PORN IN THE MOVIES
Kevin Smith's new film is a romantic comedy about making a pornographic film. Paul Dale wonders when and why we started celebrating sex capitalism
[III
._ r , _ i h ’Rogan and Bank; in Zack and Miri Make a Porno and below, House Bunny
already pushing all the wrong buttons —- not only did the Motion Picture Association of America ban the original poster. which implied that the title characters were performing fellatio. but the city of Philadelphia has banned posters of the filth from their bus stops and the NH. has requested that the words Make a Porno be left out of commercials shown during their games. The result is that Smith. against his admirably libertarian sentiments. has been forced into a position of defending the porno industry in all its forms. The question is — is it worth defending? l'nlike films that use graphic sex to either blur or investigate the relationship between pornography and regttlar cinema (In IIH’ Rea/m oft/1e .S'enses. 9 Songs. Intimacy. .S'liorllnis. ('aligula. I\’om(mc(’). films directly about the porn industry can serve to be both insightful and apocryphal. Recent documentaries on the subject are particularly interesting. Take three documentaries — Inside Deep IIII'UHI (2005) a
latonic friends '/.ack and Miri one day
decide that in the current economic
climate the only way to diminish their respective personal debts is to make a pornographic film together. but the world of amateur porno filmmaking is not as easy as it seems. So goes one synopsis of Kevin Smith's new film Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The film stars lilizabeth Banks (last seen as a polished Laura Bush in W) and omnipresent Canadian slacker Seth Rogan (Pineapple livpress. Knocked Up) as the titular couple in this likeably silly and sentimental filtn that‘s rooted both in the gleefully horny Jewish teenager aesthetics of the films of iiber producer Judd .S'aperbad Apatow and the DIY filmmaking fantasies entertainingly evoked in Michel (iomlry"s Be Kind Rewind and less so in British sex comedy I Want ('ame. In this his eighth feature Smith‘s only real agenda seems to be to turn a comedian’s eye on amateur pornography. and
anyone familiar with Smith's work as either a film about the tnaking of the legendary stand up performer. actor or filmmaker ((‘Ierks. breakthrough 705 sex (allure. pun, 5,11,; '17“. Mal/rats. Dogma) will know that a large part of Legend of Ron Jeremy (2001 ) and Set“: IIIt' Smith‘s shtick is about forcing acceptance of the Annabel (72ng Story ( 1999). The first two tiltns things that mankind enjoys most (sex. drugs and deal with the evolvement of the industry. and free speech are top of the list). Indeed in the both cast the once vilified dirty movie-maker and tnore censorious states of the US. the film is porn star as postmodern anti-heroes. The third
20 THE LIST ‘11, ’2/ Nov 9008