The Future: Porn Needs a Rating System

[The Porn Nerd]

With all the talk about condoms, STDs, escorting, dwindling DVDs sales, piracy, free porn and all the rest affecting the Adult Industry I began thinking about "the future".

I know, I know - porn has a future? Well, yes and no - no if the Adult Biz doesn't start looking to the other entertainment industries as examples and act accordingly.
But YES if porn follows the lead of the music, film and television industries.

You cannot show people smoking on television, you cannot show nipples on TV, you cannot say certain words on the radio, movies have ratings, etc. We already have 'censorship" in entertainment. Having a rating system for porn would HELP sales because it would automatically create hard 'n fast 'niches' for companies to promote. Divide and conquer.

Porn needs a rating system. Here's what I suggest:

X - softcore/nudity
XX - hardcore fucking, "vanilla"-type sex
XXX - Extreme porn like Facial Abuse, Max Hardcore and others
XF - fetish, as in smoking, balloons, "non-sexual intercourse" stuff
XP - Pain is inflicted or received, as in BDSM, CBT, rape fantasies and the like
C/NC - condoms/no condoms
(Some content may require multiple ratings)


The future (sadly) is MORE Government intervention into people's lives, MORE scrutiny for industries like adult, MORE mandatory laws governing people's actions, not less. So let's get ahead of this curve and implement a ratings system ourselves, NOW, so we can better control it (and profit) from it. Choose your battles. Don't try to stop the inevitable but rather make it work for you. Be smart, be proactive, be creative, adapt or die....

Sound familiar?

[lucas131]

F - free

[geedub]

What's the point of this when your audience is 18+? Movie ratings are for parents.

[DWB]

Originally Posted by lucas131

F - free

[The Ghost]

Descriptions and niche tagging. Done.

[pornguy]

I think that his idea behind this is to prove to the government that we dont need their intervention on it.

Sadly I also think that the instant you put an XXX rating on something some ass hat will use it to block it as well as the idiots that own .xxx will try and sue you over it.

[geedub]

Originally Posted by JohnnyClips

There shouldn't be a government in the first place, so this will not solve anything

[The Porn Nerd]

Originally Posted by JohnnyClips

There shouldn't be a government in the first place, so this will not solve anything

Don't be a fucktard - I'm trying to be REALISTIC here. Government will always be around so stop with the red herrings....

Originally Posted by pornguy

I think that his idea behind this is to prove to the government that we dont need their intervention on it.

This is my point, thank you. And the ratings could be:

XS - soft
XH - hardcore
XE - extreme

[pornmasta]

Who would rate rating systems ?

[sarettah]

Originally Posted by MisterPeabody

With all the talk about condoms, STDs, escorting, dwindling DVDs sales, piracy, free porn and all the rest affecting the Adult Industry I began thinking about "the future".

I know, I know - porn has a future? Well, yes and no - no if the Adult Biz doesn't start looking to the other entertainment industries as examples and act accordingly.
But YES if porn follows the lead of the music, film and television industries.

You cannot show people smoking on television, you cannot show nipples on TV, you cannot say certain words on the radio, movies have ratings, etc. We already have 'censorship" in entertainment. Having a rating system for porn would HELP sales because it would automatically create hard 'n fast 'niches' for companies to promote. Divide and conquer.

Porn needs a rating system. Here's what I suggest:

X - softcore/nudity
XX - hardcore fucking, "vanilla"-type sex
XXX - Extreme porn like Facial Abuse, Max Hardcore and others
XF - fetish, as in smoking, balloons, "non-sexual intercourse" stuff
XP - Pain is inflicted or received, as in BDSM, CBT, rape fantasies and the like
C/NC - condoms/no condoms
(Some content may require multiple ratings)


The future (sadly) is MORE Government intervention into people's lives, MORE scrutiny for industries like adult, MORE mandatory laws governing people's actions, not less. So let's get ahead of this curve and implement a ratings system ourselves, NOW, so we can better control it (and profit) from it. Choose your battles. Don't try to stop the inevitable but rather make it work for you. Be smart, be proactive, be creative, adapt or die....

Sound familiar?

Why not just start a whole new .TLD for all adult content to be under? Y'know, maybe something like a .XXX extension or something like that?

Oh wait......







;p

[Redrob]

A rating system is an invitation to community censorship in the USA. Any grand jury can say nothing beyond X is legal in our community. Not a good idea. We survive on some ambiguity in the community standards.

I even looked at the European system of rating from 1-100 that was developed by Waat Media several years ago and the First Amendment attorneys said it was a bad idea for the USA.

[Robbie]

"Ratings" are for movies and broadcast television.

Are you suggesting that websites would have a rating on them? So that just in case somebody is stupid enough to not realize that XArt isn't the same thing as GhettoGaggers?

WTF Peabody? Your recent posts are kinda strange man. You seem to be obssessed with escorting...as if you just found out that the adult industry girls (strippers, porn girls, etc.) actually get paid to fuck too.
Welcome to the world of..well, since time began.

And the ratings thing would do what exactly?

I'm not even sure what it would accomplish. Maybe help drive sales down even more? lol

[The Porn Nerd]

Originally Posted by Redrob

A rating system is an invitation to community censorship in the USA. Any grand jury can say nothing beyond X is legal in our community. Not a good idea. We survive on some ambiguity in the community standards.

I even looked at the European system of rating from 1-100 that was developed by Waat Media several years ago and the First Amendment attorneys said it was a bad idea for the USA.

Yes, but we had similar First Amendment debates over ratings for movies and music CDs, and then there's been the "Standards & Practices" departmentsof television stations for decades....

Either we do it ourselves or some Big Brother entity will do it for us.

[CyberHustler]

Just wear condoms now before the gov has to step in. They make them super thin and sensitive now, barely tell it's on. Plus it gives a positive message, and porn companies can market they're own wacky condom brands... show the product in action.

[BlackCrayon]

Originally Posted by MisterPeabody

Yes, but we had similar First Amendment debates over ratings for movies and music CDs, and then there's been the "Standards & Practices" departmentsof television stations for decades....

Either we do it ourselves or some Big Brother entity will do it for us.

thats because there are kids watching it. are you suggesting we should rate porn because kids are watching it too? porn is an adult product and rating an adult product seems redundant. besides government fear, what use does it provide?

[The Porn Nerd]

Originally Posted by Robbie

"Ratings" are for movies and broadcast television.

Are you suggesting that websites would have a rating on them? So that just in case somebody is stupid enough to not realize that XArt isn't the same thing as GhettoGaggers?

WTF Peabody? Your recent posts are kinda strange man. You seem to be obssessed with escorting...as if you just found out that the adult industry girls (strippers, porn girls, etc.) actually get paid to fuck too.
Welcome to the world of..well, since time began.

And the ratings thing would do what exactly?

I'm not even sure what it would accomplish. Maybe help drive sales down even more? lol

Well, here's the thing Robbie:

Escorting HAS been around forever but it's gotten to the point, in the last decade or so, that the ONLY REASON porn 'stars" are in porn is to boost their escort rates. That is a change.

And the "problem" I have with it - not with escorts in general - is that with the STDs flying around everywhere, and the cavalier attitude many people in porn valley have about it, it makes me worry that STDs are being spread to the 'general population' via porn stars escorting. Call me crazy.

(I don't use whores, I don't film in porn valley, I don't have a dog in the fight - but the attitudes about condoms, STDs, escorting, etc etc around here is SO "who gives a fuck" that it scares me. Just being honest man.)

Now when it comes to Ratings and Websites I tend to agree with you. Ratings would work better with DVDs and Cable etc. Still, there could be a rating/warning on the Splash page....

Bottom line: Five years from now the "adult industry" will be VERY differant from what we see today so what are we going to do about it? Nothng and just bitch? I mean, 'adapt or die'? Well, I'm suggesting a way to "adapt" so we DON'T die.

[NaughtyVisions]

Isn't there already an understand difference between "X," "XX," and "XXX?"

I stumbled upon it when getting pissed off that the porn the wife and I ordered On Demand never showed the "moneyshot." Something about "X" being softcore, like Cinemax, "XX" showing penetration but no bodily fluids (i.e. no cumshot), and the "XXX" being full hardcore with the moneyshot.

[Robbie]

Originally Posted by MisterPeabody

Escorting HAS been around forever but it's gotten to the point, in the last decade or so, that the ONLY REASON porn 'stars" are in porn is to boost their escort rates. That is a change.

And the "problem" I have with it - not with escorts in general - is that with the STDs flying around everywhere, and the cavalier attitude many people in porn valley have about it, it makes me worry that STDs are being spread to the 'general population' via porn stars escorting. Call me crazy.

.

Just because it's good synergy and business for a girl to say to clients: "Yes, you've seen me in the movies...so my rates are higher than the average girl" doesn't mean it's a bad thing.
You and I have no way of knowing if that is a "change" since the adult industry began. My guess is that a porn star girl has ALWAYS commanded more money from her wealthy clients.
They aren't street hookers. Guys who book time with a porn star are usually high middle-class to upper class guys with enough money to afford a fantasy.

And again...where are you hearing that porn girls are "spreading" STD's? That is just not true. STD's are a part of society as a whole. They were a LOT worse and more widespread in the 1970's when I was a teenager. In 2012, not so much.
And in the porn industry (and strippers as well), where performers rely on being clean...it is pretty rare.

I'm just not sure where you're getting the idea that suddenly in 2012 everything changed in the adult industry (or let's just call it what it is...the sex industry).
It's a thousand times safer than it was in the "old days"

[The Porn Nerd]

Originally Posted by Robbie

Just because it's good synergy and business for a girl to say to clients: "Yes, you've seen me in the movies...so my rates are higher than the average girl" doesn't mean it's a bad thing.
You and I have no way of knowing if that is a "change" since the adult industry began. My guess is that a porn star girl has ALWAYS commanded more money from her wealthy clients.
They aren't street hookers. Guys who book time with a porn star are usually high middle-class to upper class guys with enough money to afford a fantasy.

And again...where are you hearing that porn girls are "spreading" STD's? That is just not true. STD's are a part of society as a whole. They were a LOT worse and more widespread in the 1970's when I was a teenager. In 2012, not so much.
And in the porn industry (and strippers as well), where performers rely on being clean...it is pretty rare.

I'm just not sure where you're getting the idea that suddenly in 2012 everything changed in the adult industry (or let's just call it what it is...the sex industry).
It's a thousand times safer than it was in the "old days"

Okay well, I'm not as old as you Robbie. LOL!! But I can tell you where "I" am coming from:

Being in NYC and away from Porn Valley it's easy for me to get isolated and just care about Mister Peabody World and my own online reality. But in the past year or so I've "branched out", gone to some shows, met people "in the Industry" and learned quite a lot about what's going on in porn outside my little world.

So maybe a lot of this IS new to me but when I see the whole Mr. Marcus debacle going down, the condom laws in LA becoming a reality, the entire Industry feeding on itself and I see a situation that is getting worse, not better. Being a chess player I trained myself to see several moves ahead and what do I see? Fragmentation, government intervention, a shrinking Industry and seperation between the Manwins of the world and us "lottle guys". So what's the next move? Get out and go 'mainstream'? Or hang on to whatever scraps are left until those too are taken away by legislation or worse?

Those who are advocating the porn industry police itself via regular testing, organizations, etc should be behind a rating ssystem - but only if WE control the ratings!

[Robbie]

Originally Posted by MisterPeabody

Okay well, I'm not as old as you Robbie. LOL!!

Bullshit! The times I've met you I could swear you were at least 70 years old.

[Rochard]

Sounds like drama all around... You'll have to make a committee to make the rules and guidelines, there will be infighting, people will fight over this blah blah blah... Ratings will kill or make a website. Drama.

[lucas131]

Originally Posted by NaughtyVisions

Isn't there already an understand difference between "X," "XX," and "XXX?"

yeah, 10, 20, 30

[NaughtyVisions]

Originally Posted by lucas131

yeah, 10, 20, 30

[The Porn Nerd]

Originally Posted by Robbie

Bullshit! The times I've met you I could swear you were at least 70 years old.

Dude I'm 69. :D

[candyflip]

It worked for the movie industry.

Around the world, American movies are synonymous with America's freedom of expression. But securing and safeguarding freedom of artistic, creative and political expression in film was not always a given in our society.

In the early 1900s, American cinema was subject to more than 40 local, city and state censorship boards across the country. Filmmakers had to tailor their movie to the requirements of each board or face being banned from that market.

With the formation of what is now the MPAA in 1922, the industry took its first step toward self-regulation. It required its members — the major motion picture studios, which then were responsible for virtually all U.S. filmmaking — to submit movies for approval prior to distribution.

The process was governed by the Hays Code, named for the first MPAA President, Will Hays. It imposed a detailed and extensive list of rules on filmmakers. Only "correct standards of life" could be presented. No depictions of childbirth. No criticisms of religion. Forget about "lustful" kissing or "suggestive" dancing. Under the Hays Code, films were simply approved or disapproved based on whether they were deemed "moral" or "immoral."

The contemporary rating system was the brainchild of former MPAA Chairman Jack Valenti. He abhorred the Hays code's strict limitations on artistic freedom, noting that "there was about this stern, forbidding catalogue of do's and don'ts the odious smell of censorship."

Valenti reached out to the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) and other stakeholders. Out of this effort came the radically simple notion that continues to define the rating system today: Movies would no longer be "approved" or "disapproved." Instead, an independent ratings body, comprised of parents, would give advance cautionary warnings to parents, so that they can make informed decisions about which films their children see.

On November 1, 1968, the modern movie rating system was born. More than 40 years later, the rating system endures and evolves as a useful and valued tool for parents and an essential guardian of Americans' freedom of artistic, creative and political expression.

http://mpaa.org

[AmeliaG]

That is a serious slippery slope and most filmmakers agree that today the MPAA is mostly a way for the major studios to prevent themselves from losing market share to independents.

I think that having some committee sit in judgment on which sorts of sexuality are "worse" than which is an invitation for bigotry and general awfulness. Should we have a sliding scale of age appropriate smut i.e. 18 for straight porn and 21 for gay or maybe 18 for vanilla and 21 for fetish? Not a good idea.