The Definition of Pornography Docu-series Overview
EPISODE 1 – “OLDER THAN DIRT”
Episode one will show numerous ancient images - some that might be pornographic and many that most certainly are. Host Norm Magnusson interview archaeologists and sociologists and will share a few thoughts as to what, exactly, pornography is, and why it has seemingly existed since the dawn of civilization. In addition, he'll talk with people on the street and about their first ever exposure to “dirty pictures” and a feminist scholar to introduce the concept of “the male gaze”. This episode will also introduce some key sociological and psychological concepts regarding porn consumption, interspersed with surprising ancient (and not so ancient) images.
TIMELINE
23,000 B.C.E. – 2,000 B.C.E.
INTERVIEWS
• Harald Stäuble of the Archaeological Institute of Saxony, who has perhaps discovered the actual oldest sculptural depiction of intercourse. (7,200 B.C.E.)
• An array of people sharing details of their first exposure to pornography
• Sociologist and film theorist Laura Mulvey, who coined the term “the male gaze.”
REFLECTIONS
Host will share his early exposures to titillating images and the young boy's thrill of looking at something that he knew he was not supposed to be looking at (National Geographic, Sears Roebuck catalog, Herb Alpert album cover, etc.) and later, actual dirty magazines.
EPISODE 2 – “ANCIENT FUN AND GAMES”
From China to Egypt to Greece and from India to Peru to Europe, pornography (or at least, the record of it) really seemed to proliferate during the years between 1,150 B.C.E. and 1,300 A.D. We’ll interview expert archaeologists and historians to try and get to the bottom of the compulsion to create erotica and why it seemed to boom during those years. We’ll share over 50 provocative and explicit historical images from Egypt to Mesopotamia, to Greece and India, Peru, and the Cherokee of what is now Georgia, USA.
TIMELINE
1,150 B.C.E. – 1,300 A.D.
INTERVIEWS
• Interview with Antonio Varone, an archaeologist and author of Eroticism in Pompeii about the vast array of explicit images found beneath the ash and lava of the famed 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius
• Interview with medieval historian Dr. Eleanor Janega, professor at the London School of Economics, and author of The Middle Ages: A Graphic History about Pilgrim Badges and other Middle Ages porn
• Interview with Wendy Doniger, an American academic and expert on the Kama Sutra
• Interview with famed sexologist Shan Boodram to get her impressions of the explicit historical images seen in this episode
• Street intercept snippets as people continue to answer our question: “What’s the definition of pornography?”
REFLECTIONS
Throughout this episode, the host will share a few different definitions of pornography and recap some of the points made by the experts in their interviews, in particular, the important question of intent: for what reason were these images created? To educate and illustrate or to titillate?
EPISODE 3 – “IMAGINATION ALWAYS GOES THERE”
Starting with the famed Japanese erotic sculptures called Shunga Netsuke and ending with the first ever pornographic motion picture, this episode covers a lot of ground in the history and development of pornography in the 18th and 19th century. We’ll see over 50 graphic historical images and numerous bits of archival footage from that era and speak with antiques dealers and historians.
TIMELINE
1680 A.D.. – 1896 A.D.
INTERVIEWS
• Interview with antique dealer Denise Cohen, who specializes in Japanese netsuke on the history and collectability of these miniature erotic sculptures
• Interview with İrvin Cemil Schick to discuss a project he is compiling: a dictionary called the Erotic Vocabulary of Ottoman Literature.
• Interview with professor Dan Erdman, co-author of The Adult Film History Project about the advent of adult films
REFLECTIONS
Host will provide (as always) a running commentary about the images presented and will share the thought that, really, in terms of sex, the stuff that seems shocking today has really kinda been around forever. Additionally, we will continue to refine our definition of pornography.
EPISODE 4 – “THE DAWN OF THE DIRTY MAGAZINE”
The dawn of the 20thcentury brought with it a flood of racy magazines and books and, by mid-century, the magazine that would really change the game forever: Playboy. Its success at making “dirty magazines” a little more mainstream invited competition and market specialization, and, in very short order, there was a magazine for just about every taste – no matter how far out it was.
TIMELINE
20thCentury
INTERVIEWS
• Archival interview footage of Hugh Hefner
• Interview with Hugh's daughter, Christie Hefner, former CEO of Playboy enterprises about how Playboy pushed to gain acceptability and what effect that had on the market
• Interview with Gloria Steinem about her experience as a Playboy bunny and the societal impact of pornography
• Interview with newsstand owners about the magazines and their purchasers
REFLECTIONS
From a young age, boys are taught that, if they’re seeking onanistic pleasure, they should begin by finding a sexy image. This thought is reinforced everywhere in society and in popular culture: in songs and by late night tv hosts and stand up comedians. Our host will get people to share their recollections about buying their first “dirty magazine” and will share his own amusing stories of the same scary event.
EPISODE 5 – “DEEP THROAT AND PANDERING OBSCENITY”
No porn movie before had achieved bigger acclaim and fomented a bigger backlash than Deep Throat. Its popularity brought mainstream audiences into seedy cinemas in the bad part of town and galvanized the righteous forces of morality against it, specifically, and pornography in general. The moral majority’s war against porn, however, eventually became unwinnable (and even moot) after the invention of home videos on vhs, dvd and blueray discs.
TIMELINE
1969 to present
INTERVIEWS
• Interview with John Waters about going to see Deep Throat in a movie theater
• Interview with Hamilton County prosecutor Simon Leis, who tried Larry Flynt for “pandering obscenity”
• Part 2 of interview with Gloria Steinem about the inherent exploitative quality of pornography
• Archival footage of film goers and demonstrations
REFLECTIONS
The host shares his personal recollections about being a 17 year old Cincinnatian during the trial of Larry Flynt in that town. We'll discuss his novel defense, his mass mailing to households in that county and what effect the trial and verdict had on pornography. We’ll also share a few updated attempts to come up with a fair definition of “pornography”, including that of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart who famously said: “I know it when I see it.” In addition, we’ll discuss the absurd convention of naming porn movies by bastardizing the titles of mainstream hits. (See appendix 1)
EPISODE 6 – “THE INTERNET CHANGED EVERYTHING”
Late in the 20thcentury, the porn business got the greatest gift it could ever receive: the internet. It’s estimated that 12% of all websites are porn - that’s about 2.4 million porn sites. With this new medium came an enormous amount of new porn offerings, market segmentation, and specialization, but also new problems. And, while everybody had something to say about them, not everyone had a solution. We talk with neuroscientists and psychologists and porn addiction specialists about the effects that all this porn has on users and creators.
TIMELINE
Modern day
INTERVIEWS
• Interview with social anthropologist and “kink queen” Katharine Gates
• Interview with neuroscience researcher Dr. Rachel Ann Barr on how watching porn rewrites your brain to a more juvenile state.
• Interview with past and present employees of PornHub.
• Group discussion with a panel of boys and girls about their porn use
• Interview with Porn agent Mark Spiegler
REFLECTIONS
Today, most kids will be exposed to the offerings of free porn sites (the average age of first viewing is 11) well before they’ll have any first hand experience with actual physical intimacy. The internet is their de facto source of sex ed. As a father, the host will share his perspective on this disturbing fact as well as a whole bunch of other jaw-dropping stats, e.g. the most popular site, PornHub, gets 115 million unique visits a day. That’s the equivalent of the populations of Canada, Australia, Poland and the Netherlands.
EPISODE 7 – “HOW’D WE GET HERE, HOW DO WE GET OUT?”
One thing that’s become clear over recent years: something’s got to change in the world of porn. Free porn sites foment physical, emotional and financial exploitation; and pay sites, where performers have control of their own actions and boundaries and earnings, are not as prevalent or accessible or respected as they should be; and in many cases, they're not even as performer-beneficial as they should be. Religious groups rail against the harmful effects of porn addiction, the American Psychological Association says there's no such thing, and neurologists fret about the negative effect of dopamine overload while the big free porn sites ignore it all and laugh all the way to the bank. We'll gather experts from each realm for a moderated round table discussion of the ever attendant dangers of porn.
TIMELINE
Modern day
INTERVIEWS
• Round table discussion with Dr. Nicole Paruse, a neuroscientist who researches sexual psychophysiology, porn addiction therapist Craig Perra, psychologist, and ex-porn addict Jessica Harris. Moderated by the host.
• Interview with Billie Eilish who has been outspoken about her early exposure to porn and its negative effects on her
• Interview with retired porn star Mia Khalifa about financial exploitation in the biz
• Interview with Erika Lust of Lust Cinema, (home of “ethical porn') and founder of The Porn Conversation, which seeks to educate kids and their parents about the dangers and healthy pleasures that are out there.
• Interview with philosopher Amia Srinivasan’s a professor of social and political theory at Oxford and author of The Right to Sex about pornography, feminism and consent.
REFLECTIONS
Each interview we’ve done during this series will include the question: “What should be next, how can we fix this?”. We’ll share those answers in this episode as well as our host's final (ideal definition) of pornography.
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