Boogie Nights..........

[Phil Phee]

I assert the film is neither contrived by Hollywood standards (witness Inception etc) or as negative as your prior posts

[max_tranmere]

When Boogie Nights came out (I am stating all this from memory) I recall the director saying he had spent time on porn sets, met many people involved and so on, in order to get an idea of what it was really all about. Although he was doing this in the 1990's, not the 1970's which is the era the film is obviously set in. He probably spoke to a few 'old timers' to get an idea of the 1970's scene though.

You can't deny though that is was drug-ridden, gangster orientated, and largely a cash in hand thing where people were filmed screwing each other in a room in a warehouse. Porn sets were often raided by the Police too. Ginger Lynn, the US starlet of the 1980's, said they used to 'brown bag it' then (namely live on take-aways rather than have catering like now). It was all much more ramshackle. Ginger Lynn also said that most people she ever knew in porn, including herself, came from problem backgrounds of dysfunctional family life, and so on. Sharon Mitchell, 70s and 80s star (she made over 2,000 hardcore movies) was a heroin addict for years.

[Phil Phee]

Hmmm. Thanks for vindicating my 'negative posting' argument!

[jimslip]

"......namely live on take-aways rather than have catering like now"

"Catering?" On porn sets I've been on, in the UK, you'll be lucky to get a bag of crisps and a bottle of pop! In Italy, we used to always get fed in the local restaurants, you wont find an Italian scrimping on the grub! !happy!

[max_tranmere]

"Why do they CALL it the Golden Age if it was quite as shitty as portrayed in BN"

'Golden Age' does not necessarily mean something positive, although often it does, it can also mean the most prolific, prominent, and known time for a certain place or thing. They talk about the golden age/era of Atlantic city in the USA. What they mean is when the place was riddled from floor to ceiling with gangsters, was full of mafia run casinos, and how all the performers were in the pay of the mob.

[max_tranmere]

Apparently in the USA they have catering now. In terms of how the industry is run, it is very similar to the mainstream movie industry (I'm only going on what I've heard).