Thursday, June 01, 2017

After Porn Ends 2 (2017)

Porn isn’t something you’d think of as having a golden age.  Today’s porn is different than when I was growing up.  All we had was VHS and you had to go to a store to get it.  There weren’t any of these fancy Web sites with their flashy banners and whatnot.  And there were big names, too.  Everyone knew at least one, even if you didn't watch the stuff.

Starring in an adult film could change your life.  It could define what you could do with your life, both during and after.  A few years ago, a documentary came out called After Porn Ends.  It showed how gaining that level of recognition could limit what you could do afterwards.  Not many people were able to hold ’normal’ jobs because everyone saw them as a porn star.

After Porn Ends 2 is a direct sequel to that documentary.  It doesn’t follow up on any of the previous stories.  Instead, we have a new batch of people who have made their living making adult films.  As with the original, many don’t work much outside of the adult industry.  Some market adult novelties.  Some have tried their hand at art.  Many have retired only to go back to what they know best.

In the first documentary, many of the stars had their regrets.  Here, a lot of the stars seem happy.  Again, many haven’t been able to move on.  Instead, some have embraced it.  A few talk about the movies they made and liking the recognition they get on the street.  Lisa Ann was able to play Sarah Palin in an adult film and became known for it.

This isn’t always the case. Janine Lindemulder was sent to jail for back taxes.  When she got out, her child had been taken away from her.  Between her tattoos and former career, she didn’t really stand a chance.  There’s also Darren James, who was diagnosed with HIV after coming back from Brazil.  It made headlines, forcing him to come out to his family about what he did for a living.  It caused the adult film industry in Southern California to cease production for several months.

There’s a much wider spectrum in this movie.  Each star is featured for a few minutes while we see what they think of having starred in adult films.  There are also a few people that are getting into the industry talking about how they expect their careers to go.  We even get to see adult stars going back several generations, including Georgina Spelvin, who is 81.

As you might imagine, this is not a movie for children.  Some of the stars go into explicit detail about what they did and what their plans were.  And yes, nudity is shown.  (There are several clips from adult movies.)  This is not a movie for children.  This isn’t to say that you have to watch porn to enjoy the documentary.  Each segment is short enough not to become boring.  I just wouldn’t watch it with your parents.



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