photographer: Smile
Reporter: How about your internal policy?
Number Six: No comment.
Reporter: (writing) “Will tighten up on Village security.”
Photographer: Smile!
Reporter: What about your external policy?
Number Six: No comment.
Reporter: (writing) “Our exports will operate in every corner of the globe.” (to Number 6) How do you feel about life and death?
Number Six: Mind your own business.
Reporter: (writing) “No comment.”
I believe Bill Gallagher tended to approach the world of The Prisoner from a more internal, personal, and less socio/political angle: He tended to examine what is the individuality in the 21st century, how it’s defined, what sets it’s boundaries, what’s the cost one must pay to obtain and preserve that individuality and what are it’s consequences and hazards. From that point of view, I think he succeeded and did a fine job. I enjoyed the new miniseries very much, it was a good Sci-Fi story on it’s own terms; though I agree the original series is a timeless classic masterpiece.
I’m a little curious. How come there still is a huge glut of porn? When will the huge axe come down and slay the majority of porn companies? Is this a long, slow decline or will there be a tipping point?
I picked a few excerpts from Yale political scientist Michael Parenti’s above linked article. All of it relates to the porn industry; an industry that won’t itself disappear, but will augur the end for most pornographers. The biz will have a few very wealthy companies, and more and more companies will go out of business as a relatively small few get richer. All this is analogous to countries that start off as first world nations before becoming third world nations.
I threw in the Madoff paragraph just to note that what he attempted to do is what banks have been doing for a long time now; making money on money and dealing assets that never existed.
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In the corporate world of “free-trade,” the number of billionaires is increasing faster than ever while the number of people living in poverty is growing at a faster rate than the world’s population. Poverty spreads as wealth accumulates…
Consider the core contradiction Karl Marx pointed to: the tendency toward overproduction and market crisis. An economy dedicated to speedups and wage cuts, to making workers produce more and more for less and less, is always in danger of a crash…
In addition, there is the frequently overlooked self-destruction created by the moneyed players themselves. If left completely unsupervised, the more active command component of the financial system begins to devour less organized sources of wealth…
Perhaps the premiere brigand was Bernard Madoff. Described as “a longstanding leader in the financial services industry,” Madoff ran a fraudulent fund that raked in $50 billion from wealthy investors, paying them back “with money that wasn’t there,” as he himself put it…
The crimes and crises are not irrational departures from a rational system, but the converse: they are the rational outcomes of a basically irrational and amoral system.
I think it will happen gradually over the course of the next fiscal year and into the following one. This economic downturn/technology shift has already effected the DVD market, and that will continue to decline. Distribs will be sitting on physical inventory that isn’t selling, and they’ll start to deeply discount it, eventually paying back producers pennies on the dollar. Those producers will have already been forced to cut staff and expenses, with the biggest ones forced to downsize significantly (that’s already happening). The little guys will simply pack up their cars and drive into the sunset. Everyone who’s left will be forced to adopt new distrib strategies for their product, with the primary focus on the Internet; however, even that medium will require rethinking, as we’re seeing the old model of pay sites failing as well.
Rates for talent will continue to go down, but since this is the main commodity that we’re selling, it can only decline so far until the talent pool starts to dry up and many of the best performers leave the biz, leaving mostly lower-tier talent who will work for a few hundred bucks per scene, or probably a flat day rate. Producers will try to squeeze as much work as possible out of that day too. This scenario would also negatively impact sales of new product, with consumers simply falling back on old content of their favorite stars, which will be selling for cheap (or available for free!).
VOD is one area that appears to be growing and has some strength, but a glut of VOD sites could have the same effect of driving down the value of content. Additionally, online paid advertising can provide revenue, but not enough on its own to sustain any company, and surely not driving into major profit (example: Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc.).
These times definitely present a conundrum, and capitalism as a whole is undergoing a quantum shift. I’m confident that the porn industry will survive in part, but it will be much smaller and a lot less flamboyant. The exact same thing occurred to the dot-commies, but the Internet has continued to survive and grow as an industry, although with a much more conservative approach to business.
We continue to learn that greed is a cruel mistress.
Thanks for the replies, very sobering stuff. That DVD run for mainstream movies and porn was explosive at first and now it’s dwindling down quite a bit. I’ll never forget one day in 2003 a USA Today article was writing about making a copy of a DVD using a diabolical piece of software called DVD X Copy. I knew right then and there it was the end.
Wow, I found that article, check it out: http://elvis.rowan.edu/~hartley/Courses/ComputersAndSociety/Articles/2003/DVD-X-Copy.html
The slow and painful decline will continue. For instance, Vivid is getting desperate, they’ve put all their stuff on the unreliable VideoBox.com and have licensed their older content to Smashbucks as something called Vivid Classic.
Only the most bankable performers like Tori Black and Kristina Rose are not struggling. The ranks of performers will be dramatically thinned and the model houses will go the way of the dinosaur.
I say ride it out, guys. Yeah, porn is going through some structural changes but you have to remember that we are in the middle of a recession with 10+% unemployment (almost 20 in some states). Not to mention that middle class incomes have been barely keeping pace with inflation for the past ten years.
Porn will be profitable again. Shit, what you guys do is the American Dream.
Yup, we’re seeing the reshuffling as we speak. As sammyglick accurately pointed out—and props to you, my friend—Vivid is a good barometer of the current climate in the industry. Vivid has always been an innovator, saw the vast potential of the Internet earlier than just about everybody in the biz, diversified their business into mainstream licensing and VOD, and basically made smart moves every step of the way. As a result, they sit at the very top of the pyramid. Now, I’m not trying to be a fanboy booster for the company, but I have to give credit where it’s due. As sammy also pointed out, Vivid took notice of the shift in consumers’ preference for vignette-style releases and broadened its catalog accordingly. I don’t think that they’re getting desperate as much as simply repurposing old content and squeezing every last cent out of that catalog, which is just smart business in this current recession. Sure, Vivid’s profits are falling just like every other company, but I have no doubt that it will be the biggest nuclear cockroach left standing after the fallout settles.
The Vivid sales guy admitted that they are lucky to ship 1000 units of a DVD.
This is probably the last AVN show, because companies just don’t have the cash to spend anymore.
WOW PEOPLE! Open your eyes, its not just porn… OMG people, if everything, guys who have been in biz for years are telling me not to give up. The beer guy who came by my job the body shop said biz is down 40%, BEER people. My job is not depresion proof. There will be over 10 girls and only 2 or 3 will make any money. Why? Because guys now if they have jobs just dont have any extra money. And that for every extra in that guys life, from cigs to porn. Its not just porn its every industry that comforts people. Hotels and restuarants are clossing. The saddle ranch closed accross the street, the sushi place changed owners next door and the sushi place on the other side of the Body Shop clossed. A lot of businesses are clossing shop and Ive seen a lot more homeless people in Woodland Hills lately. A homless man was taking a shower in the Taco Bell bathroom today and started yelling at me, I was in rear form cause I let him have it, IBS can do that to you or it could be I think waiting for an hour to use a bathroom is b.s.? Either way poverty and joblessness in Cali is taking over.
the sadle ranch will be clossing due too a lost lease…
In the past, porn companies used to ship 3000 DVD units of a new release for an average wholesale price of $8 to $10. Today, they ship 800 to 1000 DVD units of a new release for an average wholesale price of $4 to $5. In other words, when you hear about the latest best seller porn title, keep in mind that by today’s adult industry standards, best seller means that title has sold an average of 1000 DVD units.
As for the additional revenue sources, most of VOD web sites charge their consumers 8 cents per minute, of which they pay an average %20 to %25 sales commision to porn companies. Clip stores are where porn companies present their individual scenes in different formats (WMV, AVI, MPEG, etc.) They have the option to set the price on their scenes, and receive an average %40 to %60 sales commision. Video member sites like VideoBox usually purchase licensing rights for the average price of $300 per title; and last but not least, cable channels and hotel chains don’t pay any significant money to license new titles, either. If you notice, you’ll see most of softcore titles playing on Cinemax, Starz, ShowTime, etc. are several years old and barely feature recognizeable performers.
All in all, currently the minimum cost of producing a new title from A to Z (shooting, editing, DVD replication, packaging and distribution) is $6000 to $7000, while the maximum profit can be made on that title is around $10000 on a best seller; and once the title is released, it can take up to 6 months to collect the profit it generates. Since the porn market meltdown in 2006, sales have been down %60 to %70; and the long term future of porn doesn’t look anymore promising than what it is today. I’m only being realistic here without trying to discourage anybody. I know we gotta do what we gotta do, but we also have to accept the facts and work together to find a viable solution.
Awesome points everyone. Wealth is the biggest addiction as someone pointed out. As for porn, the internet had accomplices in its demise, too much product, too many dumbass people, and no policing of itself. Its aggravating. Of course despite that it is 2009 we still have people believing that Gold will protect them in these times from poverty and ruin, its just a metal. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Larry Horse says:
‘As for porn, the internet had accomplices in it’s demise.’
True, we discussed the negative effects of the internet on porn extensively; and yet there’s much more to this subject. I’ll post a new article in a couple of days, and examine tube and file sharing web sites thoroughly, how and to what extent they operate, what can be done about them, what are the probable solutions to maintain survival in today’s declining market, etc.
Thank you for your comments, guys, and I’ll look forward to continuing our discussion.