Tag Archives: Steven St. Croix

October 7, 2016 · 8:32 am

Color is only Color: A Review of B Skow’s Color Blind

by Rich Moreland, October 2016

B Skow believes a little political incorrectness teaches all of us an important lesson. In Color Blind, he attacks racial stereotyping in broader society while offering support for diversity in the adult film business.

* * *

Every Single Day

Meal time in the family kitchen opens Color Blind. Along with daughters Noelle (Kasey Warner) and Shauna (Adriana Chechik), Mom (Reena Sky) and Dad (Steven St. Croix) are watching the evening news . . . sort of. Noelle is unsighted; her vision is hearing and touch.

A small television is positioned on the counter behind Noelle and for the family, especially Dad, watching it means looking past his daughter. It’s an image that defines where this film is going.

The year is 1992 and rioting is devouring South Central Los Angeles as the African-American community protests the arrest of Rodney King. Clips of what we sadly see too much of today—looting, vandalism, and general mayhem—move front and center in the opening moments of Color Blind.

B Skow has set the mood. Dad and his daughters will ultimately clash like the chaos on the streets.

By the way, this is a working class family that doesn’t live in LA. Shauna flippantly mentions her all-knowing father should move to California to straighten things out.

Steven St. Croix in another B Skow film, Proud Parents

Dad goes through a litany of stereotypes, suggesting the modern large screen TV is the black man’s “forty acres and a mule,” a reference to the expectations of freedmen immediately after the Civil War.

To set the record straight, they got sharecropping and an unrelenting cycle of poverty instead.

Relying on a history he interprets only in sound bites, Dad, an angry replay of Archie Bunker, offers one of his own. He calls the rioters, “dumb shits.”

Later when racist language comes unexpectedly from a frustrated Noelle, he reacts with shock, wanting to know who “taught” her the nastiest of all words.

“You did, every single day without saying a word!” she screams.

Special

Color Blind pokes fun at stereotyping by using stereotyping.

Layton Benton

Fried chicken, corn on the cob, and iced tea, a favorite menu in the South, grace the family table. Dad reminds everyone that basketball and unprotected sex are cultural staples in the black community though, unbeknownst to everyone, he has an African-American stripper girlfriend (Layton Benton) on the side.

But in Dad’s mind, that’s okay. A little cheating never hurt anyone and don’t black women crave sex anyway?

Incidentally, he does her bareback in the movie’s third sex scene.

Fed-up with his tirades, Shauna sarcastically says she’ll iron his KKK shirt because he’d “make a great wizard” in a statement that carries a double meaning: the racist Grand Wizard and the 19^th century Populist vision of the Wizard of Oz, who is nothing more than political hot air (Donald Trump, anyone?).

Adriana Chechik

Later Shauna mentions that her father caught her with her “pants down” using a dildo she affectionately calls “a big, black cock.” We see her frolic with the satisfier in a well-shot scene.

By the way, there’s more to come for Shauna when flirting with Tyson (Jovan Jordon) works to her advantage.

Skow takes one more shot at stereotypes when Dad speaks with Noelle. He mentions the word “special” and how God makes some people different from others, creating more than one interpretation of “special.”

Of course, it’s his way of telling Noelle that her blindness is her burden, making her “different” in a good way.

His attitude changes when she challenges him about the “different” people on TV. They are not special, he says, in so many words.

It’s the height of hypocrisy.

Kasey Warner

Reaching Out

What makes Color Blind a must-see film is its social statement. The groundwork is laid early when a pair of Bible sellers, Mathew (Isiah Thomas) and Tyson show up at the front door. They “are reaching out” to their neighbors, “extending the hand of friendship,” they announce.

The African-American brothers are a bit uncomfortable peddling the “Good Book” in a neighborhood that is alien to them. To soothe the way, Mathew remarks that “love is blind, color is only color, skin is just skin.”

Of course, Dad will have none of this and slams the door. But the girls are persuaded; the brothers have much to offer emotionally and physically (this is a porn film, after all) which is the narrative’s remaining journey.

Isiah Maxwell

Speaking of sex scenes, all are solid and three are interracial which carries a stereotype of its own as I have heard in the industry.

Two stand out. First is Kasey Warner/Isiah Maxwell. . . . not the usual porn fare. Tender and warm, it’s the sexual awakening of a girl for whom color is meaningless. Remember, touch is part of Noelle’s vision that makes this sex scene unique.

On the other hand, for gonzo fans Skow includes an extended anal romp featuring Jovan Jordan and the raunchy interracial sweetheart of this film, Adriana Chechik.

Jovan Jordan

Not a Single Color

The final ten minutes is the movie’s tour de force, but the resolution is traumatic and thought-provoking. Not surprisingly, the word “boy,” another stereotype, makes an appearance.

In an overwhelming moment, Noelle shouts at her father, “I’ve never seen a single color in my entire life,” deflating the central stereotype of Color Blind. What the eyes see is too often culturally programmed and not individually felt.

Simply put, everything is neutral until given meaning.

Reena Sky

Accolades are extended to Steven St. Croix who holds the narrative together with superb acting. He captures the Archie Bunker persona perfectly. Also, Kasey Warner handled a difficult role beautifully, perhaps learning a thing or two from Maddy O’Reilly who plays a blind daughter in another Skow production, Daddy’s Girls.

And let’s not forget that Reena Sky delivers an entertaining scene with Steven St. Croix and Adriana Chechik is as fine a gonzo girl as can be found, plus she can act.

* * *

B Skow takes chances with Color Blind. In fact, he’s courageous beyond any adult director I know. His work moves past the tepid political/social statements we usually see in porn while keeping the genre going with explosive sex scenes.

So where does this leave Color Blind?

Rodney King, whose arrest sparked the 1992 riots, said in retrospect, “Can’t we all just get along?”

That is the question Skow presents in this dynamic film and for those in our society who can’t, the consequences can be dire.

* * *

Color Blind is a product of B Skow for Girlfriends Films and can be ordered from the website.

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Tagged as Adriana Chechik, B.Skow, Color Blind, Isiah Maxwell, Jovan Jordon, Kasey Warner, Layton Benton, Reena Sky, Steven St. Croix

January 13, 2016 · 10:19 am

A Nice Girl Who Howls at the Moon: Part Two, Be Grateful

by Rich Moreland, January 2016

This is the second in a series of posts about breakthrough performer, Madeline Blue. All pics are courtesy of her social media accounts. Watermarked photos are courtesy of the studios that shot them.

* * *

How does Madeline Blue feel about shooting sex scenes outside her relationship with Gee Richards? It’s a situation porn girls often face in dealing with significant others.

“[I’m] totally fine [doing a scene] with someone else,” she says, because it’s okay to love your partner and have sex with another person. The primary relationship does not have to suffer as a result.

Wandering Eye

Madeline has an open-minded attitude reflected in an older woman whose years traveling the dating lane have elevated her free-spirit.

But it took some effort to reach that level of self-acceptance.

“I had to work hard to come to terms in myself where I don’t encounter judgment about my sexual proclivities,” Madeline proclaims.”I am a really good person, why should I feel guilt or shame because I have a wandering eye for both sexes!”

Why, indeed? Sexuality is the essence of humanity. To deny it usurps who we are while keeping it in perspective is a function of our love for others.

That’s Madeline’s lesson for all of us and, incidentally, a message in Gone, her landmark performance.

“I decided at thirty-five that I wanted a trusting honest relationship and have adventures that were just that, adventures.” Madeline and Gee have discovered what works for them: the occasional sex partner that does not violate the bounds of their “loving, communicative relationship.”

In other words, “we believe that sexual experiences and sexual relationships are very different.”

Engaging with another person is “a great time, a break in the regular routine,” Madeline believes. What’s more, sharing her experiences with Gee is rewarding.

“It is very liberating to finally be in a place where I accept that part of myself [that likes to wander],” Madeline claims, because for many years she “felt so alone,” not understanding that other people had similar feelings.

“I want to love and be loved and I don’t want to feel trapped or controlled.”

It’s a balancing act that maturity understands, much different from younger girls in porn who may desire the same, but haven’t reached the stage in life where they are comfortable with the requirements.

Be in the Moment

How does an adult actress, regardless of her age, pull off a sex scene with a co-star she has just met?

Simple, it’s all about attitude.

“Arrive in your own body and be in touch with your own chemistry and be open to mingle [with your on-screen partners],” Madeline says. “Let yourself be turned on” because in porn it’s “allowed and its exciting!” If the players are hot for each other, all the better. Directors always want their performers to communicate and be comfortable before a scene.

“Find where you two match and go from there,” Madeline insists.

Madeline does offer one more piece of advice. Respect everyone’s boundaries and “incorporate the director’s wishes” into what you are doing. Most important, “be in the moment.”

Because she and Gee have “no conflicted emotions” about making porn, they allow each other the space to explore and have fun.

“I want to be in situations at all times that empower me and make me feel good!” That happens when communication is the watchword.

Arrive Prepared

Not every porn performer takes the job seriously and for filmmakers, that’s distressing. Top-of-the-line girls arrive prepared to give their best rather than just collect a paycheck. Responsibility is the maxim and Madeline knows what works, it’s the mantra of every agent, director, and studio.

Arrive prepared, be on time and ready to go with a “pleasant attitude” and for goodness sake, “pay attention.” Madeline’s next comment is a justifiable annoyance veteran Steven St. Croix mentioned to me not long ago. . . phones.

From my visits on sets, I understand his gripe. Girls spend far too much time with texting and selfies.

“Don’t use your phone very much at all” or better yet, “turn it on airplane mode,” Madeline suggests. “Take one selfie right before your showtime when you look your best and then leave it alone ’til afterwards.”

My bet is Steven would love to do a scene with Madeline who, by the way, has more advice for those willing to listen.

“Be present and don’t worry about your makeup or your nerves. The best performers are the ones who show up and do the job. It can be fun but it is still a professional commitment, so show your work face and smile. You’re getting paid . . . be grateful.”

The rewards are self-evident, she believes.

“The smoother you are, the smoother the show goes . . . and the more likely you are hired back.”

And, of course, no alcohol or drugs. Madeline exclaims, “I have heard bad stories [about them] from pretty much every producer I have met.”

So have I, I might add.

* * *

Next we’ll talk with Madeline about BDSM. Visit her website when you have a chance. It’s a work in progress, but worth a look.

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Tagged as Gee Richards, Gone, Madleine Blue, Steven St. Croix

October 29, 2014 · 1:18 pm

“You of All People”

by Rich Moreland, October 2014

In an industry where brilliant story telling is often overlooked, B Skow’s dark and brooding These Things We Do (distributed by Girlfriends Films and written by David Stanley) is among this year’s best adult offerings.

Water is running from a bathtub tap as the opening credits roll. The grouting around the tub and tile has a worn, tired, and discouraged look. As the credits conclude, the camera moves beneath the water line, focusing upward toward the distant shower head. Still water moves ever so perceptively.

An over voice says, “It’s all your fault . . . You were supposed to be helping me, you of all people.

Three Candles

These Things We Do is a sordid tale. Dr. Tom Berkin (Alan Stafford) cannot escape his personal demons to clear a path for his patients. A “voyeur” of the worst order, he masturbates while his female patients describe their sexual dysfunctions.

Today it is Mandy (Kimber Day) on the couch. In Freudian psychotherapy mode, Tom sits behind her. She can’t see him, but she knows . . .

“I can hear it. I can hear it right now!” the incensed girl shouts. Without warning, an aroused Tom pours water in Mandy’s mouth, gagging (drowning?) her, shutting out her story and minimizing her reality. Water is a major motif in the film. Soon Mandy will fill her own mouth with the deadliest water, her final vision that of a shower head, bent downward toward her.

Kimber Day.
Photo courtesy of Digital Desire

Mandy is sassy and a tease (a cover for a tortured soul?), just the right ingredient for the self-destructive chemistry she has with her doctor. He pushes at her, she pushes right back. Despite her emotional turmoil, Mandy is in charge of the pulsating sex that ensues in his office, a feminist attitude that permeates adult film today. By the way, AVN film reviewers should nominate Kimber Day’s performance in this scene for a 2014 award.

The settings for the sex in These Things are stark. In the consultation room, the wall is blue, the couch a dirty beige, a reflection of Tom’s perversions and his seedy affairs.

A small bookshelf sits to the right of the couch, empty except for three small candles, the film’s central image.

A frustrated and angry Mandy storms out of the room, slamming the door. Skow’s camera follows her, capturing the door’s reflection in the full length mirror beside it. Naked, Tom studies himself in the glass. His debilitating self-absorption is illustrated with a single drop of fluid dangling out of his semi-erect penis. Mandy will see this image pointing down at her as she breathes her torments away below the water line.

Incidentally, keep in mind that Skow uses rapid camera shots to explore the neurotically driven sexuality that is the film. There will be sudden flashbacks and off center angles, techniques reminiscent of Orson Welles’ classic, Citizen Kane.

Back in the office the doctor’s secretary, Roberta (Dana DeArmond), takes a call from the police. No words needed, just an image. An overhead shot of a submerged and nude Mandy, staring straight ahead, legs splayed, water gentle rippling over her and into her, an invitation in death.

The cast on set, left to right. Siri, Steven, Dahlia, Alan, Dana, and Marie.
Photo courtesy of Girlfriends Films.

Not for Real, Just for Fun

The narrative moves to Tom’s bedroom. Staring at her cellphone, his wife Abby (Marie McCray) utters, “My little sister is dead.” Flashbacks of Tom choking Abby and forcing himself on her are Mandy reminders. Is he trying to silence his internal demons? The camera quickly reverts to Tom and Abby reflected in an oval mirror above her dressing table. A bouquet of roses, mixed reds and whites in full bloom is to the right. The roses are Freudian orgasms, the colors an entanglement of the two sisters Doctor Tom covets, one illicitly, the other nominally.

Tom and Abby.
Photo courtesy of Girlfriends Films.

Another flashback to Mandy on the couch once again. She begins a thought that is sharply cut off, just like her life. Was she about to mention her sister? The camera shifts back to the bedroom. Tom is masturbating while his wife sleeps; a voice over transitions the scene to the doctor’s office where another patient, Sara (Siri), recounts her boyfriend’s kinks.

Sara’s narrative moves the story forward. Her boyfriend Hodgy (Steven St. Croix) has a toolbox filled with ordinary items that serve a delightfully deviant sexual imagination.

Dahlia Sky taking a break.
Photo courtesy of Girlfriends Films

She confesses a fear of him at first, but once Hodgy got into his kinks, “it was nothing like I’d ever experienced before.” Emphasizing that the pain was “exquisite,” Sara deliberately plays to Tom’s fatal Mandy connection. Sara tells the doctor that everything was “an act.” Hodgy, who manhandles one of his BDSM submissives, Anna, played by Bailey Blue (aka Dahlia Sky) wouldn’t hurt anyone. It’s just a play session, Sara insists, “not for real, just for fun to make the sex better.”

Listening to her story, Tom wriggles in his chair. Erotic excitement carries with it discomfort and tension, all part of Sara’s agenda. She describes is a highly charged three-way played out in a sterile room only a clinician would love. The bed is covered in black with nothing on the walls except a pair of lights. Skow lays bare the turbulent emotions and violent outbursts that are the film itself.

Awful and Wrong

Because Skow lets his performers do what they do best, the sex scenes are unscripted. The three-way dabbles in BDSM; Anna wears a collar and a leash, light spankings with spatulas and long handled spoons flavor the sex.

Overall, it’s BDSM lite with lots of oral, vaginal, anal, and a DP that includes sex toys. Skow’s camera keeps all bodies fully on screen, giving performers a larger reality than is normally seen in a wall-to-wall shoot. A mechanically operated dildo drives Anna and Sara to ecstasy and after the pop, a nasty clean up between them seals the deal.

Sara says she never “felt so much pain” and “it was awful and wrong, but great,” a phrase that indicts Tom. Like a wounded adolescent, the guilt ridden doctor retreats into his fantasies to ward off his own anxieties. Unconsciously projecting himself into Sara, he asks, “Are you afraid of hurting somebody or if somebody is going to hurt you?”

Shifting immediately to the bedroom and a comatose Abby, a nearly empty wine bottle and tumbler are on the bed stand along with some pills. Felled by Mandy’s death, Abby is as emotionally dead as her sister is physically gone.

Abby and her sedatives.
Photo courtesy of Girlfriends Films

Hearing a voice repeating, “What are you afraid of?” the doctor’s fascination with a pocketknife corkscrew and his unresponsive wife is devilishly psychotic.

I Know What You Are, Doctor

While on the couch, Sara confesses that she’s thought about making him cum, and wondered what his expression would be. Skow concentrates on fidgeting in this scene: Sara’s hands look to release energy; Tom’s face twists as he yields to his compulsion and opens his pants.

In a wicked seduction, Sara tempts him with “Don’t you know a free meal when you see one, doctor?” Girls like her “know what boys like,” she taunts.

Reaching for his crouch, Sara’s anger seizes control in a deft movement. “I know what you are, doctor!” she explodes.

While Siri’s acting is top of the line, Alan Stafford is superb as the obsessive physician. His facial expressions reveal Tom’s distorted mind. However, at times Alan’s dialogue is not easily understood which may be as much a technical issue as an acting one.

Later Skow captures the deadness and futility that pervade this film with a single image.

Tom and his matches.
Photo courtesy of Girlfriends Films

Once again, Tom is sitting at the bed’s foot board. Shut away emotionally from her husband, Abby lies self-tranquilized, her legs spread. The doctor stares straight ahead before lighting a match. Sadly, there is little left to stimulate her in a relationship that is barely a flicker.

Harpies

In the office, Roberta attempts to blackmail her boss over the Mandy affair. Sara bursts in, grabs Roberta and throws her on the couch, preparing the viewer for the girl/girl sex to come. Skow’s camera dwarfs an astounded doctor by showing Roberta and Sara visually taller.

The women run the sex. Tom can watch, Sara concedes, but he can’t cum.

The girls will trade slaps, choking, and finger banging, ducking in and out of positions as dominants. Though they laugh with each other, they scowl at the doctor, humiliating him repeatedly.

A water cooler adjacent to the couch is a reminder that fluid will stay pent up in this scene. Before the water can run and wash away guilt as in Mandy’s fated bathtub, more must be resolved. In the end, the girls climax, Doctor Tom does not.

During the sex, Roberta lashes out, “You’re not doing anything to help me,” she says, taunting the doctor in the guise of Mandy’s ghost who hovers over the final scenes of the film.

Improvised camera work (a la Blair Witch Project) shows up here, but seems a bit out of place. At one point, a camera carelessly appears in the shot. Why that wasn’t edited out is a mystery.

Female revenge is the centerpiece of the dinner scene later at Hodgy’s house where Sara has invited Tom to join them.

Dana and Alan go over the script.
Photo courtesy of Girlfriends Films

At last, the layers of the three candles are revealed. Tom, Abby, and Mandy form a three-way fated relationship. Now Tom, Sara, and Hodgy are a trio with a different theme: revenge. In a oddly brief sex scene, they sit on a couch with Sara in the middle, repeating the dinner table arrangement where the emotionless distances between the characters is illustrated in beautiful camera work.

When the scene shifts to Tom bound to a chair, Roberta and Abby join Sara in an unholy trinity. They are the final version of the three candles: the Harpies, who in Greek mythology carry those responsible for the deaths of family members to the Furies for punishment.

As the film concludes, conflicts are muted after a cleansing outburst of Abby’s Freudian id, and most important, pictures appear on the walls to conquer sterile desolation. In the final scene, the serenity of boats in a harbor at sunset watch over Tom and Abby’s sexual reconciliation. Forgiveness is possible, after all.

Photo courtesy of Girlfriends Films

* * * * *

Sometimes when reviewing adult films, the story surpasses the sex. These Things is such a movie. In an industry that depends on the erotic to survive, it is unfortunate that good filmmakers like B Skow cannot spend more screen minutes developing their artistic storytelling talents and less on sex acts that can fall victim to repetition. Just a thought.

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Tagged as Alan Stafford, B.Skow, Bailey, Dana DeArmond, Girlfriends Films, Kimber Day, Marie McCray, Siri, Steven St. Croix, These Things We Do

July 29, 2014 · 8:39 am

Hilarious Dads: A Review of Jacky St. James’ Father’s Day

by Rich Moreland, July 2014

In a classic stag of yesteryear, the main character is the butt of a joke that centers on an early version of the glory hole. On the other side of a farmer’s fence, the buffoon thinks he is copulating with a hottie he can’t see, but he’s in for a surprise. Three young women control the fun, substituting a goat for one of their own. It’s comedic porn in its purest form.

Comedy is the key difference between Jacky St. James’ Our Father (reviewed here) and Father’s Day, an amusing set of tales in which the clumsy step dad is seduced by his sexually aggressive stepdaughter.

The dads are hilarious. In the first episode, Evan Stone is a cheesy disco era throwback with an unbuttoned shirt, lengthy unkept hair, and a medallion. The second segment features a self-indulgent Hollywood agent (Steven St. Croix) who “seduces” his career seeking stepdaughter, but is clueless to the real deception. A shy and warmhearted Mark Wood is led by his stepdaughter through sex with a tender touch. Lastly, step dad Alec Knight is so embarrassed by his stepdaughter’s nonchalant poker face that the smiles keep coming along with her, of course.

These shoots are no nonsense porn unburdened by troublesome issues of real family sex. That’s their magic. Mom is never around and rarely mentioned; this is just a bit of fun.

That Would be Tragic

Casey Calvert is home for summer vacation and mentions that her stepfather always tried to be “cool with the kids.” Once she found this embarrassing, but now grown up, her affection for him has matured.

While cleaning Casey’s room, Evan Stone finds a small object sitting on the bed stand. Remembering his younger days, he immediately thinks drugs and confronts his stepdaughter. Suppressing giggles, Casey casually mentions it’s an “anal plug.”

Casey and Evan.
Photo courtesy of Eddie Powell

In an amusing exchange, Evan admits that in his time unless a man was gay, he would rarely have anal sex. “Your mother thinks it’s disgusting,” he says.

“Well, I don’t,” Casey responds and raises her miniskirt to reveal another toy inserted in her backdoor.

With tongue firmly planted in cheek, she says, “You can’t die without ever experiencing anal sax. That would be tragic.”

With pants quickly unzipped, dad is in for a treat.

Other than carrying on a dirty talk monologue, Evan Stone’s character steps aside because the shoot is all about Casey Calvert’s provocative and exotic look. Porn is a menagerie of female body types and the sultry Casey’s is smooth, pure, and perfect.

With her characteristic “bang me hard” frown, she deep throats, loves rough sex and choking, and alternates seamlessly between anal and vaginal penetration. Her reverse cowgirl is the best shot in the entire film. By the way, don’t miss Casey’s turquoise heart-shaped ear studs, appropriately tacky for the sophomoric college girl look.

Of course, a St. James motif is in every scene. Notice the three-pronged candle stand. The center candle rises above the other two, just as anal dominates oral and vaginal when Casey gets down to work.

Jacky St. James’ casting is close to perfect. Evan is the right look for this scene and Casey Calvert is worth the price of the DVD.

The ear studs and a hot frowning Casey.
Photo courtesy of Digital Sin

Incredibly Naive?

“I guess you could say I nailed the part,” Remy La Croix thinks after doing her step dad Steven.

This episode borrows an old stag theme, the casting couch. Remy is a Hollywood hopeful and stepfather Steven a big deal agent who wants to play her in the finest Tinseltown tradition.

Eying his “incredibly naive stepdaughter,” the self-assured Steven fully intends to use his power to satisfy his carnal desires.

First, he must get her to ditch her hula hoop and “girl next door” look. (Remy La Croix is more than an award-winning porn performer, she’s an accomplished hula hoop artist and dancer.)

Dad, daughter and the hula hoop.
Photo courtesy of Eddie Powell

The high comedy of this episode occurs in the bathroom where Steven’s freshening up routine is sensational . Set for the kill, he kisses a photo of himself hanging on a hook beside a towel.

Later, Steven puts his hands on Remy’s hips, drawing her close to him. “What are you doing?” she protests weakly before demonstrating how much she wants the part and, co-incidentally, how well she is playing a part. As the supposed “victim” of his power play, Remy’s drama skills rival Steven’s bathroom antics.

The diminutive veteran’s sweetness and natural body highlight this segment. Steven and Remy have an overflowing mutual chemistry that underscores their teamwork.

Remy and Steven.
Photo courtesy of Digital Sin and Jacky St. James

Like other scenes in Father’s Day, this vague familial set up is overtly covered in a porn overlay. The plot line tends to scoot away, though in her usual manner, Jacky St. James drops in a reminder that it is still relevant. In the background are two items of note on a shelf: a pair of trophies (who really wins one for their deception?) and a modern sculpture of two s-shaped figures, one looming over the other. The flowing motion of the art work relfects the Remy/Steven sexual Show.

Incidentally, Eddie Powell’s cinematic trademark—facial close-ups—eroticizes the sex no matter what the shoot demands. Remy La Croix knows how to balance enticement and innocence with subtle expressions.

After the pop, Remy’s voice over reveals a humorous little twist that begs the question of whose lusts are fulfilled. Her wry smile tells all.

The Unbroken String

For anyone who fantasized about making the grade with the blonde cheerleader type will love newcomer Lucy Tyler.

Having attended a sorority gathering with step dad Mark Wood, Lucy wants an after-date payoff. He walks into her bedroom with a few cut flowers as a “thank you” and she seizes the opportunity, pulling his tie to give him a kiss.

Thinking sex with an older man may disgust her, Mark is hesitant. But Lucy tosses aside his concerns along with the flowers. She has an unbroken string of dates with sex afterwards, she says, and she’s not about to stop now.

Mark and Lucy.
Photo courtesy of Digital Sin and Jacky St. James

Behind her cute, huggable demeanor, Lucy Tyler hides a lusty appetite that feasts where it likes. Though the sex is fairly standard (oral, doggie, mish), Lucy’s smiles create a lighter atmosphere than Casey’s wicked sensuality and Remy’s manufactured naivete.

In a chair beside the bed is a mysterious pair of black platform heels pointed toward the action. Why?

At the end when Lucy and Mark are cuddling like lovers, she says in a voice over this was the day she “slept with her mom’s husband.” The phrasing is odd. Perhaps she doesn’t think of Mark as a father because he is a recent addition to a family she is growing out of, thus the slutty shoes, a mother-daughter commonality positioned to spy on a blossoming affair.

You Should Just Look

The final vignette features a down-to-earth Dillion Harper who disrobes bit by bit in front of her stepfather Alec. The game is strip poker and Dillion manages to lose repeatedly. As her nakedness takes over the tale, Alec psychologically backs away, fighting temptation in the name of preserving family dignity.

A little discomfort now has a payoff later!
Photo courtesy of Digital Sin and Jacky St. James

He wants to know if she is bluffing him (what do you think?) only to get “Are you flirting with me?” from Dillion. At the height of the merriment, her boobs are staring at dad. “You should just look,” she says, before losing the last hand.

Once the panties are gone, they sit across from each other with mischievous stares.

The camera shifts immediately to the sex and Dillion’s slurpy, bubbly oral is her calling card. She’s as nasty as they come (pun intended) and her eagerness absorbs Alec’s manhood. Because she passes for barely legal, Dillion is perfect for the stepdaughter role.

Dillion enjoying dad. Photo courtesy of Digital Sin and Jacky St. James

Dillion riding dad.
Photo courtesy of Digital Sin and Jacky St. James

This segment has a couple of shooting moments the others pass over. There is good male to female oral and Dillion gets a partial facial, a Jacky St. James concession because most feminist filmmakers prefer to avoid them.

* * * * *

In the modern era of adult film, the array of fetishes can overwhelm the viewer. Sometimes just straight up sex, charming and not overly gonzo, is a treat.

Of course, the performers are the linchpins of memorable shoots, no matter the subject.

Casey Calvert, a girl who cares and gives her best in every scene.
Photo by Eddie Powell

In the Behind the Scenes segment, Lucy Tyler references the industry’s earlier days when talent would sometime look bored and disinterested. Her remarks brought to mind 1990s director Greg Dark who tired of the business for a variety of reasons, one of which was the attitude of the starlets. In his mind, they showed up for the money, had sex with a “fuck buddy,” and left with no thought of how their performance turned out.

Today the art of porn is challenging such attitudes. Performers, and the directors who bring them together, take pride in their work in a business that is moving closer to mainstream culture. Nowhere is that more evident than in the films of Jacky St. James whose fans can be certain there is no ennui on her sets. In an industry that can get trapped in its reliance on sameness, a St. James shoot has hardworking talent that imbues every scene with a fresh outlook.

Father’s Day stands as evidence.

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Tagged as Alec Knight, Casey Calvert, Digital Sin, Dillion Harper, Eddie Powell, Evan Stone, Father's Day, Greg Dark, Jacky St. James, Lucy Tyler, Mark Wood, Remy La Croix, Steven St. Croix

July 23, 2014 · 7:59 am

Whatever is Best, Dad: Part Two of Our Father

by Rich Moreland, July 2014

A delightful installment in Digital Sin’s Tabu Tales series, Our Father proves once again that Jacky St. James and Eddie Powell are among the most creative filmmakers in adult cinema.

Incest porn’s “transition moment” is the topic of Part One of my review. Part Two explains how it is used in this film.

* * * * *

Dakota Skye on the box cover. Photo courtesy of Jeff Koga

Dakota Skye on the box cover. Can you keep a secret?
Photo courtesy of Jeff Koga

Our Father concerns step dads who tackle their stepdaughters’ sexual hang-ups. Each of the four vignettes is a secret incestuous arrangement that requires the willful suspension of disbelief. How this taboo is handled reveals director Jacky St. James and cinematographer Eddie Powell at their cleverest. By using the “transition moment,” they move the viewer away from perceived familial perversity and into a porn film.

To mollify viewer reservations about family sex, each episode is heavily laden with dirty talk, a porn fixture that, along with cheesy music and looped sex scenes, played to audiences of yesteryear when adult film was creating an industry. In Our Father, nasty verbiage is a reminder that this is a porn movie with professional entertainers who can psychologically move out of their characters when the sex starts.

Anal is First

“It was weird how much I confided in my step dad,” Penny Pax says in an over voice. She’s sitting on the kitchen counter top talking with “dad” (Alec Knight) who is sipping coffee.

The conversation is about pregnancy avoidance. Alec speaks authoritatively about sex toys (he uses them in his practice) and offers Penny a backdoor education in birth control.

Penny and Alec
Photo courtesy of Eddie Powell

To close out the storyline and set up the transition moment, Penny convinces herself any experience with her stepfather would not be “in a sexual way” because he is an instructor. She declares, “I think we should do it.” When the lesson evolves into real sex, the film changes gears, willful suspension of disbelief is abandoned and pure porn takes over.

Getting there, however, requires that St. James’ script highlight Penny’s naiveté. Alec explains everything about anal and she concedes to his authority. “Whatever you think is best, Dad,” Penny coos.

Comfortably lying on her stomach, the trusting “student” never looks back at dad. After inserting toys into Penny’s backside as a warmup, Alec quietly penetrates her. Unaware, she says it feels great, though different and natural. Suddenly daughter spots dad’s hands and turns to look. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” she says, trying to preserve propriety.

Her initial cooperative demeanor has moved through doubt into acceptance. Does she want him to stop? No, and they make a secret pact: she won’t tell mom, he won’t tell her boyfriend.

The camera pulls back, framing each of their bodies equally. For the first time the penetration appears on screen, completing the transition. She tells him it feels good and wants to know if he’s enjoying himself. Penny Pax is an anal queen and the scene continues with doggie and oral.

After the pop shot, willful suspension of disbelief reappears. Resuming her stepdaughter persona, Penny thinks of her boyfriend and dismisses any further thoughts of sex with her stepfather. Nevertheless, the experience was a valuable exercise with an upbeat conclusion.

Jacky takes a break with the talent
Photo courtesy of Jeff Koga

A Lolita

In the second segment, the script uses the transition moment to create arguably the best sex scene in the film.

Stepdaughter Dakota Skye is struggling with a negative self-image and claims she has good reasons for wanting breast implants. Stepfather Ryan McLane hopes to quell her demands and insists via an over voice that his “intentions were innocent,” at least in the beginning.

Their disagreement quickly persuades her to pull up her shirt. With perky boobs staring at him, Ryan covers his face in feeble protest. Dakota’s invitation is up front. “You’re not my biological dad.” He concedes her assets are “incredibly beautiful” and the transition moment hits like freight train. A few kisses and the sex is underway.

Ryan and Dakota
Photo courtesy of Jacky St. James

This episode has a different feel because the players are more youthful. Athletic and hard bodied, Ryan McLane seems much younger than his years. Dakota, on the other hand, is Lolita-like. Obviously, St. James paired these two so that the hardcore is anticipated when the performers first appear. In other words, such a step dad/daughter encounter is possible when age differences are minimized.

As the sex heats up gonzo style, Dakota screams “Please fuck me, Daddy” in the best of BDSM tradition where submissive women deliberately seek older men for “age play.” Incidentally, this small touch sets up the third episode starring Carter Cruise and Steven St. Croix which will delve into the power exchange common in BDSM.

While Dakota is getting her fill, Jacky St. James’ talent for placing explanatory objects about her sets steps up once again. In the background is a Grecian-type urn or amphora sitting on a pedestal, a reminder that the ancient Greeks believed the penetrated person, rather than the one who penetrates, gets the pleasure from sex. Dakota’s toe curling verifies their wisdom.

Following the pop shot, Ryan’s voice over embraces the Lolita shadow. “That’s how I convinced my stepdaughter to stay a sweet young girl as long as possible,” he says.

Please Daddy!

Steven St. Croix is a stepfather with an undisciplined daughter (Carter Cruise) who parades into his office, boasting that her mouth is her classroom asset. When Steven, whose business success hovers over the scene, gets annoyed, she retorts, “You can get farther in life by sucking cock than working hard.”

“If you were my daughter I’d spank you,” Steven growls. Dropping her pants, Carter goads him with, “Pretend I’m your real daughter.” He obliges, giving her a few whacks, then tries to get back to work. Unfazed, she taunts him about his porn mags and infatuations with college girls.

This episode has a strong age play component and high believability because parents do spank kids. But it doesn’t end there; the spanking is foreplay and suspension disbelief will soon be set aside when the sex gets rolling.

Carter tells Steven they are both screwed up and when she demands, “I want my Daddy to spank me,” the transition moment occurs. The viewer is immediately in the BDSM arena watching the players act out their dominant/submissive roles. “Brat,” “bad girl,” and “baby girl,” are thrown around as Steven manhandles her to intensify the sex.

Carter Cruise
Photo courtesy of Eddie Powell

Hair pulling, choking, spitting and slapping heighten the show. By the way, BDSMers appreciate a denial moment. Carter’s sucking wants a workout, “Please daddy, please daddy,” she begs, but Steven won’t let her. It’s all part of the game before she gets her wish.

In the background there’s a small statue of a raging bull, typical of a stock broker’s office, snorting and bellowing as if awaiting his turn. After the pop, Carter, whose orgasms sweep over her with a dead quiet, dips her fingers into Steven’s closing statement and licks away.

Disbelief suspension briefly returns; Steven notes that he now pays all her bills in the best of sugar daddy fashion.

(Note: The Carter/Steven sex scene lasts approximately 28 DVD minutes. At its beginning Steven’s watch reads 4:10 and when the sex is a wrap, the clock behind the desk is at 5:55, corresponding closely with the last shot of Steven’s watch at 5:50. Breaks discounted, the cinematic results are impressive.

Making a porn movie maximizes budget and time. Most of the money goes to talent who can turn on when the lights are up. Unfortunately, appreciation is rarely extended to editors whose skills foster everyone’s success, so kudos to Gabrielle Anex!)

A Virgin?

In the final vignette, “dad” (John Strong) is having sex with everyone but his wife. Though he wants to be a role model for his twenty-year-old stepdaughter (Ava Taylor), an opportunity arises he can’t refuse.

Ava Taylor
Photo courtesy of Sweet Sinner/ Mile High and AVN

The bookwormish, but hardly shy, Ava wants to know how many women he’s nailed (a hundred, John replies) and coyly asks if he’d like to deflower a virgin. Dad hopes Ava won’t tell her mom because he’s game.

“If you weren’t my daughter, you’d be naked right now,” John says, maximizing his Lothario come-on.

Ava eagerly strips, sporting tats and piercings that highlight a shaved pubis. This is a virgin? Not on your life, but it is the transition moment, dissolving a weird situation in which a sexually well-traveled stepfather is willing to bang his untouched stepdaughter.

Chuckles abound when dad asks if his step sweetie knows how to “suck a cock” and if not, would she like to learn. Of course, that’s silly because Ava Taylor is a pro; she deep throats and sticks out her tongue for the pop shot, no virgin here! Suspension of disbelief aside, Ava is an exotic beauty with superb oral skills and a great career in front of her.

This final episode is all in good fun and there is never a moment when the viewer is in doubt this is porn, pure and simple.

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Tagged as Alec Knight, Anal sex, Ava Taylor, BDSM, Carter Cruise, Dakota Skye, Digital Sin, Eddie Powell, Jacky St. James, John Strong, Lolita, Penny Pax, Ryan McLane, Steven St. Croix, Tabu Tales

July 19, 2014 · 10:08 am

A Suspension of Disbelief

by Rich Moreland, July 2014

Written and directed by Jacky St. James and filmed by Eddie Powell, Our Father is part of Digital Sin’s Tabu Tales series . This is the first of a two part review of the DVD.

* * * * *

Our Father, a series of four vignettes about stepfather/daughter relationships, plays with the incest theme, a taboo familiar to commercial pornography but not frequently filmed.

Jacky St. James and Eddie Power offer up titillating sexual encounters that are a mix of seasoned performers and new entrants into the business. The older man role features four outstanding veteran actors: Steven St. Croix, Alex Knight, Ryan McLane, and John Strong; the younger woman is played by Penny Pax, recent arrivals Dakota Skye and Carter Cruise, and newcomer Ava Taylor.

Of course, a taboo that hints of incest survives on a secret. Because daughter and dad are willing co-conspirators, so to speak, the stepfather must not allow his sexual escapade to bring down his marriage. And, neither sex mate wants to upset an attractive arrangement beneficial to both. The result is a “don’t tell mom” collusion that flavors the forbidden intimacy.

But why does a porn film about pseudo incest work when the idea is “gross,” as Penny admits in her BTS (Behind the Scenes) segment? The explanation lies in a literary mechanism that convinces the imagination to allow a story, in print or film, to come alive: the willful suspension of disbelief.

Coined by British writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge, suspension of disbelief is the reader’s (or viewer’s) desire to go along with the improbable for the sake of the story at hand. Logic and the limitations of realism are ditched (sacrificed?) in the name of entertainment. In other words, we can go down the rabbit hole with Alice and delight in the ride.

In Our Father, when the brief plot line of each vignette is established, the viewer engages the story as just that, a story. Disbelief suspension excuses any feelings that the episode is disgusting because it isn’t realistic or likely, at least in an ordered society as we know it. To think about it another way, the burden of disbelief lies with the audience, the filmmaker is merely the persuader who constructs the narrative to finesse the viewer’s imagination, recognizing that what works for some may not work for all.

Transition Moment

The idea is simple enough, but porn offers an interesting twist, something St. James and Powell skillfully employ. At the “transition moment,” the viewer reverses his or her expectation and, consequently, the reason for watching the film. The spectator now settles in for a porn movie in which the sex moves center stage and the larger reality of the performers as step relatives, established in the suspension stage, is set aside. For the duration of the film, a deliberate suspension of disbelief is no longer needed. Now it’s people having sex and they could be anybody. The scene survives on the performer’s skills and their attractiveness, the heart and soul of a porn shoot.

In fact, despite a brief wrap-up following the pop shot, the viewer is finished with this encounter and disposes of the characters’ final comments that are necessary to package the episode. The segment’s actual conclusion is an old porn standby dating to the stag film, the camera moves to fade out.

Notice that mom is mentioned in passing but never appears. As a result, she doesn’t mess up the arrangement and does not have to be dealt with as a real figure. Guilt is assuaged all around because the wife/mother character remains ethereal; in fact, she is non-existent. The viewer can relish the sex and once it’s finished who cares if anyone—family, friends, neighbors, or co-workers—really finds out.

Incidentally, an old stag component—the third party—can be added without skipping a beat. Perhaps an aunt, a cousin, or a neighbor happens onto the scene. No worries because a suspension of disbelief reappears to adjust the storyline, then it’s onto the sex especially if the third person jumps right in.

The transition moment is a clever artistic device St. James understands. Without its placement in the script and animated in the directing, an uncomfortable viewer may feel “grossed out” and set the movie aside.

Daddy Theme

Madison Young
Photo courtesy of Jiz Lee

On another level, there is the Daddy theme that requires no willful suspension of disbelief, but can involve suspension of another kind that is not the subject of this review. Sexually submissive filmmaker Madison Young’s recent book by the same name discusses the many levels of “Daddy” that operate in the sexual arena, particularly BDSM. It involves the need to please and yield control in a loving relationship that fills a void and stimulates desire within both parties.

St. James’ script hints at the Daddy idea, actual relationships some younger women seek with older men that, incidentally, are not unusual within the porn community. For example, twenty-one-year-old Jessa Rhodes admits in the BTS for The Sexual Liberation of Anna Lee that the Daddy complex is her “thing,” though at one point she thought is was “so wrong.” Porn superstar and BDSM devotee Casey Calvert has always preferred older men, her personal long-term relationship is well into his forties.

Casey Calvert
Photo courtesy of Twisty’s

In other words, age differences do not always require a disbelief suspension but may beg for sociological, cultural, or psychological exploration. Are Madison, Jessa, and Casey playing out a Freudian scenario, a father fixation within a their sexual make-up, or do they simply have a natural attraction for an older man? Or, are they flaunting a society that insists sexual relationships have a narrow age acceptance, unlike generations past? Hard to say, perhaps their real life lovers simply indicate that sexually one size does not fit all.

If porn performers are widely accepting of age difference, then a twenty-something girl having on-screen sex with a man twice her age comes with no qualms or sense of impropriety.

Possibly then, willful suspension of disbelief in incest themes may be easier than at first it seems.

It Feels so Good!

There is an added component. The Daddy/Babygirl or Brat paradigm is not uncommon in the BDSM community where Madison and Casey flourish and Penny Pax often resides. In Our Father, Dakota says to Ryan as the foreplay heats up, “Please fuck me, Daddy.” In her spanking scene with Steven, Carter recalls this dynamic when she responds to his pronouncement that she’s a “manipulative little brat” with “I want my daddy to spank me.” This is language that is the lifeblood of BDSM age play.

Jacky with the cute and cuddly Penny Pax.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Koga

The fetish community’s Daddy/Babygirl dynamic carries over to non-BDSM porn with the power exchange. In the first episode of Our Father, dad’s pride in his daughter and her sexual performance is part of that energy. Penny says to Alex at one point, “It feels so good,” and wants to know if he’s enjoying himself in a hoped for verification that they are sharing the moment. Sitting on the younger side of the age dynamic, Penny wants to please, complimenting Alex with “Daddy, you fuck me so good.” In the case of Carter and Steven, the daughter plays the power card in the beginning to get what she wants, the dominating father figure who’ll pay her bills, then allows the power interchange to reverse course to reside in his command over her.

In truth, power exchange is found in all sexual relationships. The playing field is never level and Eddie Powell’s brilliant cinematography captures this imbalance by focusing on faces and expressions. In traditional porn, pleasure is individualized, just as it is for the viewer who uses the film to “get off.” Unfortunately, that can disconnect performers from each other in gonzo type shoots that mute their abilities as actors. Eddie Powell never lets that happen. His close-ups move the eroticism along with a sensuality that complements the hardcore penetration.

Unlike porn romances, parodies, or BDSM fetishes, the art of making an incest-oriented movie is to assure the viewer that he or she can become a voyeur for voyeur’s sake once the story line is established then silenced via a transition. In other words, to appreciate the sex show for what it is, the sexual situation along with the characters’ attitudes and desires must be muted. The taboo may lurk in the back of the mind, but the viewer knows that the director and the performers are in on the game.

* * * * *

In the part two of this review, each vignette will be examined with their respective transition moments noted.

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Tagged as Alex Knight, Ava Taylor, Carter Cruise, Casey Calvert, Daddy Complex, Daddy/Babygirl, Dakota Skye, Digital Sin, Eddie Powell, incest porn, Jacky St. James, Jessa Rhodes, John Strong, Madison Young, Our Father, Penny Pax, Ryan McLane, Steven St. Croix, Tabu Tales, The Sexual Liberation of Anna Lee

July 9, 2014 · 8:00 am

Is That Something You Can Live With?

by Rich Moreland, July 2014

Proud Parents is B Skow at his cleverest, a parody of porn history and a history of porn told tongue-in-cheek. Skow presents an inside look at adult film with a movie within a movie that entertains a question every parent faces.

The sex scenes are top notch with three standout women, India Summer, Lily LeBeau, and the incomparable Casey Calvert. There’s enough nastiness in that trio to guarantee the success of any adult film.

The movie opens with Stan (Steven St. Croix) and Marge (India Summer) being interviewed by an unseen film director (B Skow). After meeting on a porn set—it was “love at first thrust,” Stan says—they married in 1982. Porn has brought Stan and Marge a comfortable home with a swimming pool they never use and enough money to pay for their daughter’s elite education.

Though their conversation has the casual appearance of a BTS (Behind the Scenes) segment that is common in today’s DVDs, Stan and Marge are actually talking with the documentary filmmaker who is following their daughter Casey (Casey Calvert). Unbeknown to her parents, she plans to enter the business and is set to do her first shoot.

Skow establishes the tone for the film when it’s revealed that Casey grew up around porn. Despite the opportunities the business has provided them, Stan and Marge are adamantly opposed to Casey following in their footsteps.

The Happy Family.
Photo courtesy of Girlfriends Films

Jamie Gillis, the rough-sex porn icon of 1980s and 1990s—the era of the VCR and white nose powder all around—is offhandedly mentioned. When Stan and Marge move into the film’s first sex scene at the request of the documentary filmmaker, the legendary Marilyn Chambers’ oral skills on Gillis in Insatiable II (1984) are recalled. Marge drops her head over the bedside for Stan’s pleasure in a salute to Chambers. At film’s end, Casey Calvert will offer another round of the same.

A Garage Studio

When Casey shows up for her first shoot in garage studio (the American dream often starts in a garage), Skow presents a hilarious 1980s moment. A dude named Leonard bops in wearing a tacky two piece outfit that thankfully is locked away in pop culture’s disco past. In this uncredited cameo, Richie Calhoun tries vainly to produce wood for his scene with Casey. It’s hopeless, of course, because he’s really the late John Holmes, cokehead extraordinaire, whose droopiness couldn’t respond to the best oral efforts of Marilyn Chambers in Up and Coming (1983).

Casey moves in to handle the casting couch on her own.
Photo courtesy of Girlfriends Films

1980s cheesiness is not all rotten apples, however. When Casey’s identity is accidentally exposed, the garage director, Jean Kreem (Scott Lyons) is ready to drop her like an overheated halogen lamp. To save the day she reverses the casting couch schtick (they are on a couch, literally). She sucks him off. All the while Jean takes on a bizarre, wild-eyed look. Remember the fantasies of 1980s filmmaker, Rinse Dream (aka F. X. Pope), whose Night Dreams I, II, and III (1981, ’89, ’91) are avant-garde classics to this day?

The garage has a green screen and in an all-too-short segment, Casey’s friend Franny (Aiden Ashley) has a brief fling with porn newcomer, Keisha Grey. It’s steamy, but nothing like Franny and Casey’s earlier scene for the documentary guy.

Challenging Casey’s career decision, the director suggests that sex for money is different from loving sex. Casey’s answer is to have a good grind with her friend in his presence. Beyond the finger banging and oral with a scissors wrap-up, what makes the Casey/Franny scene top quality is their slutty demeanor. In warming up for her best sex, Casey’s eyes narrow with a wantonness that is deviously framed in a puckered brow. It’s the Casey Calvert erotic trademark. Like a cat ready to strike, Casey draws back a little before feasting on her lover with a smuttiness that redefines salacious. On the other hand, Aiden is demure and dreamy, but when the action starts is as aggressive as Casey.

Aiden Ashley
Photo source unknown

“Does that answer your question?” Casey says, finishing up with Franny.

To add an exclamation point to her performance, Casey crawls across the bed toward the director and as the camera focuses on her chest and neck, muffled slurping is heard. Remember a teenaged Traci Lord’s rep for doing everyone on the set?

Gonzo Implanted in a Feature

B Skow shoots the garage sequences in the reality TV mode popularized in porn with John Stagliano’s Buttman series. By the 1990s, gonzo, as the style came to be known, was appropriated for all-sex productions. Close-ups of anal and oral thrusting moved to the front of the line. Skow pays tribute to Stagliano with over-the-shoulder POV shots, including Franny’s tongue on Keisha’s crotch. The final sexcapade between Casey and Kurt Lockwood ends with a splashy facial (Casey is careful to keep her eyes closed), gonzo to the core.

Skow’s camera moves about in Stagliano style, not always removing objects around the cluttered garage. With sex scenes hastily set up in an amateurish way, Proud Parents seems like an off-the-cuff production. In truth, it’s a carefully crafted tribute to porn in the new century, gonzo implanted in a feature.

The Threesome. Photo courtesy of Girlfriends Films

The threesome with the strap-on attachment at hand.
Photo courtesy of Girlfriends Films

An eventual three-way between Stan, Marge, and Casey’s friend Zooey (Lily LaBeau) is superb, proving that Skow’s sex scenes are rich and diverse. During Zooey’s oral work on Stan, cameras drift in and out of picture adding moments of delightful confusion. In one part of the sequence, Stan holds the camera that is shooting Zooey’s efforts and a crewman’s foot is spotted momentarily.

This is porn set reality. Things and people get in the way inadvertently and because of limited budgets, retakes don’t happen and editing doesn’t cover it all. Proud Parents is a commentary on how movies are made.

There is much in the threesome to be appreciated, though one shot stands out. Skow moves his camera above the action when Stan doggies Marge, Marge munches Zooey, and she kisses Stan. Later when Zooey moves to the floor, a cameraman hands Marge a strap-on. Priceless.

Zooey and Marge warming up.
Photo courtesy of Girlfriends Films

Raised in the Wild

Shoot cancelled, a disappointed Casey comes home reluctant to deal with her parents. The documentary director persuades her to give it a try, saying, “They raised a horse in the wild and they don’t expect it wants to run?”

When Casey finds a note her parents are out, her agent, Mark Spiegler, calls with a booking (Casey Calvert is a highly regarded Spiegler girl, by the way). Excited, the determined neophyte returns to the garage to be surprised by her parents and her old babysitter, their good friend Kurt (Kurt Lockwood), who refused to do Casey in the earlier scrapped scene.

Everything is a go now. Before they start, Kurt mentions the reality of a porn career. “Every day on the set, you’re going to do something you regret,” he says to Casey. “Question is, is that something you can live with?”

Like loving parents supporting their child’s first game, play, party, what have you, Marge and Stan are there to videotape the launch of Casey’s career. In hot sex with Kurt there is a standing sixty-nine, Casey positions her head upside down in front of his crotch in the best of gonzo acrobatics.

Oh yes, like Marge and Marilyn Chambers before her, Casey drops her head over the couch to fellate Kurt again. Stan later comes in to pause the action for the stills. In a reverse anal cowgirl, Casey seduces his camera with her signature expression, eyes of determined pleasure, as he clicks away.

“She’s going to have a great career,” Kurt says.

Who, then, are the Proud Parents in this film? Don’t be deceived by the obvious, because there is a twist to come. In a porn movie about making a porn movie with an embedded documentary film to drive the story, possibilities abound.

* * * * *

Not long ago, I talked with B Skow about the comeback of the feature, a vehicle that he admires and is able to supplement with gonzo elements that satisfy a modern audience.

Though the DVD does not sustain the popularity of the video tape when that was a viewer’s only option, it survives with verve because people want to own things, he says, “they want to have it somewhere.”

“If you make something interesting, there’s a crowd [for it],” Skow believes. The crowd does not have to be huge, it just needs to exist.

Girlfriends Films’ award-winning boy/girl director proves his point with each of his productions. Proud Parents sold out in two weeks of its release, unheard of in today’s market. But it is no wonder, B Skow has built a following with films he rightly considers art.

When I asked about Casey Calvert, Skow’s praise is effusive. “She’s one of the top,” he exclaims, “a girl that loves what she does.”

Casey Calvert. Photo courtesy of Casey Calvert

“Loves what she does.”
Photo courtesy of Casey Calvert

Casey Calvert treats Skow with similar enthusiasm.

“B Skow is very easy to work with. He pretty much lets us do whatever ideas we have,” she comments. He avoids over directing the sex scenes “unless he needs something super specific.” When I inquire about shooting with Kurt Lockwood, Casey references their creativity. “Skow sets up three cameras and just lets us do our thing,” she explains, “Kurt and I made up that last scene as we went.”

Though we don’t get into the MILF aspect of the film, Casey praises my favorite mature couple in porn.

“I LOVE India. Steven has played my dad in multiple movies, but we have never had sex. I like him. He’s very professional and a good actor,” she beams.

No doubt India and Steven have similar praise for Casey. There is a reason why these top tier performers appear on the boxcover; it’s all about competency, responsibility, and a personal pride in their work.

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Tagged as Aiden Ashley, B.Skow, Casey Calvert, F.X. Pope, Girfriends Films, gonzo porn, India Summer, Jamie Gillis, Keisha Grey, Kurt Lockwood, Lily LaBeau, Marilyn Chambers, Proud Parents, Rinse Dream, Scott Lyons, Steven St. Croix

May 21, 2014 · 9:10 am

A Single Mirror: Torn, Part 2

by Rich Moreland, May 2014

Here is the second segment of my analysis of Torn, a romance from New Sensations. As with my first article on the film, it is my impression of the story without the use of dialogue.

Analyzing a film by silencing actors’ voices tests their ability to communicate the story through body language and facial expression. Of course, the director’s skill at setting up scenes and the shooters’ artistry in capturing effective cinematic angles are also paramount.

* * * * *

Back at the house, Drew succeeds in sexually arousing Christine. Though initially reluctant, she gives in quickly for a visually enjoyable performance.

In fact, the sex scene comes off as a little too passionate for a couple whose relationship is getting stale. Granted, Drew is trying to keep the flame alive and when the pop shot occurs, the performers are finishing the shoot on a bare mattress, a testament to their hard sex. But what about Christine? Is her enthusiasm for a good screwing equal to Drew’s?

Jacky St. James’ challenge is fitting an emotional film into an adult genre that expects typical porn sex. Because Torn is more art than porn, her task is magnified as this scene reveals. To her credit, she makes it work.

By the way, India Summer (Christine) is an adult film treasure. The dark-haired beauty possesses the classic female proportions so highly valued by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Her face is finely shaped with angular features that mark the human perfection sculptors and painters desired.

From the Hot tub to the Parking Lot

Mimi and Chad in the hot tub.

A young woman attracted to older man needs to talk, especially if she believes her future may be troubled. In a short hot tub scene, a pensive and unsure Mimi chats with a male friend (Chad Alva). There’s no sex between them, not yet.

Back at the office, Vicky unpacks a huge dildo. For Drew it explains much about the sexual scenario Christine so abhorred at the party. He gives her a sly and amusing “that’s more than I want to know” look.

Americans have always adored their cars and early in the last century vehicles became portable nests for young love. Where better to start secret dalliances than in a parking lot? Mimi shows Drew photos she has taken of him then suddenly kisses him. Cars whiz by on the expansive left side of the screen while Drew and Mimi are tucked away on the far right next to two parked cars.

Flashes of Drew and Mimi pop up on the screen and in one instance, there is sex in a car.

Suspicion

The camera moves into the dining room of Drew and Christine’s home. It’s darkly lit with strong indications of secrets and suspicions. On the table and the chandelier above it are several candles in metallic holders: different heights on the table, more uniform on the chandelier. The table represents years of marriage with its ups and downs; the chandelier is delicate, floating with the promise of new romance.

A pacing Drew is on his cell apparently to Mimi who is alternately shown talking on hers. In the meantime, Christine approaches from outside the dining room. The entire moment is reflected in a large mirror, a recurring image in this film, that is on the wall next to the table.

Reduced in stature, Christine is confined to the background. She turns away from Drew’s conversation unobserved, her reality now a mere reflection in his life.

Alone, she retreats to their bed. The pillows are pushed far apart to emphasize the growing divide between them. Eyes cast downward, Christine is a confusion of suspicion and resignation.

Disappointment

A series of images speed up the affair. Drew texting Mimi, Mimi in conversation with Chad, and Drew and Mimi talking in a restaurant amid ghost images of the city embedded in the storefront glass, another mirror-like reflection.

Trouble brews. Dressed and ready to go out, an unhappy Mimi is on her cell in the bathroom. The scene is shot from behind her, casting her image in the bathroom mirror. She turns, walks toward the camera and pulls back her hair. No reason to go out now, apparently.

With its hood raised, Christine’s broken down SUV sits on the side of the road. This moment speaks volumes about her marriage from her view, a once aroused clitoris disabled in a relationship mired in boredom. Drew pulls up in the darkness, his car pointing directly toward, but not touching, the raised hood.

Later in the rec room Drew is watching TV. A visibly concerned Christine comes in, cell phone in hand. They hold hands as if facing a worrisome situation.

The camera takes the viewer to Mimi, who is hanging her photos in a gallery setting; one is of Drew. He shows up with unpleasant news and she is immediately crushed. This is another disappointment, the tale of a younger woman in an affair with a married man.

The studio, Drew and Mimi face reality.

Turning away, Drew occupies the awkward moment by scanning her work hung around the gallery. She slides her hands down the wall beneath his picture. Their talk is heartfelt, she has some tears. They kiss. In the most expressive scene of the film, it’s time for a good-bye.

Revisiting the Retaining Wall

The story moves to a kitchen in which Chad is in conversation with Mimi. Their mutual status is probably “friends with benefits” because the third sex scene appears here and serves as a hopeful “feel good” rebound for Mimi. Incidentally, the viewer becomes so involved with Remy La Croix as Mimi we forget she is still a top porn star and can be as down and dirty as any girl in the business. Remy is so good in this scene, particularly with her oral skills and body positioning, it’s obvious why her name sells movies.

Setting up the scene just right while keeping everyone amused!

Eddie Powell hard at work keeping everyone amused with a shot he hopes doesn’t go to the dogs!

After the money shot, they lie side by side on the floor. Eddie Powell frequently uses close-ups to highlight the expressions of the performers. In this one, Mimi stares straight ahead, her mind is distant from the sex she just had.

In the meantime, Christine and Drew air out the affair in a retaining wall setting that mimics Drew’s first encounter with Mimi. Body language reveals that communication is dying with the relationship.

The characters’ backs are to the camera. Christine’s left hand reaches in Drew’s direction. He doesn’t respond. Later Drew puts his right arm around her with a tentative, comforting motion and rubs her back. Christine pulls away. The shot moves closer and she throws her legs over the wall, turning her body toward the camera.

The old adage in the business is “They don’t pay us to have sex, they pay to wait around.” Steven and India kill some time.

The confrontation continues later in the bedroom and the viewer wonders why they are still sleeping in the same bed.

Tension stays alive, this time in the rec room. They are arguing, debating, but when one talks, the other is not on the screen. Drew is annoyed; Christine is defiant. Like the long couch that divides them in the shot, their marriage has devolved into a massive chasm.

The scene shifts outdoors once more with Drew’s back to camera. As if conceding defeat, Christine comes over and puts her hand on his shoulder. His pained expression is laced with guilt. She almost cries, then nods slightly. It’s over.

Daisies

On a small table in her studio, Mimi is putting a vase of yellow and pink daisies, symbols of purity, innocence, love and loyalty. Drew appears. Bewildered by their conversation, she seems to say, “I’m working to get over this and now you show up.”

Mimi and Steven in the final sex scene having a little fun while setting up the shot.

A kiss begins the final sex scene, a very private expression that renews their relationship.

Even though this is a porn film, I was reluctant to invade this personal moment, feeling somewhat like an intruder once the sex began. For me, that illustrates the power of Torn’s imagery and the intimacy it portrays.

To put it another way, the kissing and eye contact, a tribute to the acting talent of both stars, creates a romantic experience so strong that it relegates the sex as secondary to the film’s emotional impact.

* * * * *

As the film says good-bye to Mimi and Drew, he still reads in bed, but she nestles next to him.

Oh yes, they share a single bathroom mirror.

Incidentally, why are there so many mirrors in this film? Is it because the story requires us to take a long look at ourselves to understand how time and relationships dictate our lives?

Are our emotions genuinely ours, or are they simulations of those around us? And, do they spark a longing to chase the adventurous: the desire for a sexual three-some, a friend with benefits, or a May-December romance?

May-December, a reflection of romantic dreams?

Or, to borrow a little from Shakespeare, are we merely a play within a play as seen through images in a mirror?

Perhaps. Take a look at Torn.

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May 18, 2014 · 2:44 pm

Moving to a Younger Lover: Torn, Part 1

by Rich Moreland, May 2014

Torn is another dynamic New Sensations film from Jacky St. James and Eddie Powell. No review of mine could top the ones already published. For excellent assessments of the film, check Adult Video News’ review here and XBIZ’s assessment here.

With this article, I’m taking another avenue on this film. Rather than review the movie, I’m going to look at its imagery. In the silent film era, audio dialogue was non-existent, acting and the cinematographer’s craft drove the narrative. To move the story forward with words, filmmakers relied on the well placed title card to reveal snippets of the conversation between the characters.

My bet is that a St. James/Powell film can tell its story without dialogue because their artistry as a team is every bit as good as F.W. Murnau’s effort in the pre-sound fantasy, Nosferatu (1922), or William Wellman’s in the adventure classic, Wings (1927).

To test my idea, I decided on a two-pronged approach. First, I read the boxcover for a brief handle on the plot. Second, I did not view Torn from beginning to end. Instead, I studied the opening scenes in which the credits were superimposed on the screen then skipped to the final minutes of the film right before the last round of credits were run.

Would this sparse amount of information provide enough guidance so that the story would be meaningful if I sat through the entire film with the dialogue muted?

The answer is “yes,” because the directing, cinematography, and acting are that good.

(A disclaimer is due here. After the first silent run through, I watched the film again with the sound on so that I might fill in the names of characters and their relationships to each other. What is presented here is the story as I saw it without the dialogue, but with that information subsequently included. For the record, all photos are from Jacky St. James and are credited to Jeff Koga.)

Bedrooms: the Beginning and End

Beds reveal much about the story. In the beginning, the bed in which Christine (India Summer) and her husband Drew (Steven La Croix), occupy is immense, one of those extra wide varieties. The solid headboard is overly large, resembling a bridge between two faraway shores, or perhaps a dam or a wall that might be holding something back.

The crew setting up the opening shots with India and Steven settled in while Jacky (left) and Eddie (far right) get everything ready. Notice the headboard.

The room’s decor is subdued. As the shot is framed, the wall above the bed is blank and consumes an inordinate amount of space. The night stands are ebony (like the headboard) and the actors are dropped to the bottom third of the screen.

The feel is formal, distant, cold, and uninviting. There is brightness in windows on each side of the bed, but they are almost pushed out of the shot.

In the final scene, the camera is much closer to the bed. As in the beginning, the shot is taken from the footboard. Vastly different from the first scene, the bed is smaller, more intimate, and if the headboard is an open bridge (it consists of vertical metal strips, not solid wood), the shores are closer. No allusion to a dam, no way to hold anything back.

Smaller bed, snuggle and smile!

Color and warmth dominate the scene and the characters, Mimi (Remy La Croix) and Drew. Over the night stands on both sides of the bed are larger paintings of nature and fresh beginnings.

The opening scene imparts separation and divide, the final one intimacy and union. Knowing this, the story apparently revolves around Drew and how he moves from his wife to his much younger lover. Somewhere in this tale is a tearing away and a rebirth, at least that’s what is indicated so far.

The Afternoon Party

Drew’s life appears filled with drudgery. The snooze alarm is his morning friend and the drive to work is a bore. He has the look of “Is this all there is?” about his day-to-day existence.

Jacky sets up the party shots. India, Steven, Raylene, and Tom get their instructions while the crew hangs out.

An afternoon party hosted by Drew’s co-worker,Vicky (Raylene), and her husband, Roy, features an announcement of some sort. A somewhat disinterested Drew goes outside to smoke. (By the way, among the party goers is Jacky St. James a la Alfred Hitchcock, a cameo in her own film.)

Steven and Remy hang out at the wall before shooting the scene.

Remy flashes Steven before she becomes Mimi.

The home is in the hills and Drew sits on a retaining wall, a recurring image in the film. Mimi, the photographer at the party, joins him and they chat as if meeting for the first time. The scenery overwhelms the players and at this point in the narrative sends a distinct message. Nature is primal (remember the paintings in their bedroom referenced above), existing without assumptions and conclusions. Is this what Drew and Mimi will discover because they are not so much the focus of the scene as they are the recipients of its message?

Later in their bedroom, Christine tells Drew about something that is troubling her. It is related to the goings on at Vicky’s house.

A Bathroom Hideout

During the party, Christine is interrupted while she is in the bathroom. Desperate, she hides in the walk-in shower and peeks through the shower curtain. Roy, Vicky and a friend (Samantha Ryan) have three-way sex that features girl/girl oral, unusual for a Jacky St. James romance.

Waiting for the shoot to begin, Raylene, Tom Byron, and Samantha Ryan.

Waiting for the shoot to begin, Raylene, Tom, and Samantha fool around.

Apparently Vicky and Roy are swingers.

All the while, Christine is in the shower and her dilemma is told by the camera.

The angle is shot from above, an image akin to looking down an empty elevator shaft. Christine is trapped. Confined like the walls she has built around her marriage, Christine is devoid of the sexual passion right within her reach. At this moment, she gives the flimsy shower curtain an unassailable power over her. St. James’s message is clear: we only need rip away our self-imposed barriers and face what troubles us to free ourselves from its tyranny.

As the sex romps just beyond her, Christine sits on the shower floor, physically smaller, frustrated, and seemingly exhausted.

After the bathroom empties, Christine yanks back the curtain. Disgusted and upset, she washes her hands repeatedly and vigorously, much like the recurring imagery of tooth brushing that dominates bathroom scenes in the movie. What are the characters trying to cleanse in this tale of love’s failures and renewal?

The next day at the office, Drew talks with Vicky. Her surprise is followed by laughter, Vicky indicates Christine should have joined in. Drew gives her an “are you kidding me?” look.

A Living Room, then a Studio

A fireplace with large crucifix above the mantle dominates a room whose size stresses the divide between Drew and his wife. Christine is sitting in a loveseat under a huge mirror that reflects the crucifix on the opposite wall. Does the image comment on the sanctity of marriage and sexuality within it?

The crucifix sees all. Jacky directs Steven and India

Hiding a piece of red lingerie behind his back, Drew approaches Christine. Incidentally, he wears a shirt that is also red, the color of passion. She doesn’t like the gift; rejection covers his face. Later he surprises her amorously in the laundry room but she pushes him away. Unfortunately, nothing is going to reignite passion in this marriage.

Mimi, who happens to be Vicky’s niece, shows up at the office. Remembering Drew from the party, the twenty-something wants to photograph him and they go to her studio.

In the foreground of the scene, Mimi loads her camera and Drew sits in a director’s chair some distance away. Mimi’s image fills the entire screen and is totally shaded. As the scene continues, Mimi emerges from the shadows, moving closer to him. Two close-ups of his hands emphasize his wedding ring.

Getting into position for just the right angle. Mimi foreground, Drew in the distance.

The scene is playful and refreshing, smiles all around, the exact opposite of the deadness the viewer gets with Christine. But is Mimi about to dominate Drew’s emotions? Is she a harbinger of trouble to come?

Drew is about to make the move.

As he leaves, the middle-aged Drew drops all decorum and kisses Mimi. She is stunned, but not unpleasantly. She did, after all, set this up.

The affair begins. Drew faces a relationship where second chances are rarities, but will Mimi become the dreaded other woman, the mistress destined to be shunted aside when tensions arise?

* * * * *

One of the difficulties in eliminating dialogue is losing the nuances it adds to a film, a richness we appreciate more fully when sound is turned off and words are gone. But clearly the visual operates on its own, proving that filmmakers of the silent era handed down their skills to a modern generation with, of course, the complements of the title card.

The second part of Torn is coming shortly.

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Tagged as AVN, Eddie Powell, India Summer, Jacky St. James, New Sensations, Raylene, Remy Lacroix, Samantha Ryan, Steven St. Croix, Tom Byron, Torn, XBIZ

April 5, 2014 · 11:02 am

Anna Lee, Part 3: Behind the Scenes

by Rich Moreland, April, 2014

This is a brief look at a part of the Behind the Scenes interviews in The Sexual Liberation of Anna Lee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prevalent in adult DVDs is a “Behind the Scenes” segment in which the camera makes impromptu visits with the cast. Fairly standard in its make-up, the backstage lens catches porn performers in their casual moments and is typically filled with small talk and clowning around.

On the Anna Lee set, director Jacky St. James chats informally with three of her stars about the film’s theme, repressed sexuality, examining the issue with a seriousness not usually found in BTS fare. The director, who also authored the script, offers insights into childhood upbringing as a factor in sexual attitudes.

Maddy O’Reilly

An A-list Spiegler girl, Maddy O’Reilly resides at the upper end of the adult industry food chain. Despite her true porn star status, Maddy confesses that her adolescence was similar to that of Anna’s character: sexually reticent physically, but intensely sexual mentally.

Because anything unforeseen could happen, Jacky asks Maddy if she had any concerns about being tied up and blindfolded. Maddy confesses she was definitely a “little nervous” and had “butterflies.” Her arousal level was sky high; she was “heated” and “sweaty” before the sequence was filmed. But, Maddy adds, getting anxious before shooting sex scenes is normal for her.

“Why are you shy and nervous about sex?” Jacky inquires.

“I’m from a very conservative background,” Maddy says. Her childhood was shaped by the religious community in which she lived. There were “churches on every corner,” Maddy remembers, and going to church “three times a week” was an expectation that defined the norm in her Bible-Belt hometown.

Jacky, Steven St. Croix, and Eddie surround a shy, conservative southern girl. Photo Courtesy of Jeff Koga

Jacky, Steven St. Croix, and Eddie surround a once shy, church-going girl.
Photo Courtesy of Jeff Koga

Maddy’s mother taught her daughter that the simplest physical contact could be misinterpreted as unacceptably sexual and therefore verboten. “Hugging someone was considered loose and not classy,” Maddy says with an innocent smile that bespeaks a small town upbringing and emphasizes once again that church attendance beyond the usual Sunday services reinforced her rural culture’s moral ethos.

“Being hit so hard with a religious background,” Maddy says, caused her to escape the southern backwater atmosphere of her childhood. The result? Porn became Maddy’s personal “liberation.” Entering the adult film business allowed her “to break free” to do sexual things she thought about but didn’t “have the guts” to do in her adolescent years.

Life is “very vanilla back home,” Maddy comments matter-of-factly. “People don’t talk about sex, ever.”

Jacky remarks that being in a sexually driven business must have been a big change for Maddy considering her upbringing.

“Absolutely,” the North Carolina native says. “Because it was so conservative, I wanted to go the complete opposite of that!” Maddy O’Reilly laughs and throws out her arms for emphasis.

“My mom and I never talked about sex until I was performing in the business,” she exclaims. The situation is different today, Maddy’s mother now believes it’s fine to discuss the once forbidden with her daughter. One has to wonder if others in Maddy’s hometown might succumb to their unspoken curiosity and also enjoy some small talk with her.

The Cast of Anna Lee.
Photo Courtesy of Eddie Powell

By the way, Maddy O’Reilly’s favorite thing in Anna Lee was being tied up, especially in the St. Andrew’s cross scene where she was “liberated by everyone in the cast.” Jacky asks about Anna’s assignment in which she let other people “worship” her and how that felt from an actress’s point of view. Emphasizing that her co-stars were some of her favorite performers in the industry, Maddy insists that “not knowing” what each was going to do to her was exciting. That’s a stimulating aspect of doing bondage work I’ve heard from other performers, though for the record, not everyone adjusts to the blindfold as easily as Maddy appears to do.

Maddy loved the hot wax but cautions interested viewers to not experiment with real candles. There are special products made for that type of BDSM play. And for the curious, the twenty-four-year-old did orgasm when Johnny Castle skillfully applied the vibrator to her.

Hot wax residue.
Photo Courtesy of Jeff Koga

Finally, Maddy giggiles about breaking the handcuffs in her scene with Xander Corvus. Because she usually gets “very romancy roles,” the psychological mood and rough and tumble sex of Anna Lee was a welcome change for her.

Maddy and Xander in the final scene.
Photo Courtesy of Eddie Powell

For the record, Anna Lee has forged Maddy O’Reilly into a star any feature director should take into account casting his or her next film. Hopefully her hometown North Carolinians won’t hold that against their native daughter!

Jessa Rhodes and Steven St. Croix

In their Behind the Scenes segment, Jessa Rhodes and Steven St. Croix discuss another aspect of Anna Lee, their scene of fantasy sex with an older man. In the film it’s the therapist, Gaige, and the young staffer, Elize. Jessa comments on the “daddy” fantasy it represents and she speaks from experience. That’s “my thing,” she says, though until recently she thought it was “so wrong.”

Steven, a veteran of years in the business, believes the “daddy” issue is “a sublet of the authority figure fantasy,” like a policeman or a teacher. Jessa agrees, “It’s definitely an authority thing for me.”

At this point, Steven offers that his co-star’s fantasy (fetish?) may be a result of her background. Jessa was raised in a very religious home.

“What religion?” Jacky St. James inquires.

“Christian,” the A-lister responds, but offers no information beyond that. Growing up in an environment similar to Maddy O’Reilly’s, Jessa’s exposure to adult material “on a scale of one to ten was in the negative zone. I was in a bubble,” she chuckles.

Joking about masturbating at age eleven, the twenty-one-year-old was unsure of what she had just done, anxieties typical of an adolescent discovering her sexuality. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked herself at the time. “I felt bad.”

Jessa Rhodes
Photo by Bill Knight

Recovery from doubt was swift and the native Oregonian entered the adult industry at nineteen, quickly discovering that it’s “a healthy thing to live out your fantasies.” Though Jessa adds that some people don’t want their “dark side” to be seen by others, she assures them it is alright if they do.

Of course, performers in the adult industry can act out their fantasies in a safe environment, an advantage a non-industry person may not have.

Jessa Rhodes eventually realized what most people in business quietly understand. She can separate her “sexual self” from her “day-to-day person” because “it’s ok to be those two different beings.”

It’s an affirmation I’ve heard from several performers. In fact, an adult actor’s life off the set is more mundane that most people think.

Some years ago, an industry PR person mentioned to me that the public often assumes porn stars have unending rounds of partying and sex, burning the proverbial candle at both ends. Not in her experience, she said. Their lives are very ordinary. When I first began writing in the business, a prominent performer let me in on the secret about blogs and other social media that are a vital part of a porn star’s lifeline to her fans. “Sometimes we just make this stuff up,” she said. It’s what people want to read and believe.

A director I know put it best. The set is just about all the sex industry people have the time and energy for, he said, explaining that most performers go home to a typically uneventful American household. Take care of day-to-day needs and go to bed early.

Tomorrow becomes, as a performer friend of mine said, “just another day at work.” Porn is a business, after all.

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Tagged as Behind the Scenes, Jacky St. James, Jessa Rhodes, Maddy O'Reilly, Sexual Liberation of Anna Lee, Steven St. Croix, The Sexual Liberation of Anna Lee, Xander Corvus

Tag Archives: Steven St. Croix

Color is only Color: A Review of B Skow’s Color Blind

A Nice Girl Who Howls at the Moon: Part Two, Be Grateful

“You of All People”

Hilarious Dads: A Review of Jacky St. James’ Father’s Day

Whatever is Best, Dad: Part Two of Our Father

A Suspension of Disbelief

Is That Something You Can Live With?

A Single Mirror: Torn, Part 2

Moving to a Younger Lover: Torn, Part 1

Anna Lee, Part 3: Behind the Scenes

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