Tuesday, July 17, 2007

As you sit here reading this over the Internet, chances are you have another window for another site open and chances are that site contains some porno.

The anonymity of the Internet fits so beautifully well with the solitary, secretive use of porn, that collectively they have been able to reach new heights. Porn companies around the globe can tap into previously unattainable markets and porn users from all corners of the world are but a click away from limitless debauchery. I am far from an expert in economics but my guess is you would have to go pretty far back in time to find a better example of when supply and demand were mutually fulfilled in such a way.

There was however a time, seemingly forgotten in the past, when men were forced to venture beyond the sanctity of their homes to quench this thirst for (two dimensional live action) pornography.

First there was the porno theatre. I can not speak on this in great detail as it was before my time and I have never been inside one. I can however, imagine what it was like and that image is not a pleasant one. Perhaps ther person most famously associated with this type of establishment is the great children's comedian Pee Wee Herman. By showing his pecker to his fellow theatre goers and subsequently being arrested for it, Mr. Herman has shown us just how far removed from this type of establishment we've become. The porno theatre was already on life support by the time of Pee Wee's arrest, now it is virtually extinct.

Privacy is the common theme here, as we move from what is essentially a circle jerk inside a theatre, to being able to rub one out in your own home. Enter the video store. Now porn hungry slobs could simply select a movie of their choice while in the company of others then retire to their home and do their business in private.

I know a thing or two about the back room of the video store. There are rules one must follow. And just as our friend Pee Wee learned inside the porno theatre, violating these rules can have its consequences. Rather than take up unnecessary space and risk interrupting the nice flow I've got going, you can simply view said rules and regulations here.

So in a span of less than 30 years we've gone from a collective group watching the same film, jerking off at the same time, to a collective group making individual choices and jerking off in private. That brings us up to the present day, where the Internet has allowed us to make a private individual choice before we retire in private to jerk off alone.

All three vessels, the theatre, the video store, and the Internet provide us with what we want - porno. However it is only the Internet that is able to provide it in such an individualized, privatized way.  

If you have half a brain I'm sure you realise that I'm not really talking about porn, but rather using it is a platform to address life in general and the role technology plays in our society.  

Thus, my question to you is this:  As we approach a society where individual accessibility (often marketed as a connected global community) has become the standard and where sharing is quickly becoming a thing of the past; how does that affect the psyche of man, who by way of God or nature is a communal creature?


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1 comments:

Paramount BJJ said...

Definitely one of your best pieces yet. Insightful, biting social commentary. A stinging examination of today's modern world and the alarming grip that technology has on us.

Yo I gotta go, my Bang Bros. video just finished downloading. I'm dead serious.

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