Golden Age of Porn
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Golden Age of Porn refers to a brief modern period in the history of pornography, approximately from the late-sixties to the early-to-mid-1980s. The period is idealized as a time in history where difficult to treat or untreatable STDs had not achieved wide public notice and birth control and abortion permitted sex for pleasure without worries about unwanted pregnancies. This freedom was ostensibly reflected in the pornography industry, with adult movies and magazines approaching the mainstream and becoming increasingly visible. The trend is exemplified by Deep Throat (1972), probably the most successful porn film of all time.
The golden age was also typified by interactions with the contemporaneous second wave of feminism. These were radical and cultural feminists allied with the religious right in attacking pornography, while other feminists were more concerned with ideas of sexual liberation and freedom from government intrusion into the growing industry.
Early Days
The origins of the Golden Age are typically associated with the massive widespread success of the movies Deep Throat, Behind the Green Door and The Devil in Miss Jones. These movies saw the blossoming of pornography in the mainstream consciousness, whereby drive-in theatres would take out full page newspaper ads to promote the latest adult features.
Along with these classics, filmmaker Bob Chinn, along with the priapic porn star John Curtis Holmes and his manager Bill Amerson raised adult film to a new art form, with the release of Johnny Wadd in 1971 and the subsequent release of six other films in the Johnny Wadd series. The Wadd series saw true character development, recurring characters, plausible story lines, and 35 mm cinematography brought to the adult screen. Thanks to these films, John Holmes became a household name, and a "brand" that guaranteed box office success.
The Golden Age was commemorated in the 1997 mainstream film Boogie Nights.
