I didn't realize that last Saturday featured the 23rd annual AVN Awards, the pornography version of the Oscars. The AVN kind of reminds of a joke popular back in the 1980s:
Q. How do you describe Cleveland?
A. Detroit without the glitter.
The corollary: Q. How do you describe the AVN Awards? A. The Academy Awards without the intelligence.
Anyway, I've said repeatedly that smut peddlers like to believe they're engaged in a higher pursuit. Such a belief undermines their whole profession. If there are "higher" things in the world--art, poetry, whatever--that means there are "lower" things. And what is lower than porn? And the porners definitely believe they're engaged in a higher pursuit, as evidenced by the AVN Awards and this excerpt from a NYT article:
Saturday night, though, was an unapologetic, hearty celebration, with a flashbulb-drenched red carpet entrance and awards presented in 104 categories, including best performances in a wide range of explicit acts and sexual positions. The more conventional were for best director, supporting actor and actress, screenplay and the most anticipated award of the evening: best feature.
That went to "Pirates," a relatively high-budget story of a group of ragtag sailors who go searching for a crew of evil pirates who have a plan for world domination. Also, many of the characters in the movie have sex with one another.
Evan Stone, the stage name of the man who won the award for best actor as the good ship's captain, said a crucial component of the movie's success was its authenticity. A consultant instructed the cast on proper ship etiquette, he said, like never letting the captain steer the vessel, a job that belongs to the first mate.
A few other interesting excerpts from the article:
Universally, the participants defend their right to make the films, but even within the sex-entertainment industry, opinions differ about what is tasteful.
"The bikini models hate the topless dancers, the topless dancers hate the nude dancers, the nude dancers hate the adult-film actors," said Stormy Daniels, 26, who won an award for best supporting actress.
And
Savanna Samson, who won an award for best actress, said in her acceptance speech that "most of my family is pretty ashamed of what I do."
