| Summary: | Video cassette recorders, computers, and evolving new technologies have catapulted pornography into a $10 billion industry. Despite sustained attacks from radical feminists and traditional groups concerned about the moral environment, porn profits soar. Winner of a coveted award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Patently Offensive: Porn Under Siege examines pornography in its social and historical context. As a dominant force in popular entertainment, porn has redefined the image culture. Its iconography has been coopted by music videos, Hollywood films, tv sitcoms, and especially advertising: the most powerful socializing agents in contemporary life. Is the tension between freedom of expression and the preservation of values which define a civilized society irreconcilable? Whose interests shall prevail in the explosive, politically divisive dialectic which now rages about pornography's contribution to criminal behavior, its First Amend-ment status, its use and depiction of women and even children? The debate about pornography engages many of the major issues of this era: individual rights, censorship, feminist theory, artistic freedom, family values. Praised for its balanced presentation, Patently Offensive; Porn Under Siege contains exclusive footage of the controversial Meese Commission hearings on pornography as well as riveting interviews with principals on all sides of the porn wars. Amongst those included are ACLU spokesperson Barry Lynn, forensic psychiatrist Park Elliott Dietz, criminologist A. Nichols Groth, former Eros magazine publisher Ralph Ginzburg, anthropologist Carole Vance, pornographer Al Goldstein, Harvard Law School professor Frederick Schauer, radical feminist Andrea Dworkin, and representatives of Women Against Pornography, National Organization For Women, and the National Christian Association. Eight years in the making, this masterful documentary is an invaluable asset to serious discussion in disciplines as varied as sociology, ethics, women s studies, psychology, constitutional law, and criminal justice. Producer Harriet Koskoff is available by special arrangement with Filmakers Library to introduce and discuss the film. Public screening $300. Classroom Video rental $95.
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