The Porn Conundrum: Why Hollywood is a Brothel with a Red Carpet
The Porn Conundrum: Why Hollywood is a Brothel with a Red Carpet By the Janitor and the Crystal Let’s talk about the elephant in the bedroom. Or, more accurately, the elephant on the movie screen. If you watch a mainstream, rated-R movie, there is a very good chance you will see two incredibly famous, highly paid actors naked, simulating sex. And I mean simulating it. They are kissing, their hands are wandering, their bodies are pressed together, they are moaning. As an actor, I know how this works. A five-minute scene is shot over and over again. They are paid to be naked. They are paid to touch each other. They are paid to perform intimacy for the camera. So, let’s ask the dirty question that the Gatekeepers don’t want us to ask: What is the actual difference between this and straight pornography? If you bring this up at a dinner party, people will clutch their pearls. They will say, “But they are Actors ! It’s Art ! It’s part of the story !” And to that, I say: You don’t thin...