Louis Theroux on Porn: The Decline of an Industry
…To the millions of consumers who look at pornography, the lives of the male performers might seem in certain ways like a fantasy. Being paid to have sex with beautiful women five or six times a week? What’s not to like?
For those who live the life, the reality is quite different. For one thing, the wages aren’t much - $150 (£97) per scene. You can forget about pensions and health insurance.
Not to mention that the act of coition on demand, with lights on and cameras rolling, is not a skill every man is capable of. Or, given the shame and embarrassment and the toll it takes on one’s relationships, would want to be capable of.
The job is tough at the best of times - and these are far from the best of times.
The porn industry is in crisis, its profits decimated by the impact of the illegal downloading of pirated content from YouTube-style sites and also amateurs uploading their own sex scenes on paid-for sites.
Fifteen years ago, when I did my first reporting on the porn business in Los Angeles, it was a very different picture. Back then, porn companies were making millions.
The big story then was the massive profits of a hidden industry that seemed as though it might be on the brink of being acknowledged by the mainstream.