Oh what joy. Finally the day has arrived when I can write a post that truly justifies the two key words most likely to get a raft of hits to my blog: sex and money.
And what a delightfully astute move by the US porn industry to demand, in the manner of the US car industry, a government injection to shore up its limp prospects (oh, there's more to come). Astute, not because porn stars are likely to receive a hand job, sorry, hand-out from sympathetic government sponsors but because where else could they get pan-global marketing coverage like they have received.
I mean, they've been begging for it - the chance to claim a useful role for society: cheering people up when things are going down. Albeit, in the manner of drugs or alcohol, the cheeriness is only short-lived (or perhaps short lasting). So here it was, on a plate, a golden opportunity to market an industry that otherwise struggles to advertise in the mass media.
Did they want or expect a multi-billion dollar? Did they heck. What they wanted was the opportunity for top porn artistes to talk about their art in mock serious terms to con the public at large that actually the industry has professional standards. Would you have believed that so called respectable papers would publish the fact that for only $19.95 a month you could have unfettered access to watch people 'doing it' live.
So, what's the harm in a few sad sods spending hard earned dollars sitting with spunky tissues before their screens?
Well perhaps there is a rather more sinister motive behind this marketing coup. Whilst the world's mass media raises a rueful smile and chuckles over the fun to be had with puns, the rather darker underbelly of this exploitative industry sits smugly in the knowledge that the public at large sees their business as a little more benign than they did yesterday .
For they do have something to hide. A bit like how a night at the dogs - greyhound racing - doesn't display the cruel fate of the unsuccessful hounds. The champagne face of porn doesn't broadcast the cheaper end of the market where age and/or consent is less important.
