Thinking about Thinking XXX

Thinking XXX - dir. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders - 2005 - USA

As this HBO documentary, about and directed by portrait photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, never really figured out its purpose, I'm not going to attempt to throw out any theories on its existence or on the porno industry in general. Instead here are just a few thoughts I jotted down in my head while watching the film:

1. Why does John Waters, a talking head in the film, still make movies? Cecil B. Demented was an ambitious (for him) failure, and A Dirty Shame (sorry if I just reminded you that you wasted an hour and a half watching that) blew. He should now only lend his personality to documentaries along these lines (he's also featured in That Man: Peter Berlin). I couldn't control my laughter when Gore Vidal, after Waters states that "everyone in LA looks like their two minutes away from their next porn scene," says that Los Angelites think he looks like a porn star.

2. Is Jenna Jameson real (and, no, I'm not talking about her breasts)? The film treats her like a mythical creature that their cameras accidentally stumbled upon in a remote Peruvian jungle. She's there alright... but nary speaks a single word. Instead, people just speak about her. I guess she's said all she has to say about the matter.

3. When one porn star, Heather Hunter, says she's the Halle Berry of the adult entertainment industry, does that mean she (not literally) sucks? Did she win her porn Oscar out of political correctness and good editing? Can she single-handedly stink up a big-budget project with her ego? Was there a Monster's Balls? If not, there should be.

4. One of the gay pornostars, Lukas Ridgeton, says, in broken English, that he was approached by many young gay men who have thanked him for helping them come to terms with their sexuality. How does this work? Why would seeing a man give another a hummer really aid someone in their understanding of themselves?

5. Did we need a documentary to accompany this obvious collection of photos? Normal... then PORNY. I get it. I think HBO may have just needed to fill their original programming nudity-quotient, as (I don't think) Real Sex or any similar incarnation still exists on the network.