Gay adult company Treasure Island Media, one of several controversial studios that produce bareback content, announced this week that it has made a “generous” donation to help fund the production of an upcoming documentary focusing on methamphetamine (crystal meth) abuse in the gay community.
The film, which is being directed by documentarian Todd Ahlberg (whose festival favorite Hooked explored online hookups among gay men), has been targeted for a future air date on MTV and will explore how the phenomenon of crystal meth use has affected sex and dating in the gay community.
Treasure Island’s president, Paul Morris, says he feels the project is an important undertaking.
“More than anything else in life, I’m committed to a cultural environment that enhances and promotes male sexual connection – it’s the basis of our identity,” he writes in a statement. “Meth abuse stunts the real exploration of deep sexual practice and experience. I meet too many men who haven’t had the opportunity to learn that the deepest and most expansive and life-enhancing sexual experiences are easily available without the use of a drug as physically and culturally damaging as crystal.
“Crystal is a short-circuit drug that betrays the individual user and the sex culture in general,” Morris continues, adding that – despite reservations regarding Ahlberg’s notably conservative stance on the issue – he feels the movie will help in the war on drugs.
“While I disagree strongly with some of Todd’s attitudes toward drugs and sex – I’m more liberal than he is – I feel certain that his consideration of methamphetamines in the world of male sexuality will be a positive step in the dialectic,” he says.
As many have criticized Morris’ company for eroticizing potentially life-threatening sexual behavior, Morris’ funding of the movie is a notable gesture. Says Morris, “Treasure Island Media is committed to supporting a vital, intelligent, and open dialogue concerning male sexuality—particularly in a political environment as conservative as ours. To my way of thinking, serious sex among men is political commitment. Meth abuse is political capitulation.”
The documentary, which has not yet been titled, is slated for a late summer release. Like Hooked, it will debut on the gay film festival circuit.
