When We Come Together: The Power of Watching Porn in Public
Photo: Adult film star April Flores receives a standing ovation at the 2014 Feminist Porn Awards, giving respect to her husband, the late adult filmmaker Carlos Batts. Photo credit: @TheOneTheyCallGreg
Guest post by Jiz Lee
How do you typically watch porn? If you’re like most, you’re scrolling on a smartphone, or perhaps on your laptop — and you’re probably all alone in the privacy of your home or behind a closed door. You might know exactly what you want to watch, or maybe you browse a bit before searching for the keyword that turns you on.
But what would change in your experience of watching porn if you were no longer alone. What if you were watching in a theatre alongside hundreds of other viewers?
When we watch porn with strangers or ‘in public’ — which is to say, a specified screening where everyone has proven they are of legal age and consents to watching films together — we open ourselves up to new experiences that can have a profound impact on how we think about sex.
Award-winning adult filmmaker Kate Sinclaire is the creator and director of CineSinclaire.com and organizes the annual Nuit Raunch film festival. Now in its 5th year, Nuit Raunch has toured across Canada. She has a lot of helpful advice to share about watching adult films with others and why, if a porn screening comes to your town, you should make attending a top priority.
5 reasons why, if a porn screening comes to your town, you need to go!
1. Normalize talking about porn
“The experience of watching porn in a group gives us the chance to experience porn as we do any other form of media,” shares Kate. “It gives us the chance to talk about what we saw, what we experienced, and normalizes the whole thing. Think of the last time you saw a movie or TV show with a friend or partner. At the end, you talk about what you liked, didn’t like, loved, and maybe even if you learned something new. Talking about media is a huge part of consuming it — so why not for porn?!”
2. Discover the unexpected
The magic in short film festival screenings is in the variety. Just as ‘sex’ can mean different things to different people, so can ‘porn’ look different to different people.
Diverse and inclusive festivals screen films created by marginalized creators, representing people of colour, performers of size, queer and trans sex, of sex and disability, and people who are often left out of conventional porn. Seeing ourselves reflected as sexual beings can be incredibly healing and validating. Subverting stereotypes and tropes can reveal truths in desire.
When we take a chance to allow ourselves to ‘stumble’ upon something we might not have thought to watch, we place ourselves in the role of observer, and can discover the many ways that desire can be portrayed. Perhaps we’ll learn something about ourselves in the process.
3. Respectful environment to experience sexuality
Festivals provide a sex-positive space to appreciate adult films. As the adage goes, “Don’t ‘yuck’ my ‘yum’!” Audiences are invited to receive art with an open-mind. This can be a vulnerable experience for many, and it can also be validating.
“Audiences regularly laugh, shriek, gasp, and even go silent at various points of any film, and the same is absolutely true of a porn screening,” shares Kate. “Getting that feedback, that it’s ok to laugh, that sex isn’t always so serious, was such a relief for me when I was dipping my toes into watching it on the big screen for the first time.”
4. Increased appreciation for porn as film
When we go into a theatre, we put our phones on silent and we give our full, undivided attention to the screen. This creates a focus that can allow us to understand it more completely, and to have a greater appreciation for the craft.
Adult film is a truly independent film genre, with incredibly inventive and creative approaches to storytelling. There’s so many sub-genres — narrative, documentary, experimental, erotic, hardcore, fetish, the list goes on and on.
Attending a festival, meeting creators, listening to filmmaker Q&As all provide a greater understanding and appreciation for the people behind the work.
5. Keep free speech alive!
“Porn is the ‘canary in the coal mine’ of free speech,” said obscenity lawyer Myles Jackman. And the ability to show a public porn screening serves as a litmus test to our social sexual libration.
“Public screenings weren’t an issue in the past. The Golden Age of Porn (1969-1984) saw ‘blue’ movies screening regularly in cities big and small,” recounts Kate. “When I took Nuit Raunch on tour, our stop in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was a huge hit in large part because Broadway Theatre was celebrating its history as a porn theatre in the Golden Age. The projectionist was the same one on staff in the 70s, who had loaded sexy movies up onto the big screen. Sadly, anti-sex activism and policymaking rendered public screenings shameful and perverse, and even illegal in some areas, and the Golden Age came to an end.”
Film festivals are a labour of love, many rarely turn a profit. Attending and supporting the events helps the show go on, inspiring new filmmakers, which in turn brings more visions of desire to the screen and expands sexual expressions and discussions about sex. Let’s take sex back to the streets!
“We’ve got a great chance with screenings like Nuit Raunch and the San Francisco PornFilmFestival to bring this medium back to the silver screen, and back to public discourse. Porn is one of the most accessible forms of media and allows for so much expression, representation, joy, and awe. Come to a screening! You can always step out into the lobby if you need a break, and you might end up learning something new!”
So the next time a porn screening comes to your town, be sure to attend! Bring your friends and make a night of it. It’s a unique experience and one that might have a wonderful and positive impression!
For more information about Nuit Raunch, visit NuitRaunch.com. The San Francisco PornFilmFestival screens in-person and online August 24th - 27th, 2022. Learn more at SFPFF.PinkLabel.TV.
About the author: Porn polymath Jiz Lee is an actor, author, and the Marketing Director of Pink & White Productions. They’d like to thank Carlyle Jansen and the staff at Good For Her for providing the space to discuss adult films and support the festivals that bring us together.
