Source: Adult Industry News
By: Cinema Seen By William Margold
”Deep Throat” Swallows New York…Again! ”There is no future if in the present we fail to pay homage to the past.”
I’ve opened many columns with that quote. But no column in recent memory is more deserving.
I originally uttered the sentiment back in 1997, when I was in the process of acknowledging the Legends of Erotica in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the sociological phenomenon known as the Adult Entertainment Industry…and its most indelible entity…the X-Rated Film.
And without a doubt…the one explicit (hardcore sex) title most commonly linked to the unleashing of ”the masturbatory motion picture catharsis for the masses” was 1972’s orally obsessed carnal comedy from director Gerard Damiano called Deep Throat…starring Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems.
Now…almost 40 years later…a play called the Deep Throat Sex Scandal (www.DeepThroatThePlay.com) is currently working out its kinks (etc.) during its ”preview” run at 45 Bleecker Street Theatre in New York City. The official ”Press Night” (featuring many celebrities including a sizzling selection of Stars from Sinema’s Sinful Seventies) is set for Sunday evening, October 10.
Written and produced by David Bertolino, and directed by Jerry Douglas, the emotionally-charged, historically-relevant, sensually-satisfying, but also painfully insightful production is about a time when freedom of expression was something to talk about…but was also very hard to swallow. And the real tragedy of that era was that many of those who had something to say…said nothing at all when asked to speak up…for fear of being ostracized by their peers.
The first half of Deep Throat Sex Scandal deals with the human drama and humorous making of the film. The second half details the lengths to which the film and in particular, one of its performers, was prosecuted (or perhaps I should say ”persecuted”) in the sanctimonious name of decency.
Indeed, when the over-zealous United States government went after the movie, and ”Harry Reems became an innocent victim of society’s guilty pleasures”…only a few liberal-minded souls (including Oscar winners Warren Beatty, Tony Bill, Richard Dreyfuss, and Jack Nicholson) rose to his defense…as they were realistically fearful that ”The Inquisition Against X” would eventually be exacted upon all the other letters in the entertainment alphabet.
And it was during this period that I served up my most definitive statement: ”In a society that is drug-infested, violence-wracked, and polluted by chemical greed…no one has ever died from an overdose of Pornography.”
I don’t think that anything else needs to be said here. Except, of course, if you happen to be in New York City in the near ”future”…you might want to think about ”paying homage to the past.”
