Titan Media... Gayporn's Log Cabin studio?

My first thought after reading Titan Media's April 6th press release was, 'What business are they in? Adult gay films or dog breeding?' I have only seen this kind of Elitism in the world of the professional dog show, where breeding your girl dog with the wrong boy dog carries the ridiculous penalty of permanent disqualification. If I read the memo correctly, Titan claims that they will not offer employment to men who have performed in a bareback video, and will go on to blacklist any performer who dares appear in a bareback video in the future. Sounds like a dog show to me... or perhaps the Republican National Convention.

My next thought was... 'And what about how these performers behave in their personal lives?' Titan won't hire an actor if he appears professionally in a bareback scene. However it reads as though they'll hire a man regardless of whether he plays with or without condoms in his personal time. Wassup with that? Isn't barebacking in one's personal life equally as risky as barebacking professionally, if not moreso? What I get from this is that Titan Media is saying that it doesn't matter what their stars do in their spare time as long as they put on the politically correct show for the camera.

That's hypocritical. But then maybe it's not really about the safety of their performers (as their press release claims) as much as it's about presenting and promoting the illusion that they care. Then I ask why it is that barebacking the only risky behavior they have on their warpath?

Certainly, Titan is permitted its own policies and they can exercise them in whatever manner they wish. If Titan doesn't want to make bareback videos, so be it. And that's all the excuse they need. It won't hurt any of the bareback studios if Titan stays out of the competition. However, their heavy-handedness, their threatened lawsuits against those in disagreement, and their bid to lord over the gay adult industry with threats of blacklisting goes way over the top. They have claimed in their press release to be "the leading gay adult studio and producer". Ahem ... may we see receipts to prove this? Cuz I thought that title was held by Falcon. To claim you're the company at the top and then in turn to use that self-given supremacy to try to control the behavior of others is pretty strong stuff. I suppose they are taking their cues from Washington since it seems that's how the NeoCons are doing it these days. Could someone remind the boys at Titan Media that it's porn they are making, and not public policy?

As I said before, Titan has the right to form its own company rules, and also has every right to publicly announce them. And all they need to say is "We don't approve of barebacking so we won't film any." But I am dismayed that they felt the need to further justify their decision with two flimsy arguments:

• 1) "In the same manner that mainstream films of the 1950's and 1960's feature cigarette smoking, but yet are still widely distributed and enjoyed, we will continue to support the availability of "Pre-condom" adult features."

Hint: Mainstream films of today still feature cigarette smoking. What exactly is the point in that analogy?

I am always amazed by the people who shun and/or flat-out condemn bareback videos, and who then can in the same breath endorse the so-called "Pre-Condom" videos. Yes, many bareback videos have promoted, glorified and depicted unprotected sex as the "centerpiece of their sexuality". So? Most condom videos (some Titan titles excepted) make no effort to eroticize or glorify condom use. Most of the time the condoms appear rather mysteriously, as if their being put on is embarrassing to show. And those grandfathered-in pre-condom videos, of course, innocently portray men wantonly engaging in sex with no thought to protection. It's not as if there were NO sexually transmitted diseases back in the day. In truth, nobody then, and relatively few people now, ever found condoms to be a turn on. It's a reality the fantasy business has never been able to completely overcome. So I suppose Titan thinks that the next way to overcome it is to try to make barebacking seem very unattractive. It's their prerogative. That's politics.

And we are certainly entitled to disagree with them and/or think them foolish. Only a fool couldn't see that pre-condom videos and barebacking videos both portray the same kind of sex. And if the intention is to prevent impressionable eyes from watching men have sex without protection lest they feel compelled to copy what they see, they are compromising their own mission by endorsing pre-condom videos. I am inclined to believe that it has way more to do with the money than with compassion. Money always can be found where politics are involved. The same cannot always be said for smarts.

Weak argument #2: The Copycat Argument. In the 60's, 70's and 80's this same basic argument was used to try to keep gay characters and gay-themed television shows off the air. It was argued that exposure to homosexuals on television would turn America's youth into mind-numbed cock-sucking pansies. Funny though, all those years that we gays over 30 spent on a diet of exclusively heterosexual television didn't turn us into raging heterosexuals. Television doesn't work like that. I should know. I can truthfully say that watching Titan Media videos, hot as they are, (and I have seen many because they ARE hot) hasn't brought me any closer to wearing condoms. I've also received many letters and face-to-face testimonials from men who have said they like to watch bareback porn although they would never practice such risky behavior in their real lives. Likewise, I never hear that bareback videos turned someone into a cum-crazed barebacking zombie. Copycat arguments are nothing more than propaganda designed to continue the panic that started 20 something years ago.

One of the fundamental problems with the copycat argument is that it presupposes that the Titan Media audience isn’t intelligent enough to make healthy personal decisions, and that they must therefore be prevented from watching any kind of sexual behavior that might lead them astray. I wonder if the top brass at Titan feels as strongly about films depicting terrorism. Should the American public (unintelligent as Titan apparently believes it is) be prevented from watching movies with scenes of terrorism, or anarchy, or violence of any kind while we are on yellow and orange alerts? I wonder if they are concerned that those films might also encourage the wrong behavior in those who view them. If not, where exactly does Titan draw the line between content and copycat?

Titan is inaccurate in its claim that "risking HIV is the fetish and foundation of these [bareback] presentations." That is fundamentally untrue. While I have admittedly never seen a conversion film, I do suppose such a thing could exist. Still, it is not the intention of any bareback video producer I know to use his productions to intentionally advance the spread of HIV. In fact, all the producers I have met have put warnings about unsafe behavior at the beginning of their movies. That sounds responsible to me. Could it be that the boys behind Titan fast-forward through these bareback warnings so they can get to the whack-off material just like the rest of us do with their films?

Apparently Titan, like so many others, thinks that HIV and STD preventions are all tied up in those little baggies you unroll over your dicks. I tend to believe that true prevention starts with people knowing their options and the range of consequences ... not just the dire ones. It's a bit more involved than, say, "Use condoms or die". It has more to do with educating instead of nagging, and respecting instead of agendizing. And people usually don't respond well to threats. But they do like watching sex... without condoms.

It’s evident to me, simply by Titan’s publication of this policy, that they intended to create this controversial dialog. Normally, there would be no reason for a porn company to make public its hiring policies. This is grandstanding for the purpose of being divisive. And it appears to me as though they are attempting to rub their policies in the faces of all porn actors and bareback video producers. Again, so be it. Their policy isn’t going to change how most of us do business anyway. Let the peacocks at Titan Media puff up. They only make themselves appear ridiculous and conservatively archaic in their thinking.

Currently, I believe, in California there are laws preventing discrimination in hiring. Personally, I think Titan Media is setting itself up for a few unfair employment suits. They are discriminating beyond the usual discriminations normally used in the skin business. All in all, I would say that Titan has gone about this position entirely wrong and without too much forethought. But that's fine by me. As far as I am concerned, any Titan Media performer who disagrees with Titan's policy is certainly welcome to come work for me.

Jack

(For more on Pre-Condom videos, please visit our Archives and select "The Ugly Side of Liberalism")
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS: A freebie for Titan... suggested working title for your next uniform fetish production: "Condom Nazis".

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special thanks to Vidioview.com for the link to the Titan Media press release.