The Universal Horror Films of the 1940's ran a little line before the end credits proclaiming that a good cast is worth repeating. A similar notion holds true for feminist author Susan Faludi's new 662-page tome, Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man, purportedly a book about men in "crisis". Chapter 10 of Faludi's book is called 'Waiting for Wood' - an embellished, updated retread of an article called "The Money Shot" - about male porn stars which she wrote for The New Yorker about four years ago. So, if it worked once, it's gotta work twice, you figure.
Also, if you can wade through Faludi's tendency to overamp both her syntax and pop philosophy, it makes for a fairly absorbing read and offers far more insight and controversy about the nature of the adult business in 44 pages than other entire books have realized. The chapter, which essentially analyzes the suicide/ tragedy of Cal Jammer and his marriage to Jill Kelly, begins with a look at a World Modeling Agency cattle call. Faludi interviews a job aspirant named Damon Rose, a Chippendale trainee and phone sex model who proudly proclaims, "I was born to do this". Evidently not since Rose must have gone to the great cattle call in the sky since the time of that interview and has not been heard from.
Alec Metro is described as a victim of reverse discrimination, courtesy of the San Jose Fire Department. Nick East tells Faludi about the three evolutionary stages of the modern porn man. "The first batch [the actor of the Seventies] came in wanting to real actors; The second batch came in to be lazy and have a great easy job; the third batch came in to make a name for themselves."
Of the first batch represented by the likes of John Leslie, Paul Thomas and Eric Edwards, Faludi observes: "That generation wound up in porn films partly to make a living and partly out of a vaguely political urge to rebel, or at least revel in the freedom of the sexual revolution...the second generation, drawn by a mid-eighties boom in video porn, saw X-rated performance as a low-rent version of that era's Wall Street ethic, just a quick and undercapitalized way to 'make a lot of money,' as East said. But this third generation was another story. This was their chance at televised notoriety, their bid for celebrity as fabulous phalluses..."
Falludi quotes Nick East: "The first and second batch of guys made it because they didn't care," the whole experience, according to Falludi, being a goof or done for a quick buck. "The third generation," says Falludi, "cared too much...caring was dangerous." She then points to the irony of Cal Jammer [described as "irritatingly clingy"] who made it and then committed suicide. In an interview with Falludi, Bill Margold called Jammer "a sheepdog that didn't know when to stop licking your hand." But Margold laments that he wasn't there for Jammer
Falludi describes the 12th Annual AVN awards thusly: "Older men, casual in rumpled jackets, treated the awards as the ludicrous honors that they were - 'Best Anal-Themed Feature!' The younger ones with their gelled hair and their designer shirts partly unbuttoned to display waxed chests, sipped mineral water and discussed their 'five-year game plan,' 'career moves,' and the possibility of merchandising items like boxer shorts with their names on them."
Of the younger attendees, Falludi says, "They had all bailed out of sinking occupational worlds that used to confer upon working men a measure of dignity and a masculine mantle but now offer only uncertainty. She points out that Steven St. Croix went to vocational school to be a mason. Julian St. Jox was an Army Airborne Ranger, and Vince Vouyer, a former forlift mechanic.
She quotes Margold's philosophy about manhood being at one time proved by building things. "That was the artisan mentality," observes Margold. "That doesn't exist anymore. We live in a microwave-oven mentality...it's all too fast now. There's no time to even watch it be created." Building is not proving anything, according to Margold. He likens male porn stars to the new Paul Bunyans who wield their penises like the allegorical hatchets of yore. Margold rues what he calls "the feminization of Hollywood" and the lack of the truly rugged masculine hero. Margold defies Falludi to name one outside of Clint Eastwood who's "too old now". Margold perceives a rush to be female. "These men have no flaws because they're being designed almost as if they're women - even this business [porn] is losing its masculine fiber." Margold says it "terrifies" him that porn is being absorbed into the mainstream.
Others might differ.
[More on the Falludi book in updates]
