VICTORIA, Australia — A new educational documentary “Love & Sex in an Age of Pornography” follows a group of young adults as they consider how the “porn revolution,” brought on by the instant availability of adult material in the Internet age, has affected their expectations of love, sex and relationships.
Stars and directors from the adult industries in Los Angeles and Budapest, including Larry Flynt, John Stagliano, Katie St. Ives and Mark Spiegler, weigh in, offering a layer of insight from inside the biz.
Co-directors, writers and producers Mitzi Goldman, David Corlett and Maree Crabbe write in their mission statement, “’Love & Sex in an Age of Pornography’ is part of a broader project that seeks to engage in social change. It seeks to engage young people, and the community more broadly, in a conversation about the increasingly prominent role of pornography on young people's sense of what it means to be women and men, and what sex ought to be like.”
The trailer opens with two young women, Aneta, 19, and Zoe, 20, sitting on a bed, holding pillows and chatting.
“Think of a 13 year-old-boy at school,” Zoe says to an uncomfortable-looking Aneta. “The majority of clips on his laptop would be porn.”
The girls’ impressions are offset by cuts to other teenagers’ testimonies, footage of porn and in-the-biz reactions.
“Rough sex and strong sex works … because it’s incredible to look at!” Stagliano says.
According to the creators of the film, the documentary will be screened on TV, at festivals and possibly movie theatres and are currently working with Victoria schools to develop sex educational materials based on their findings to be included in their mainstream curriculum.
“While it is difficult to measure the impact of the project on thinking and behavior, it will be possible to measure the extent to which the project impacts on public debate by the take up of the film and its accompanying educational resources over a long term period,” the mission statement says.
