First there was "Kinsey," and now there's "Inside Deep Throat" - the latest movie to address America's obsession with sexual morality, and expose a hypocrisy that became evident in the '70s, yet has continued to thrive , safely delivered from the Nixon administration right through to the Bush era.
Directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato of "Party Monster" fame, "Inside Deep Throat" is a vastly entertaining documentary about the low-budget '70s porn movie "Deep Throat." Fast-paced and hard-hitting, the documentary comes across as an illicit history lesson that is at times hilarious and at others somewhat difficult to, um, swallow.
Attitudes towards sex in this country, according to both "Kinsey" and "Inside," seem to suffer from a certain "pendulum effect" - there always is a conservative faction that seeks to repress the influence of sex in society, while another equally-enthusiastic bunch forever hopes to liberate the masses and have orgies everywhere. The public, in turn, varies in which side they want to take, producing this swinging repress-express effect. Hence we have the innocence of the '50s, leading into the sexual revolution of the late '60s and '70s.
"Inside" captures a turning point in porn history, in terms of its mainstream media exposure. "Deep Throat" remains the most lucrative porn ever made: produced on a budget of $25,000, it has to date grossed over $600 million. After its opening in Times Square on June 12, 1972, The New York Times even praised it as "porn chic." Of course, Nixon and his buddies - the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography - went ballistic and shut it down. Twenty-four states then banned the movie from their cinemas.
"Inside" itself contains some pretty graphic scenes, justifying its NC-17 rating. In an interview with the Boston Phoenix, Bailer said, "You can't make a film about "Deep Throat" and not show the thing that made the film so famous."
Mostly however, the film is made up of new and old interviews with the actors and directors of "Deep Throat," which are spliced with news-reel footage.
Bailey and Barbato cleverly contrast the enthusiasm and hype leading up to the movie's release, with the acts of denial and denunciation by those involved with the movie that followed after the "obscene" label stuck fast.
It is interesting to see the star of "Deep Throat," actress Linda Lovelace, become something of a heroine and cultural icon as the fellatio-obsessed girl-next-door, and then denounce the movie and the entire porn industry on "The Late Late Show" with Tom Snyder shortly thereafter.
She claims to have been coerced into her role and abused during the making of the movie, and describes becoming a reformed, good girl-next-door, and a mother to boot. It's up to each independent viewer to choose how much of Lovelace's story he or she chooses to believe.
It's even more interesting to see '70s feminists jump on the bandwagon in using Lovelace's account to denounce porn and its perpetuation of male dominance in society. To be fair, the premise of "Deep Throat" is nothing short of ridiculous - a woman discovers that her clitoris is actually in her throat - but it is funny to see those who took it all a bit too seriously. One interviewee is asked whether "Deep Throat" had a scarring influence on him, and when he gravely replies: "Oh yes, it made a huge impact ... I wish I had never seen it ..." it's hard to take him seriously.
The film's triumph, however, is in making viewers think about current attitudes. Producer Brian Glazer put $1 million of his own money into this movie, and clearly thought the documentary had a lot of probing to do, and probe it does. The current porn industry takes in $10 billion annually - and if history has anything to tell us, perhaps cable television and hotel chains should be preparing themselves for the next big backlash.
Regardless, "Inside" provides some food for thought, but if you're looking for a good date movie, "Hitch" might be a better option for now - unless of course you and your date view feeling uncomfortable as foreplay, or just want to find a good way of skipping all that romance stuff and getting straight to the climax.
