Inside Deep Throat

Photo Credit: Copyright ©2005 Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

 
The phenomenon of “Deep Throat” says something about America. It’s what it says about America that people interpret differently. Adult film makers, like Gerard Damiano, director of “Deep Throat,” don’t particularly strike me as legitimate filmmakers or honest men—least honest to themselves.

However, the attempts to suppress free speech and expression in this country always reveal more about the nature of those who seek to suppress than the suppressed. In that regard, “Deep Throat” was a triumph even if, artistically speaking, it was a piece of crap. The point is we have a right to choose to see crap—or not.

The documentary interviews several of the characters involved in this drama, ranging from Damiano, to the actors Harry Reems and Linda Lovelace, and numerous peripherals, theater managers, and historical figures including Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal.

“I thought it was nothing. Just a piece of shit film,” said Lenny Camp. “If it wasn’t for us, this guy would look like a piece of shit, which he really is.”

There’s something hilarious, to me, about seeing these men, now in their old age, still attempting to rationalize the artistry of the crap they produced. But let me be clear about something, there’s very little that separates these men from Hugh Hefner. What irritates me about Hefner is the way that he and his airbrushed rag, Playboy, are regarded as belonging to a higher strata of pornography. Oh, come on.

Pornography is what it is… it’s meant to titillate. That being said, these men, however disgusting they may be, have a right to create these films that are regarded, even if only in their own imaginations, as some great pinnacle of an otherwise pathetic career in film. What’s pathetic isn’t the pornography itself, but the hamfisted approach to sexuality. There’s more sexuality in five seconds of Anita Ekberg wading fully-clothed through the Trevi Fountain than watching Linda Lovelace on an endless loop for 24 hours.

What could a rational mind find more infuriating? Well, for one, the basis of the prosecution’s argument against “Deep Throat.” They actually argued that it was inappropriate to suggest that a clitoral orgasm was a valid means for a woman to achieve pleasure, as opposed to the traditional and rather chauvinist view of the vaginal orgasm.

Linda Lovelace became a celebrity. She made a paltry $1200 from the filming. Her family, her friends, felt sorry for her. Years later, Lovelace became a lightning rod for conservatives by taking the stance that every time you see her on the screen, you’re watching her being raped. Granted, there’s no question that the makers of this film hired her for a price most of us wouldn’t bother to consider. Isn’t that the point, though?

At the time, no one forced Lovelace to make the decisions she did, including going along with the publicity and Playboy photo spread that followed… Would she have recanted if she shared in the millions? Would her friends and family feel sorry for her if she did? She didn’t even seem, in one interview, to comprehend the definition of “anarchy,” and thinks Adolf Hitler was the last person to endorse the idea of censorship.

In June 1973, the Nixon appointee-loaded Supreme Court reorganized the obscenity laws. Law enforcement began cracking down. At the same time, the Mafia, the film argues, got involved in adult film distribution. By the mid-1970’s, the feds decided to prosecute Harry Reems. The prosecutor? Larry Parrish, a former preacher. Parrish implemented, as Alan Dershowitz called it, “a very creative use” of the conspiracy laws. The prosecution argued Reems was responsible for the film as a whole. He was found guilty and faced five years in prison.

Nixon was involved in a conspiracy of his own and resigned in August of 1974. Amidst the reversal of fortune, the decision against Harry Reems was overturned. People who spend their lives pointing fingers do so to keep the attention off of their own amoral behavior or foolish choices in life.

Just shortly before her death, Linda Lovelace changed gears again after railing against pornography for several years. Broke and out of the spotlight, she decided to capitalize on the only thing she had left—her name.

This film, along with numerous short extras on the DVD, allow us to draw our own conclusions about the various viewpoints presented. The extras are perhaps less like extras and more like afterthoughts, interviews that couldn’t make it into the documentary or were shot after. They don’t give us much additional insight into the phenomenon of “Deep Throat” than the documentary itself. Then again, there’s not much insight to be had about the film, the documentary, or the making of either.

The most fascinating parts concern the government investigation. The examination of the role the Peraino family played in the distribution of “Deep Throat” leaves something to be desired, though. It could have been just as easily omitted since it appears they hadn’t enough material to make a substantial discussion of it.

View Cinemalogue.com’s exclusive interview with Harry Reems here.

Inside Deep Throat • Running Time: 1 hour 30 minutes • DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 • Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel surround sound encoding • MPAA Rating: NC-17 for explicit sexual content.