& s4 D( T& f) s" ]8 B我想，我看的已经够多了。我悄悄地离开拍摄现场，重新回到淅淅沥沥的小雨中……./ `: ?( I0 m% }1 l' ], h2 O
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8 b: o+ x) ~, y VCalifornian porn industry's 'perfect storm' of troubles 5 S! p8 T; X8 G, e* _2 K0 D# F8 m6 u2 z& t# x
California's adult movie business is under pressure - internet piracy and the economic downturn have slashed revenues, while state regulators seem set to win their long battle to make actors wear condoms.. g" {/ m8 h! |# n% L0 N% i; G
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Light drizzle was falling as I pulled my car up outside a low-rise warehouse studio in northern Los Angeles.. ^4 c q! }0 o
) N/ f9 I# @ g) D3 LI had been told just to pitch up - it would be fun, they had said, to see how we do things.' r! V' K9 B7 n8 V! Q K
4 `: t9 E) @* F. ]8 e" i7 SWhat I did see at first did not quite match my expectations but then again, I was not quite sure what to expect. , k$ r& z+ x4 z9 s: P: a 0 U, Z) Y5 x- _& T; EThe porn shoot was Star Trek, the Next Generation - a triple-X parody, billed as a humorous tribute to the iconic TV space saga. ' }& I" s2 M" g0 J7 q# q" o$ O* _7 F5 G
Performers in body-hugging Star Trek outfits, some with prosthetic noses to resemble aliens, wandered around looking slightly bored as a weary crew worried over lighting arrangements. + @! g; Y7 y$ A4 @5 v& D, u0 Z 5 G7 O) A+ l) x( I+ U3 |This morning was devoted to dialogue, I was told, although - as Sam, the film's artistically minded writer-director, explained to me with clear regret - there was not too much of that to be had. ! N m3 l' }7 P7 M% O' {1 _9 \# u
Only 30 minutes of this two-hour sex film would involve plot, he sighed./ a+ l" q t7 u+ b4 _% n" k* ?, h
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Fantasy! E% a; X! {+ \6 h. m$ x
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The demands of porn may not allow Sam to be the groundbreaking film-maker he clearly aspires to be, but at least there are films to be made. ' ~% K$ L8 [$ F/ E; i 2 K1 `6 x$ ^% V3 I, g8 CThe problem, increasingly, is revenue. # c% U* x% n/ ^( N, Q1 [% p5 | 2 ^ l$ C* K- C$ s; n5 A) TLike the music industry, pornographers are struggling to persuade their audience to pay for what they watch. 5 d- m8 C( S, b2 o4 I# G* E5 s h* ?, T1 p, L1 H: z0 v
DVD sales have collapsed. Online, a great deal of porn can be accessed for free. : V2 W$ U) e# c( \6 a* I7 b* g+ V7 h+ [. T- c
And the economic downturn does not help. 7 B5 ^- ]- M* t' ]; K" O c& a8 v0 r 4 V' F' Q( v. C4 F) ["What with the recession and piracy, we call it the perfect storm," one leading producer observed wistfully. 4 p$ t1 T1 c6 Q) r. W. ]; u& j$ |/ B, m1 F& u e J
The economic climate also means the industry is even less keen to accept California's increasingly stringent workplace regulations.: u! s- J) R4 A# v% d2 R
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For years, the authorities have been demanding that porn performers wear condoms.( ^& P7 O, v8 Z, f- P6 j7 }
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Health scares - most notoriously in 2004 when three actors contracted HIV - have highlighted significant levels of infection on set." j& V/ }2 M4 M8 v3 v
2 A$ N5 }9 ^/ Y) b' o7 \4 ^But the industry says wearing condoms on-screen is a turn-off. The public do not want it, it will kill the fantasy, they say. 0 {* o. b: K) K% l6 P# v , E+ v# T* q3 T) A" @8 M! FGonorrhoea0 S1 e' }- E1 H5 \+ v
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Back on the Star Trek set, I talked to Bobbi Starr, one of the lead performers.7 M# V9 D: `+ \2 g4 ^- ?" x
7 K: W9 R- s9 O; N! Y+ t s( @A college graduate, a former national standard swimmer and professional oboist, she seems to have packed a lot into her 27 years. " p9 ` u4 _% m* V 2 r# r; l' h) C; AShe turned to porn, she said, out of a sense of sexual adventure.* R9 Z; E8 o6 n3 Q' Y0 ^) Q8 O5 z
6 N& ~& \& l) R5 g) g4 m"It's just fun," she said, "and when everyone around you is having fun too, what's not to love?" , }" d9 a. _; _* g8 P: w$ P+ R2 z 6 x. A2 x! W7 QHer packed schedule today involved a couple of lines, then a four-hour sex scene. Then a costume fitting on Tuesday and she was off to have her monthly health test after that.0 @( v6 y( M- ^' E* v" A# U8 h
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Each day would be 15 hours long. ; o& J3 u- Y4 ~ n$ I) v- }( W; p# B v) s
"Wow, you must be exhausted?" I suggested." x* z, A F1 g) P \ N# ~
8 ]0 x5 w6 G, c4 G"You get used to it," she smiled. B Z h( O5 d" {7 P
: n% n& N( e. z5 _"And what about the health risks," I asked. "Have you had many infections?" 0 a; |, r; k6 {! q5 a! S- X. K1 y; I, N" _) y! C* n
"Well, just chlamydia a couple of times, gonorrhoea - nothing much. Anyway, we test each month so, when you're diagnosed, you just take your medication and you're good to go. No problem." & D6 @& j J' {$ J9 ~ ( T0 ^) ]4 y9 u: NThere was something very Californian about Bobbi, I decided.) R& d6 @3 b- }
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Expensive lawsuits- ^, J% w5 ^5 c5 Y% L% n* @
1 b' `9 M( U0 f; iIn fact there was something very Californian about the entire business.3 A# P0 K0 L4 E7 K0 Z, c. R4 Z
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A combination of determined enthusiasm, combined with a rebel attitude, a sort of libertarian defiance towards the forces ranged against it./ O; a8 G9 E/ u* i) a
) a) f0 K% V( f$ R0 J0 AIt had taken a Supreme Court battle back in the 1980s to make porn legal in California in the first place, formally distinguishing it from common-or-garden prostitution. * s/ N% [# P$ _# o; S p % `! I; P! ?# m5 V2 K/ FNow, many I met spoke of the right not to wear condoms as a key aspect of their constitutional right to free speech, as set out by the Founding Fathers.$ _/ F0 k- V m. J4 r; X) P& I
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"How can I express myself as an artist," one producer said to me, "if you're going to clothe my performers in rubber?"9 `- e' U9 t+ r& L+ H8 l, Z1 \
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I struggled to picture Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson having this in mind as they penned the First Amendment. " R9 @" C7 P8 F' S/ A. q9 y * c, \3 W# t' X6 Z2 D& \But then I also struggled to picture hordes of Star Trek fans queuing up to see Captain Jean-Luc Picard going hard-core with the crew of the Star Trek Enterprise. So what did I know?+ s5 Z# U, N+ v6 o
" y, v5 C; {4 {# Y, R" ^The authorities though are adamant. Construction workers wear hard hats, miners wear masks - these actors have to have suitable barrier protection.4 k9 S$ h2 {) ^+ S
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It seems likely that porn will eventually lose its battle against the California regulators, not least because - as well as state penalties - the industry could be about to face some very expensive lawsuits brought by former performers. # a5 H/ N7 z" S0 ^- o. p) \# j: l6 @+ s: q( h0 l
A number of actors told me privately that regulation could not come soon enough for them.% N- ?1 t7 Y4 V# l
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The producers say this will not help workers but will only force production abroad, or underground - the public always gets what the public wants. 9 o/ b- x4 n' K# L' ` ! t- D0 V8 N) o0 ?8 i7 \7 u! BThat view was echoed by Bobbi Starr - her parting words, in fact, as she began to disrobe for her epic sex scene.+ r7 k3 M9 U8 f
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I decided I had seen enough and slipped back out into the rain. 7 F1 l3 N2 r/ L; a8 L: l% N; y% ^7 f# X( }, N9 l0 _1 e h! E! O& d+ {! d4 H3 x# | 8 ?& ]; U" P8 p/ W$ Q0 G 7 P% W# C+ `( u/ z( WCalls for greater safety increased after actors tested positive for HIV in 2004
