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Before the internet made porn accessible to every man, woman and child, the only way to see a “smut” movie was to go to theaters that specialized in showing them. The birth of the porn industry truly began with the success of the film “Deep Throat”. Opening to the strains of Supertramp’s “Crime of the Century”, “Deep Throat” changed the film industry. The film made $600 million and made Linda Lovelace something of a star; “Deep Throat” changed the movie industry, porn industry and America’s perception of sex in film. “Deep Throat” attracted women as well as men and while it played in less than mainstream theaters, it was the first time that an audience could sit in a movie theater and watch porn and it was OK. We’ve also been obsessed with voyeurism (watching a ovie is the very act of voyeurism) which explains the excitement and involvement in reading books, watching TV, watching movies (heck reality TV is nothing more than a variation on porn—watching actual people in real situations playing to a TV audience). This documentary begins long before the premiere of “Deep Throat” discussing “smut”, the sexual revolution and how movies elicited change and our perception of sex in our society. ***

Beginning with director hairdresser Gerard Damiano’s ambition to make hardcore sex films, the documentary quickly moves on to the meeting of Damiano and Linda Boreman later to become known worldwide as Linda Lovelace. Boreman hooked up and married Chuck Trainer who pushed her into making porn films. Boreman’s sister discusses her dislike for Trainer saying it was a pity he died before she could kill him. Shot in Florida with production assistant Harry Reems suddenly becoming leading man in the film when they couldn’t find a competent acto to play the role of the doctor, a career was made for Reems and Linda Lovelace. Boreman’s family and friends discuss the impact that making the film had on their lives and how it injured Linda. As Wes Craven points out, “Madonna brought sex to our nine year olds and ten year olds…there going to be sexual long before they know what sexuality is…not knowing the cost of it”. Sex sells and sells and sells and we continue to buy. ---

The big difference between the NC-17 version and R rated version is one explicit sequence from “Deep Throat”. There are a number of sequences that were cut from the film and they are cut almost as if they are featurettes. There’s a section on “The Zen of ‘Deep Throat’” featuring Marilyn Chambers and others discuss the “art” of the perfect blow job. It’s a chuckle because Chambers gets embarrassed, Helen Gurley Brown makes a couple of interesting off-the-the-wall comments (including a discussion of how ejaculate is “good for the complexion”). She’s a riot. “Women against Pornography” focuses on the organization that fights the exploitation of women. They gave tours ofthe “attractions” and couldn’t keep up with the demand. The focus of the group was to point out how demeaning pornography was to women. Ruth Nash a friend from work of Linda Lovelace’s (when she went legit) discusses how Linda’s daughter accidentally mentioned that she had been in “Deep Throat” and she immediately lost her job. “The Legends of Erotica” focuses on the performers in the industry and a remembrance (strangely enough) for Lovelace at a porn theater where there’s a “Hall of Fame”. There are also comments from Lovelace’s daughter during a very sad sequence and discussion of her career. ---