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Porn: A History

It is something wild to behold, these old silent films in scratchy black and white, and the illicit nature of the scenes being shown—you don’t normally associate one with the other, but here they are, speech cards and all. “We wanted to celebrate the earliest depictions of sex on film," Vice President of Pornhub Corey Price commented, "And pay homage to the professional filmmakers and amateur producers responsible for this unprecedented time in adult entertainment,"

 

We wanted to celebrate the earliest depictions of sex on film.

 

Above: 'The Modern Gigolo,' ca. 1934, United States; and 'La fessée à l'école (Spanking at School)' 1925, France.

 

The films were originally called ‘stag films,’ thus the title of the exhibit, STAG. Pornhub will feature a special section on their site to stream the antique NSFW clips, throwing cred to the original porn stars who paved the way to our current sexually saturated internet reality. It's a refreshing kind of collaboration that captures an ethos in our culture right now: that sex is everywhere and always has been, and shouln't have to hide in the dark corners of the internet (or anywhere else, for that matter). While the sleaze of yesteryear has a certain allure—the adult theatres and streetwalkers in Times Square bring a certain pang to the heart—it has essentially been absorbed into a larger cultural conversation that removes stigma from a natural act of pleasure and beauty, and replaces it with curiosity, cheek, and wonder. 

 

Above: 'L'abbé Bitt au couvent (Mr. Abbott Bitt at Convent),' 1925, France; and 'The Casting Couch,' ca. 1934, United States.

 

office stopped by the opening night party to grab some snaps of the bold and beautiful kids who turned out to usher in this forward-thinking collaboration. Not afraid to live a little while enjoying a titillating history lesson, sipping bubbly while watching the sometimes funny, sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes hot origins of sex onscreen unfold in the small theatre set aside for the exibit, the attendees were as cool and strange as the exhibit itself. It was a toast to the liberating power of sex and the human body, even when viewed through the distorted lens of time. 

 

Check out our party photos below.

'STAG: The Illicit Origins of Pornographic FIlm' is on view at the Museum of Sex. Film stills courtesy of the museum. Lead image: 'Esprit de Famille (Family Spirit),' ca. 1948, France.

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