It required a second round of voting to become official, and an overwhelming victory (9-1) yesterday has apparently made condom use (filming within Los Angeles) mandatory. This law aims for protection of actors from AIDs transmittal during scenes. There's evidence to suggest a lot of hard working actors are becoming quite ill; and comparisons to firefighters working without protective gear have been made. Within the industry, there are dissenting arguments, and one of my favourites is from 27 year veteran Nina Hartley, who really gets into the gritty end of filming pornography:
There is also the awkward little statistic from the industry that states there have only been 2 cases of HIV transmittal from within LA's pornography industry in the last decade. That being said, these were cases that sent a shockwave through the adult film community, shutting it down for periods of time from a week to a month in length. I believe this ordinance has come of the back of a 2011 scare, where the gentleman who caused it had falsely tested positive.
While Hartley considered the medical side of filming people fucking, the American adult film industry is a multi-billion dollar one, concentrated in California. Christian Mann, (of Evil Angel Productions) found issues with the business aspects:
And I could not agree more. As a pair of filthy breeders, my partner and I go to some length to avoid conception. Prophylactics as well as chemical and hormonal contraceptives are used with boring regularity to stave off unwanted children, and I must say, it's going well, despite the downsides. Which is where pornography comes in, no pun intended. Porn is fantasy and part of that fantasy is throwing caution to the wind. There are no STDs in Pornland, no pregnancy scares or emotional hangups; just sexy, promiscuous women and men having encounter after casual encounter, and everyone is better off for it.
There's so many grey areas, from the perspective of someone outside of industry. Are these ostensibly consenting adults actually being coerced into not protecting themselves? What amount of responsibility should people take for their own bodies - and is it a case of 'well, this is the life I have chosen?' If the actors don't mind, should they be forced? I speak with bias, despite promoting sexual protection to fight the spread of disease every day - but just not within my fantasy, thanks. If the porn LA produces suddenly declines in volume, I image something will rush in to fill the vacuum - does this mean a surge in the Australian adult film industry?
Probably only in the Northern Territory and ACT.
No comments:
Post a Comment