CORPORATE LINE: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’s book XXX: 30 PORN-STAR PORTRAITS features a selection of photographs of prominent stars of adult films. The book contains two pictures of each subject, one nude and one fully clothed, and is peppered with quotes from a broad range of celebrities, among them author Salman Rushdie, director John Waters, and actor John Malkovich. Here, the making of the book is detailed through film of the actual photo shoots Greenfield-Sanders conducted, interview footage with the porn stars themselves, and further comment from many of the celebrities who penned odes to the industry in XXX. Throughout, eyebrow-raising insight comes thick and fast, from tales of how the industry has changed to the fact that straight men make more money from shooting gay films. The film also examines how the stigma of working in adult entertainment has subsided over the years. With the mainstream media slowly becoming more porn-friendly, and actors and actresses successfully branching out into different kinds of ventures–such as writing books and becoming reality-TV stars–the industry has been surprisingly successful in its attempts to shed its seedy image. Produced for HBO, THINKING XXX is a fun and thoughtful look at the stars who have helped adult filmmaking bloom into a thriving industry.
THE REVIEW: Thinking XXX is a documentary that covers the photo shoot of porn stars by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. The documentary bounces from one porn start to another as they talk about their lives and the porn industry. It’s supposed to be a sincere look into the lives of normal people who have abnormal jobs.
Most of the porn stars try very hard to prove they are good people—normal folks that could be your next door neighbor. Although I have nothing against porn—being an owner of a few choice flicks—its funny to listen to a guy standing around naked talking about how we should feel bad for him because woman make so much more than him so he does gay porn to get good money. And then he talks about having a son and it’s supposed to be poignant but we aren’t crying too many tears for him. He is getting laid and paid.
THE EXTRAS: There are two hours of additional footage and interviews with all 30 stars which can be watched by clicking on the porn stars name. There is also more than an hour of additional interviews with cultural icons such as John Waters, Karen Findley, Salman Rushdie and Lou Reed. Finally, there are a hundred photos from Timothy’s private archive and video forage of NYC and LA gallery openings.
FRANKLY: Thinking XXX is interesting—for a while. Then it gets monotonous quickly as each female porn star talks about how they want to be Jenna Jameson because of her success—Jameson doesn’t speak a word on the documentary—and the men boo-hoo over not making enough money to have sex every day.
+ Charlie Craine
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