Alright so I want to preface this piece by saying that a couple days ago I was fired from the newspaper I write at for being too “subjective” (my word). Evidently, if you’re a writer, criticizing anyone, even the most corrupt cock-suckers alive, is grounds for dismissal for having the gall (I may have spelled that wrong but who cares I’m on a roll) to form a fucking opinion. I guess I just always had this ridiculous notion that it’s a journalist’s job to hold elected bodies to task. Evidently there’s no room for that, just the same old regurgitation that media outlets have been sticking to for years. That being said, let’s give it up for POPPORN for having some balls and calling it like it is regardless of whose delicate fucking sensibilities are offended. If more print media took a cue from websites like this then they’d be a hell of a lot more entertaining and informative. When did mainstream media outlets get too scared to criticize an elected body that isn’t performing up to task? It’s shameful.

Also, there were some complaints about the last piece I wrote for being too long. Listen, I don’t take pictures. Obviously, there are many others on the site that do. As far as I know that isn’t a capacity I’m supposed to be serving in. I kept a running journal of EXXXOTICA and, more or less, that’s what you got. For the convenience of those who find anything longer than a couple paragraphs to be too intimidating I’ve included a sort of CliffsNotes (and that’s the correct spelling, look it up bitch) at the end of the article. Hopefully it’s helpful however it is not, as always, I could give a shit.

There, I feel better. At least as much as I can, considering the sobering news that Max Hardcore a.k.a. Paul Little has received 46 months in a federal prison for his conviction of ten counts (his company was found guilty of ten counts as well) of distributing obscene material through the mail and the Internet. Little was fined $7,500 and his company an additional $75,000 which you may find to be absurd until you consider that U.S. District Judge Susan G. Bucklew actually imposed the minimum fines allowed by law (the recommended range for the fines was between $1.2 and $2.4 million dollars according to AVN). While the story is fairly new and relatively little is known it appears that the prosecution is satisfied with the outcome leaving only Jeffrey Douglas, Hardcore’s attorney, appealing the decision. Max is free pending his appeal.

Now I don’t think I need to tell you where I stand on this. But I will anyway. From the beginning this trial was obviously nothing more than pure unadulterated bullshit. The main thing Max got in trouble for was having women in his films who, while they’re of legal age, claimed to be younger. Now wouldn’t you rather have women who only claim to be younger than 18 as opposed to having girls who are actually underage? And listen nobody is going to argue that pedophiles are a deeply disturbed bunch but if they can get their rocks off watching Hardcore’s work, isn’t that better than the possible alternative, having them prey upon young girls? Maybe it’s just me but it seems that Max isn’t hurting anyone here and that all he’s really guilty of is offending the delicate fucking sensibilities (I know I already used that one but damn it all if it’s not good) of a country and more specifically the state of Florida who sees what he and others in the porn industry do as some sort of perversion.

Now the proponents of the increased obscenity trials will say that pornography encourages violent sexual crime but as far as I know there is a considerable lack of evidence proving that supposed correlation and truthfully who can really believe that what Hardocore does is any more damaging than the type of cultural crimes committed by MTV and the like. Just so you know, I’m not saying that violence in the media, be it film or television, encourages criminal behavior. That’s just another bullshit argument made by those individuals who refuse to accept any responsibility for their society’s woes. I'm just saying that MTV is awful and that they’ve become nothing more than a vessel for making other people famous. It’s almost like these networks have discovered something in that making people famous is far more lucrative than just reporting on famous people. It’s truthfully becoming more and more difficult to find a young actor or actress who didn’t originate on the Disney Channel and a singer who wasn’t made famous on an MTV reality show. And while it has provided hope for millions of young people who aspire to cultivate a career in the arts I think it likewise has the potential to dilute the quality of entertainment (if that’s actually possible) and also to persuade those who would otherwise pursue a career in a respectable profession. Because who the fuck wants to be a doctor when you can be Paris Hilton’s BFF or in Diddy’s latest shitty band. On second thought all those people probably don’t possess the potential to really contribute to their respective societies anyway but it’s still enough to make me physically ill. And while yes, I realize that was a ridiculous segue it was just something that’s been upsetting me as of late and had to be said.

In other legal lunacy the trial of Ira Isaacs seems far from over. I’m not going to recount the entire thing but it’s had more plot twists than a soap opera. The last thing we heard, the judge overseeing the case George H. King, not Alex Kozinski the judge who recused himself following a series of articles in the LA Times claiming that a website owned by the judge contained images of “masturbation, public sex and contortionist sex” as well as “themes of defecation and urination” the latter of which lie at the very heart of the prosecution’s case against Isaacs, had refused to grant Isaacs request for a mistrial to be declared stemming from the nature of Kozinski’s recusal.

I suppose that the only real hope for Isaacs and the other pornographers who have been targeted by the Justice Department’s Obscenity Task Force is that come January when Bush is to leave the White House the next president, be it Obama or McCain, will focus more on the financial crises here and abroad rather than invest a great deal of time and effort into curbing the production of pornographic materials. That isn’t to say that I think Isaacs will be found guilty, I think he has a pretty good shot at acquittal, just that these government fucks won’t rest until they’ve prosecuted, nay persecuted, every pornographer who dares defy their reign.

Either way here’s hoping that Max is successful in his appeal. It’s not that I enjoy his films, fact being I’ve never seen one. But this is the type of persecution that the American people seem to rally against and it seems hypocritical to me that so many watch as it takes place. I guess it’s far easier to cheer for a cause celebre than a man who some may consider a creep. Well, I hate to say it but a victim is a victim and you just don’t get to pick and choose which noble causes you support. I’m not saying that this is the same as Nelson Mandela being imprisoned for 27 years (a term that Vice-President Dick Cheney supported extending) but it’s a lot more similar than it is different. So keep your head up Max we’re behind you, and by we, I mean me.

NOTES
• Max Hardcore has been sentenced to 46 months in a federal prison in addition to fines for his obscenity conviction in the state of Florida.
• It’s ridiculous.
• Disney and MTV are truly evil corporations and their crimes against the cultural foundation of the United States are heinous and should not go unpunished, but will.
• The Ira Isaacs trial is far from over as the latest judge in the trial has refused the defense’s request for a mistrial.
• Hopefully when Bush leaves office in January the new president will call off the Justice Department’s crusade against pornography, ending the persecution that’s been taking place.
• If you’re actually using these notes, you’re a tool.