Wired News
Pornography Is Not the Decider

By Regina Lynn| Also by this reporter
05:00 AM Feb, 02, 2007

Editor's note: Some links in this story lead to adult material and are not suitable for viewing at work. All links of this nature will be noted with "NSFW" after them.

What if we threw a DVD format war and nobody came?

Oh wait. We did.

I don't know why anyone cares what DVD format the adult industry picks. This supposed "war" between HD-DVD and Blu-ray in porn is just fantasy. Invented to put "porn" in newspaper headlines and to give adult studio heads a chance to be quoted in mainstream press. Hyped because of porn's legendary role in VHS' triumph over Betamax.

But it makes no sense to compare DVD formats to porn's influence on videotape 30 years ago. Physical media simply doesn't have the same importance it did then.

We can download as much video on demand as we need. It might take some advance planning (and a full night) to download a feature-length, high-def film, but we can easily acquire enough clips to get us through the evening. Digital storage is cheap enough that we can build a collection of hand-picked scenes without worrying if the kids will stumble over a box of DVDs in the closet.

Meanwhile, our 60-inch, flat-panel, high-def televisions with our 5.1-channel surround sound systems and dual-format DVD players are usually in our family rooms. Unless you live alone, I doubt you have much opportunity to watch porn on the big screen.

I won't deny that DVDs are convenient packages. They make good gifts, they are easily portable for group movie nights and they are ideal for mail-order rentals. Hollywood will depend on the familiarity of discs for many years yet.

But for porn? I can't see it mattering for long. Just look at how adult content has changed in the past five years.

Content that once lurked underground is now standard fare. What was kinky is now merely edgy; what was taboo is now extreme -- but available. We expect to skim and hop and experiment, to go from busty schoolgirls to Japanese three-ways to the art of bondage as the mood takes us. Not to be locked into the same scenes with the same talent unless we buy another DVD.

The naughty pictures we once sneaked are now an acknowledged, if not entirely accepted, part of our culture. The anti-porn movement is only as visible as it is because mass media has become so sexualized.

We can interact with performers and subscribe to their video archives. Surf for free erotica. Join webcam chat rooms. Hire aural sex professionals to caress our minds while our avatars act out the fantasies. Play naughty games on our mobile devices. TiVo late-night cable or pay-per-view.

Some erotic virtual worlds have video-streaming capabilities so you can host a porn party in your online house. So do Paltalk adult communities, where you can chat in text, audio and video while watching the porn stream along with everyone else in the room.

You can watch porn passively or you can develop relationships with talent and audience -- not through fan clubs but in real-time. Women like Seska Lee (NSFW) earn a living not just as performers but also as educators, advisors, even as a kind of internet friend.

You just can't get that from a DVD. And the roles of performer and fan become ever more slippery as our interactive tools become more sophisticated and our culture becomes more socially networked, more about sharing than consuming.

I have a friend who belongs to a couple of indie webcam sites. For him, the shows are more about the conversation -- real talks about current events, movies, sexuality, the entertainer's personality and her life beyond the camera -- than about her explicit performances.

The pros like him because he respects them as people and shows genuine interest. The other fans notice how much attention he gets by building an ongoing relationship with the entertainer, by remembering past conversations, and by treating her as a person rather than an object. When you have a group of fans taking this approach, the experience becomes more captivating for everyone.

And while you might think "nah, no relationships for me, that's too complicated, I'd rather just watch a few minutes of video and get off," once you get sucked into in the group experience, "just video" can become awfully flat.

Oh yes it can. I look back to my early columns where I confessed that text was enough for me, I didn't need the 3-D distraction of the erotic metaverses to build relationships, to flirt, to cyber. Now? Text-only chat rooms seem oddly quiet and empty, compared with the sensory input of virtual worlds.

It's the same for porn. We're not going to buy one DVD player over another based on whether we can watch porn on it. We don't need to. So much video is available online from studios and independents, and so many people are willing to get naked and sexual with us -- either professionally, or as peers -- that disc formats are already moot.

For consumers who just want to get turned on so they can get off, well, why spend $80 on a high-def feature when you can download a scene for a couple of bucks?

I see high-def DVDs occupying a niche in adult, perhaps as a medium for big budget pictures with blockbuster special effects, beautiful scenery and luscious sound. I also foresee continuing concern about whether we even want to watch porn in high-def, given what the format does to bodies (and how the pressure is sending performers back to their cosmetic surgeons to become more plastic).

As for portability, well, audio books are already available in buy-and-go digital players. How hard will it be to add a video out port and cable to the package?

I just can't imagine the next generation willingly spending large amounts of money for porn DVDs. They've grown up sharing content, inventing new ways to create and exchange video without bothering to check with the entertainment industry.

If we must end up with a single DVD standard, Hollywood is going to have to stop watching and start deciding.

See you next Friday,

Regina Lynn

You can reach Regina at ginalynn@gmail.com.