PERTH, Australia—The great continent Down Under may be a conflicted nation when it comes to explicit adult entertainment, but the city of Perth is having none of it. Puritanism be damned, the operators of a rooftop open air cinema in the coastal capital of Western Australia have scheduled a screening of the original Deep Throat for early December. The Sydney Morning Herald took notice with a double-entendre headline, "Hard to swallow: Perth hosts public porn screening."
"Those used to hiding in the sanctity of their dark bedrooms to get high and watch pornography can step out into the light and join a potential crowd of hundreds for an unusually public Perth porn screening," wrote Jillian McHugh. "Normally reserved for the seedy back rooms of sex shops, the iconic porn movie Deep Throat will reach a new audience—and altitude—at the Rooftop Cinemas on Saturday, December 8."
Love that archaic reference to "seedy back rooms," which kind of encapsulates the Australian media's sophistication when it comes to porn. Even the theater's program coordinator admitted that the decision to place Deep Throat on the December schedule, which includes such diverse fare as Cabaret, Willow and Withnail and I, was not an easy one.
"That one was a bit of a nerve-wracking choice for us," said Jess Darlow. "We try and have fun with it and put films up that have a cult following—ones people might have missed when they came out but had a second win through the internet.
"That film was the first porno flick to make it into the mainstream cinemas," she added. "And that was a big deal at the time. They changed the rating system. It set a precedent in New York art house cinema and we wanted to bring that to Northbridge; Northbridge has a seedy underbelly."
Darlow also used next year's release of a Linda Lovelace biopic as a handy rationale for showing the original, which was written and directed by Gerard damiano and released in 1972.]
"With the Linda Lovelace biopic coming out, there's been a lot of publicity around it," she said. "It's a bit of audience education. There are a lot of new facts that have come to light about her life and it's a good time to see the original."
Of course, 2012 is also the infamous movie's 40th anniversary, so really, there are any number of justifications for adding Deep Throat to the schedule, as if one is really needed!
"With the Linda Lovelace biopic coming out, there's been a lot of publicity around it," she said.
"It's a bit of audience education. There are a lot of new facts that have come to light about her life and it's a good time to see the original."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/hard-to-swallow-perth-hosts-public-porn-screening-20121120-29o33.html#ixzz2CnISS300
"With the Linda Lovelace biopic coming out, there's been a lot of publicity around it," she said.
"It's a bit of audience education. There are a lot of new facts that have come to light about her life and it's a good time to see the original."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/hard-to-swallow-perth-hosts-public-porn-screening-20121120-29o33.html#ixzz2CnISS300
The Rooftop Cinemas are located in the Northbridge section of Perth. Located on a rooftop seven stories high, moviegoers sit inclined in striped beach chairs with Perth's skyline acting as a dramatic backdrop behind the large screen.
The theater's website notes, "The pop-up venue opens October 18 and will run till the end of April 2013." More information and ticket sales are available on the site.
