Analog Video and its "Pornographic Years"

Abstract

Adult film industry, always leading the way when it comes to new technologies, quickly adopts analog video before it becomes a mainstream audio-visual medium. The mutual affinity provides advantage for both parties: Transforming the industry practices, aesthetics and the content, technology contributes to industry with more profit and answers the demands of the porn regulars. In return, pornography helps the new technology become widespread by providing distribution network, content, motivation and available eager users. Therefore, this paper aims to review the role of pornography and adult film industry in the rise of the video recorders and analyze some examples regarding the video case in Turkey. Although the data collected from 1980s newspapers and magazines as part of the dissertation about video spectatorship in Turkey doesn’t reveal this role first-hand, there is a bond between technology and pornography. Collective video film-viewing in public space, a unique practice in Turkey, however, challenges pornography-privacy relation and the necessity of device ownership.