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Extreme Associates, Rob Black and Lizzie Borden

Charles Taylor reviews the PBS American Porn documentary and criticizes its "arm's-length disdain passing for objectivity."

[Filmmakers] Kirk and Boyer simply took the Proper Journalistic Attitude of treating porn as a sociological phenomenon, just not one that is part of any culture that they -- or by implication any cultured PBS viewers -- feel part of. Vivid videos or peeking at Danni Ashe (the most delightful pinup model since Bettie Page) or even a bukkake tape might be for some people, the show seemed to say, but not those who enjoy settling down to watch Russell Baker introduce a Nancy Mitford adaptation on "Masterpiece Theatre." Did it never occur to Kirk and Boyer that a lot of people might enjoy a dramatization of an English novel and porn?

But Taylor sides with the filmmakers in their contempt for Rob Black, Lizzie Borden and Extreme Associates. Taylor even suggests Black and Border be prosecuted for assault in the on-set beating of an actress in a violent rape scenario video. Fellow sex-bloggers Nick and Debra have eloquently taken Taylor to task for this argument here and here (scroll down to February 12). Debra writes:

Salon writer Charles Taylor ought to follow his own advice when he says the Extreme Associates folks should be prosecuted for assault. Ahem. After mentioning that LA's DA's office ought to ask the GBLT community about their standards, re: fisting, he should ask the S/M community about kidnapping clubs, takedown scenes, and prison scenes. Hell, I've been in more convincing scenes than what I saw on Frontline that night, and I once witnessed an S/M "capture the escape prisoner" performance that would put mainstream Hollywood actors to shame.

(Feb 2002) Salon | Inexplicably Fancy Trash | Pursed Lips

Porn video studio Extreme Associates was raided by FBI agents, postal inspectors and Los Angeles police officers on Tuesday. Agents seized records, videocassettes and model releases for five titles: Extreme Teen 24, Cocktails 2, Ass Clowns 3, 1001 Ways to Eat My Jizz and Forced Entry. The search warrant was issued in Pennsylvania, and the Justice Department will likely pursue obscenity charges there soon.

(This pro wrestling fan site covered the raid because Rob Black, owner of Extreme Associates, has recently branched out with a wrestling tour called XPW. This is the only news item mentioning Extreme Associates available via Google News, which would indicate no Los Angeles area newspapers covered the raid.)

Industry journal Adult Video News has a long, detailed story about the raid, why Extreme Associates was targeted and what other porn industry figures are thinking. For several years, Extreme Associates has built a niche with material that most other studios shun, notably violent rape scenarios and over-18 performers portraying underage characters. One attorney quoted says, "Because Extreme Associates has positioned itself to be literally at the extreme end of all production, their prosecution was highly likely if not inevitable. That is, their content goes so far beyond that which any production that I'm aware of has undertaken in terms of depictions of non-consensual material, the purportedly HIV-positive gangbang, the depiction of incest, rape or rape of adult actresses portraying extremely young people, it was as predictable as anything in the world that they were going to get busted."

The AVN article describes the contents of three seized titles:

"In [Ass Clowns 3], I kill Osama bin Laden by cutting his head off with a knife, and we shoot everybody else that's with his little group of murdering cutthroats," recalled veteran performer Dick Nasty. "There's lots of blood, and there's lots of, basically, rape; they all rape the American journalist before we go in and save her. I play a British Special Forces guy going in with and American Special Forces guy, and then we d.p. her, but when we do it, she's [consenting]."

But as inflammatory as blood and rape in a sexually-explicit movie may be, the "director's cut" has material almost guaranteed to upset any mainstream audience — especially if they sit in a jury box.

"To the best of my knowledge," said a knowledgeable source, "the difference in the director's cut of Ass Clowns 3 is, Brian Surewood plays a Christ-like figure who is nailed to a cross and crucified, and ther's an angel present, and he comes down off the cross and has anal sex with her. He essentially rapes the angel. In the non-director's cut version, the scene begins with it being blacked out, and [text] saying, 'To see the full version of this scene, ask for the director's cut,' and it begins with him just sort of walking; he's come down from the cross and is walking."

Extreme Teen 24 has at least one scene featuring an adult actress (Kiwi) playing what appears to be a pre-teen who lives in a crude tent in her parents' living room, wears pajamas with feet and constantly sucks on a lollipop. Valentino enters, and tells her he's a friend of Pokemon, and that Pokemon would want her to suck his cock, which she proceeds to do. The scene continues explicitly from there.

Forced Entry, of course, was the feature showcased in last year's [PBS] Frontline episode, where various Frontline personnel claimed to have been sickened by the tape's depictions of forcible rape.

Rob Black, owner of Extreme Associates, issued a defiant public statement after the raid. "There were no arrest warrants. Nobody was arrested. And, Extreme Associates doors are now and will remain open for business selling the fine quality Extreme product that you have grown to love. This will INCLUDE all of the videos which are part of this obscenity investigation as we stand by our product and feel that nothing we have ever produced is obscene. The only thing we may be guilty of is bad taste."

People in the porn industry — video, publishing and internet — are wondering if the Extreme Associates raid was an isolated incident or the beginning of a broader crackdown. At The Adult Webmaster, Connor Young makes the case that the "long-promised assault on adult pornography" has begun. (Apr 2003)

The US Justice Department filed a 10-count obscenity indictment against the porn studio Extreme Associates today (LA Times registration required, sorry). John Ashcroft (boo, hiss) said, "Today's indictment marks an important step in the Department of Justice's strategy for attacking the proliferation of adult obscenity. The Justice Department will continue to focus our efforts on targeted obscenity prosecutions that will deter others from producing and distributing obscene material." (Aug 2003)

Jake Tapper reports on the Extreme Associates obscenity prosecution for ABC News. Last week Tapper appeared on ABC World News, Nightline and Good Morning America in the space of 24 hours to discuss the case. (There's a sidebar link to a video segment called "Primetime: Porn Uncovered," which might mean Primetime also covered the case last Thursday. Unfortunately, the video is available only to Realvideo Superpass subscribers, i.e. to nobody.) Adult Video News praises Tapper and ABC's coverage for framing the issues fairly and "asking the right questions." (Aug 2003)

Pornblography posts a guest rant by "Dcypher" asking, Would it really be so bad for the porn industry if Rob Black and Lizzie Borden went to prison? "I groan at the thought of listening to more arguments about the future of porn and having to defend someone else’s right to make simulated snuff movies. First we had to defend Max Hardcore, now Rob Black, and who is next? Do you really want to have to be concerned that every second of the day another belligerent and talent less buffoon is going to seep out of the woodwork and destroy the career you’ve worked so hard to create for yourself? At what point do we say enough is enough and let people like Rob Black reap what he has so willingly sown?" (Sep 2003)

Industry lawyer Lawrence Walters argues that everyone in the porn business should be worried about the federal obscenity prosecution of Extreme Associates. "If history is to be any guide as to what to expect in the future, it is likely that the feds will start prosecuting extreme, fringe, fetish material, and slowly work their way towards more acceptable forms of alternative erotica, like BDSM, interracial, facial, or even Gay material. The nation's Obscenity Czar, Andrew Osterbaan, recently pointed out that even producers of 'mainstream' erotica are not immune. . . . The feds often pick specific issues and venues in the attempt to establish precedent in their favor. The Extreme Associates prosecution may be one of those cases. As noted earlier, the government could be starting with the fringe material and working its way to mainstream erotica. According to one Justice Department official, 'There is no particular behavior that is off the table.' Along the way, this approach could be calculated to establish precedent favorable to the government to assist in prosecution of the more mainstream material." (Sep 2003)