John Roecker (director of the upcoming Green Day documentary Heart Like a Hand Grenade, and cult hits Live Freaky, Die Freaky a and Svengali) set out to explore the world of the sex industry and wound up making frank, bold documentary Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Gay Porn Stars,*But Were Afraid to Ask!
The seven episodes which aired on Here! TV featured some of the hottest names in the male sex industry, talking about the how and why of their careers. The actors discuss their past history as abused children, their drug use, their love lives off screen, their pasts and their futures. It's gritty and gnarly, moving. Out of 16 of the actors, two are now dead, and one, Harlow Cuadra, is in prison. Roecker told me:
I want these guys to be heard, I want to give them a voice
But the opportunity to learn about the human side to these men has just gotten smaller, even though the DVD collection of Roecker's documentary is about to be released.
I went to Amazon to pre-order Everything as a gift for a friend who is a fan of gay porn as well as the band Rancid and punk hero Tim Armstrong who donated music for the series.
Everything wasn't listed as available now or for pre-sale. It wasn't listed at all. But Salo with fourteen year olds having sex was. So was Behind the Green Door. And Deep Throat. And The Devil in Miss Jones. Jenna Jameson's autobiography, How to Make Love Like a Porn Star is readily available. Oh heck, Amazon sells Paris Hilton's sex tape, and have pre-orders available for thousands of books, CDs and DVDs. Why not Roecker's look at the gay sex business?
Oddly Amazon doesn't stock another film from the same distributor, Dream Boy, an R-rated feature which was released theatrically with good reviews. The film features the rape of young gay male character by another young man. The rapist claims he is straight. Amazon stocks Hound Dog with Dakota Fanning as the victim of a brutal on-screen rape.
One person who queried Amazon about Everything received this stock reply:
As a retailer, our goal is to provide customers with the broadest selection possible so they can find, discover, and buy any item they might be seeking. That selection includes some items which many people may find objectionable. Therefore, the items offered on our website represent a wide spectrum of opinions on a variety of topics.
Amazon.com believes it is censorship not to sell certain titles because we believe their message is objectionable. Therefore, we'll continue to make controversial works available in the United States and everywhere else, except where they're prohibited by law.
The letter goes on to suggest perhaps buying a gay porn DVD and/or a documentary on a straight porn star. Yes, but what about John Roecker's documentary about gay porn stars? It is not listed at all. Why?
Email and a call to Amazon's PR department were not returned.