Monday, September 22, 1997 Adult entertainment industry draws
varied student opinions PORNOGRAPHY: Despite criticism, pornography
remains billion-dollar business
By Adam Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
An attractive, busty woman enters. "Hi there," she says to a
strange man across the room. He walks over and introduces himself:
"Hello, beautiful." After a couple seconds of meaningless
conversation, horribly written dialogue and terrible acting, the
director cues the music and the action begins …
Often criticized for being trashy, it receives more heat than
anything else in the entertainment industry. Yet, it’s a
billion-dollar industry, and it’s available on video, print and
electronic media.
It’s pornography. And it sells well. Very well.
Even though people don’t like to admit watching, 8,000 adult
films are released each year for rent or sale at 25,000
porn-carrying stores nationwide, according to Tony Martino, a
representative from the adult-video distribution and production
company Sunshine Films. He adds that rentals total over $665
million a year.
The topic of sex still seems to carry some shock value in our
society, and many people just aren’t ready to discuss their sexual
needs and desires. Porn, to many, represents sexual escape. Photos
and videos of famous celebrities make up some of the most popular
forms. Just check the local news stand, or surf the Web.
"Surprisingly, the number of adult videos we rent out isn’t that
high," says 20/20 Video employee Catherine Ercillo. "Most of the
people who do come in are guys. We rarely have female customers,
but we do have couples who come in." Males constitute 80 percent of
the adult video market, says Martino.
Students’ opinions about porn run the gamut, from enthusiastic
support to strong opposition.
"I think porn is bad," says third-year biology and psychology
student Namiko Nerio. "I would never watch it, but I know a few
people who do."
Many women complain that adult videos and magazines are
degrading.
"I find pornography totally unappealing," says graduate student
Anna Suranji. "And I find it disturbing because it tends to exploit
women."
"It demonstrates that people in society are interested in
looking at women in a certain way; objectifying women," Suranji
says.
Some feel the female actors face an unfair disadvantage when it
comes to physical appearance in hiring practices.
"Although some of it is also designed for women, for the most
part, it’s still geared for men, and it’s very demeaning," says
second-year art student Jennifer Tam. "It’s so unfair that all the
women need to be extremely attractive, while the men are old and
ugly."
Furthermore, some say, sex, a generally private act between two
adults, doesn’t belong on news stands, video tapes and the Web for
all to see.
"I think porn is disgusting," says first-year undeclared student
Marisa Macias. "Sex is something that shouldn’t be available for
the world to see. It needs to be kept private."
Though many are simply repulsed by pornography, there also lies
a need to deal with the issue of censorship, the much-touted evil
in American society that challenges our freedoms.
"Personally, I don’t support porn," says third-year applied-math
student Alec Weinstein, "but I believe in the Constitution and the
First Amendment. You have the right to express yourself, but there
are certain limits. It’s really up to the individual to decide
whether to watch it."
Pornography provides its viewers with all sorts of things – at
least according to some students. But sex lessons?
"I sometimes watch pornos," says fourth-year psychology student
Jack Chen. "I watch them to pick up some tips. I find it
entertaining."
Porn is also notorious for being somewhat humorous. Its writing
and acting may be enough to turn viewers away from Seinfeld.
"My friends and I have watched porn before, not because it was
exciting or anything, but because it was so funny," says
second-year economics student Eric Lee.
Americans generally seem to be more uptight about nudity and sex
than Europeans. In countries such as France, it’s not terribly
unusual to see things that are provocative on television.
But Jens Eggers, a summer-sessions student from Germany, was not
amused by them.
"I think they’re very boring," Eggers says. "When I see porn on
TV, I change the channel. I don’t like watching them. They always
do the same thing, and I think it’s dirty."
Dirty or not, porn crosses all boundaries. Gay pornography is
also extremely popular.
"Gay porn sells very well," says Jesse Zamora, an employee of
Drake’s West Hollywood, which specializes in gay porn.
"All of our customers are males. We don’t carry material geared
toward women," Zamora says.
Zamora also points out that Playgirl magazine is more popular
among gay males than it is with straight females.
Porn comes in magazines and videos, and has made its way onto
the Internet in the past few years. Its move onto the Net has
caused quite a stir, with censorship being a leading issue.
Many parents and authorities feel porn needs to be kept away
from children, but the availability of porn on the Net is making it
easier for them to access such content. Photos can easily be
obtained with a modem now. Martino said the Playboy website
receives 5 million hits a day.
"I think pornography on the Internet should not be censored,"
says second-year microbiology student Bing Ling. "But people need
to be more responsible about it. All websites should have Adult
Checks."
The Adult Check system requires Web surfers to submit a password
obtained by paying a fee using a credit card. This serves as an age
confirmation for Web surfers.
Though porn has gone high-tech, some still prefer traditional
magazines. UCLA’s book store gets its fair share of porn
readers.
"People don’t usually buy that," says BookZone employee Thu Vu,
referring to pornography magazines. "You’ll see people come in and
look, but they get embarrassed. Often you’ll find them hidden
between pages of books."
Although people are divided on the issue of porn, the fact
remains that it’s lucrative. As long as people demand it, the
industry will continue to prosper.