Buy Bigger than Life: The History of Gay Porn in Cinema from Beefcake to Hardcore

Bigger than Life: The History of Gay Porn in Cinema from Beefcake to Hardcore

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Synopsis

Hardcore porn—both the straight and gay varieties—entered mainstream American culture in the 1970s as the sexual revolution swept away many of the cultural inhibitions and legal restraints on explicit sexual expression. The first porn movie ever to be reviewed by Variety, the entertainment industry’s leading trade journal, was Wakefield Poole’s Boys in the Sand (1971), a sexually-explicit gay movie shot on Fire Island with a budget of $4000. Moviegoers, celebrities and critics—both gay and straight—flocked to see Boys in the Sand when it opened in mainstream movie theaters in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Within a year, Deep Throat, a heterosexual hardcore feature opened to rave reviews and a huge box office—exceeding that of many mainstream Hollywood features. Almost all of those involved in making “commercial” gay pornographic movies began as amateurs in a field that had virtually never existed before, either as art or commerce. Many of their “underground” predecessors had repeatedly suffered arrest and other forms of legal harassment. There was no developed gay market and any films made commercially were shown in adult x-rated theaters. After the Stonewall riots and the emergence of the gay liberation movement in 1969, a number of entrepreneurs began to make gay adult movies for the new mail order market. The gay porn film industry grew dramatically during the next thirty years and transformed the way men—gay men in particular—conceived of masculinity and their sexuality. Bigger Than Life tells that story.

Keywords

Book, Filmmaking/Actors, Gay Male, Gay/Lesbian, History, Porno Filmmaking/Adult Star

Genres

Books, Non-Fiction/Reference, Porn Stars/Reference, Video/Film Reference & Screenplays

Customer Reviews

Looking at Gay Porn and its History

Amos Lassen wrote on 05/20/2009:

Escoffier, Jeffrey. “Bigger than Life: The History of Gay Porn Cinema from Beefcake to Hardcore”, Running Press, 2009.

Looking at Gay Porn and Its History

Amos Lassen

“Bigger than Life” is a book I have been waiting for but really never expected to see. Now that a real history of gay porn had been written, I feel like the wait is over. This is such a comprehensive and thorough look at the industry that you may never have to ask a question about it and I sincerely congratulate the author, Jeffrey Escoffier, on a wonderful job and an all too welcome addition to the canon of gay literature.
Hardcore pornography is now a part of mainstream America and it came into our lives with the sexual revolution of the 1970s. When we were liberated from cultural inhibitions, explicit sexual expression came about—both straight and gay. In 1971, “Variety” published its first review of a porn movie and a gay one at that, the sexually explicit and erotic “Boys in the Sand” from director Wakefield Poole and crowds lined up to see it when it opened in mainstream movie theaters. Soon following was “Deep Throat” which everyone knows is a straight porn feature which opened to brilliant reviews and made a ton of money rivaling many mainstream Hollywood releases. It was a matter of time before people began to realize how much money could be made from porn and the industry took hold as a major force. Many of those involved in porn began as amateurs in an area of business that was brand new but that also brought in big bucks and continues to do so to this day. While the price of mainstream videos has fallen that of porn—especially gay porn has stated high at the $50 and better mark. However these early studios that produced gay porn had to develop a market when video came into vogue. After the Stonewall Riots of 1969 there was a small mail order industry and during the next 30 years supply and demand grew. Porn had a great deal to do with how masculinity was perceived of by gay men in particular and more and more gay men wanted to look like as well as be built like the porn stars they saw in the privacy of their homes. The same is true of the way they saw their sexuality.
This book is not a survey of gay porn although it does indeed tell us about many of the movies. Rather it is a history, or better put, a social history of the gay porn industry and in it we also see a history of gay life and the way men have changed. We are reminded of the impact of AIDS and we see the creation and evolution of a movement within a movement. Escoffier has done his work well by using interviews and research to give us the most overall study to date. It is extremely readable—so much so that I did not stop until I closed the covers. They will not remain closed for long though. This is the book that you want to read and read and read.