Penetrating images get too close for comfort
With the 3-D fad already waning in mainstream cinema, proponents of the technology have been investigating a new market: pornography. According to Marge Hileman, lead developer for Three Dimensional Porn Inc., “consumers will be able to immerse themselves in the act of watching others have sex better than ever before.”
Image by Zachary Anderson
Hileman has also been toying with the idea of a text-in service to decide what the actors will do next for live stream porn, as well as a scripted role for the viewer to feel more involved. While this is good news for Hileman and 3DP, average customers and porno veterans are voicing their concerns.
3-D porn is all too real for some viewers.
“A huge portion of porn viewers are male teenagers,” one vocal 14-year-old viewer said. “Being virgins, some of us are not used to the third dimension. We can’t relate to something so close to real sex. I mean, porn is just like real sex, right?”
For a slightly older perspective, we reached out to some Ithaca College porn viewers. A male freshman who wishes to remain anonymous finds the accessories of 3-D porn most troubling.
“My porn experience would really suffer if I had to wear those glasses,” he said. “That’s just what I need, one more thing to clumsily hide when my roommate walks in on me. And what if I forget to take them off? Everyone would know I just stroked it.”
Indeed, the practicality of 3-D porn is a large hurdle, but the movement is suffering on the artistic front as well. Even figureheads of the porn industry are voicing their concerns.
“3-D is a gimmick, and every director knows it,” rising porn director Trex Maddoxxx said. “I’d rather take a more artistic path, like Christopher Nolan does in his films. Spend the money shooting in IMAX, and give the viewer a product that will blow them away. You know what I mean.”
The gimmickry of three-dimensional movies often involves long objects appearing to protrude through the screen, projectiles being hurled at the audience, and added detail to the characters and actions on screen. The prospect of applying these ideas to porn is both appalling and intriguing to many viewers.
Regardless, producers hold the real power in porn, and it appears 3-D is here to stay.
We’ll leave you with a few more anonymous quotes from around campus, which represent what many men and a few women are thinking:
“I don’t even like to see my own dick. Frankly, that’s something they should try to eliminate in porn, not thrust it in your face. Give me two-dimensional, old-fashioned American girl-on-girl action.”
“The idea of having ropes shoot at me from my computer screen is not appealing. In fact, I likely won’t be able to masturbate for days just thinking of it.”
“Actually, 3-D porn may be a good thing. I think the prospect of paying extra for porn would make me wake up and pursue real three-dimensional sex more fervently.”
“Why stop at three dimensions? Disney World has capitalized on shows which add the sensation of odors and touch to presentations. Jets of air are blasted at the necks of audience members, perfume wafts down from theatre rafters, and occasionally costumed characters parade the aisles. Why not incorporate these ideas into viewing pornography?”