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From: mauney@ncsu.UUCP (Jon Mauney)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: More Real Dirt on Porn
Message-ID: <2520@ncsu.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 5-Mar-84 11:36:21 EST
Article-I.D.: ncsu.2520
Posted: Mon Mar  5 11:36:21 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 6-Mar-84 03:34:06 EST
Organization: N.C. State University, Raleigh
Lines: 27

Last night I watched a movie on network TV.  It seemed to convey the
message that "it's OK to hit your (pregnant) wife,  if you are good in
bed" and "it's OK to rape your sister-in-law (while your wife is in the
maternity ward) if she is already unbalanced so that no one will believe
her when she complains."  I mean,  the message is pretty clear; brutish
Stanley goes back to life as usual with Stella and the new baby,  while
delicate, sensitive Blanche gets carted off to the looney bin.
Although the movie is not "explicit",  the rape and wife-beating are
unmistakable.  It would seem to be a definite affront to women and a 
threat to society.  And yet...

I would argue that "A Streetcar Named Desire" is a classic of the theater,
and any censorship of it would be a great loss.  and
Any similar artistic effort should also be taken seriously,  even though it
falls short of success.  and
There is no workable method of distinguishing serious but flawed movies
from successful exploitation movies.  The nauseating Gor books might be
a serious science fiction portrayal of the way human society could have gone,
and "Debbie Does Dallas" is the fable of some enterprising young cheerleaders
who are led astray by our corrupt capitalistic system.  Who can tell?

No set of rigid rules can tell porn from serious movies,  and any system
based on opinion is subject to abuse from all sides.
-- 

_Doctor_                           Jon Mauney,    mcnc!ncsu!mauney
\__Mu__/                           North Carolina State University