The San Fernando Valley is well-known for providing a home to a number of colorful and eclectic industries, from the pacesetting biotech firms of Woodland Hills and Northridge to the iconic film studios of Burbank and Universal City. But perhaps the most successful- and controversial- of these industries relates to the district’s unofficial nickname-
Porn Valley.
Yes, the Valley is pretty much Ground Zero when it comes to the production and distribution of good old-fashioned American pornography. It has been suggested that over 90% of the risqué material churned out in these United States can be traced directly back to this former pastoral hub. The Valley is a place where bona-fide porn stars jostle for space at red-carpet events- a cooly jaded community with a remarkable propensity for breaking- and accepting- every taboo the rest of the country finds too challenging. Porn stars walk among us, for the most part unnoticed. The Valley’s nurturing attitudes towards an industry considered flat-out illegal in many parts of the States is no secret, and generally, most people just don’t care. It’s a live and let-live situation, light on the guilt and high-minded moralisin’. This ain’t the Bible Belt, after all… this is California.
But every now and again, something- or someone comes along to ruin things for everyone. In this case, two of porn’s most notorious braggarts have brought their distinctive brand of bad publicity to a national stage.
Like the porn industry really needed any bad publicity, right?
I’m referring, of course, to the unlikely duo of Larry Flynt and Joe Francis, stewards of industry juggernauts Hustler and Girls Gone Wild, respectively. I’m sure by now you’ve heard of the ‘Porn Bailout’ these ever-optimistic smut magnates have cooked up. More than just a bad joke, or tragic publicity stunt, Flynt and Francis actually seem to believe Congress will fork over five billion taxpayer dollars in order to rejuvenate their flagging industry. Like the Big Three, and the failing financial institutions before them, these men feel entitled to their cut of the government gravy.
It is true that the porn business in the Valley has taken a hit as a result of the global economic downturn. DVD sales are down by almost a quarter- a sharp one-year drop- whilst attendance at this year’s AEE convention and AVN awards show (a Vegas-based X-rated Oscars) could barely cover half of 2008’s numbers. But in a time when American families from every class are facing an unfortunate economic future, Flynt and Francis’ vaudeville act is a cruel farce. These are very rich men, men at no danger of losing their financial livelihoods anytime soon. And in the off-chance that their improbable wish is granted, the fury of the general American public will be epic.
I know this morsel of news has been presented to us as a tonic, to be taken with a grain of salt. But the porn industry serves a very important purpose. It provides endless consolation for the chronically lonely, and a steady stable of potential starlets for garish VH1 reality shows. The ‘Porn Bailout’ is probably well and truly out of the news cycle by now- Francis’ cheese-encrusted soundbites had about as much resonance as any other fluffy human-interest piece. The damage, however, is already done. A much-maligned and misunderstood industry takes yet another hit for the team.
Put simply, this is bad, bad publicity, the masterwork of two men who have elevated such practise to an artform.
