-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Choke or Not to Choke: Consumer Choices posted on XCritic on Sunday, September 7th, 2008 by Don Houston. Any of you out there that have read my reviews over the past 8 or 9 years know that I am a huge proponent of consumer choice in what they can watch (as long as the porn involves consenting adults). This philosophy is in keeping with the XCritic Mission Statement (paraphrased below): "XCritic exists for one simple reason. We sift through the choices out there and help you find the ones worth your time and money. We do this to help you find the best of what you are looking for." Pretty straightforward, yes? We're always looking for like-minded folks to review with this in mind and we do our best to embrace this concept while so many others pander to the industry, personal interests, or simply just don't give a f..k about you. Unlike some places, we don't let industry insiders masquerade as "consumer reviewers" to shill their latest titles, nor do we expect most of you to simply take our word for it when we share our thoughts on titles we check out. Because of this stance to bring you insights on what you want, there are some out there that get upset, attacking our credibility, our motivations, and least importantly, our personal tastes in porn. ;) Recently, I engaged in something of a debate regarding choking in porn titles. I make it clear in my reviews that I'm not a huge fan of guys abusing women in porn when the women are not "into it". I know some of you truly find such porn appealing and it gets you off quicker than a wad of hundred dollar bills attract strippers and I'm fine with that, signifying such titles in the body of my reviews as "made for a different type of audience than me". That said, if a lady likes being choked or engaging in "breath play" and shows it in how turned on she looks in her scenes or how passionate she gets during such a scene, I'm going to acknowledge that too and reward the title with a higher score. Mutual consenting partners going at each other with a sense of lust and energy is a major turn on for many people, myself included. My detractor in all this (a friend who shall go unnamed) was quick to point out the dangers of choking in his comments to me, leaving no room for any appreciation of the sex act at all. If a movie has the slightest bit of choking in it, his rating system automatically lists it as being one of the worst movies of the year no matter what else it has going for it (we're talking mere seconds of choking merits such a treatment too). I find that contrary to the principles on which XCritic was founded, helping fans find what they are looking for. If I were to take a similar approach and insist that anyone reading one of my reviews had to share my personal vision of what makes for great porn, I'd be rightfully dismissed as a niche character (like the now gone reviewer elsewhere that insisted all porn women had to be at least attractive enough to make the cover of Seventeen magazine, only be in a couple of movies before leaving the industry, and a whole litany of other criterion most people would laugh at). Seriously, who is anyone on the fringes of the industry to tell the masses what they can and cannot like and enjoy? Citing a state law about simple assault, he suggested that choking as a sex act was illegal (there is no such provision specifying the act in the law he quoted) and it led to numerous deaths. Unfortunately, his case was built around a different kind of choking, a solo act called "Auto-erotic Asphyxiation" where a guy will literally hang himself for the endorphin "high" it provides at the point of orgasm. Needless to say, virtually ALL deaths in the public sector are such cases, a young male, all by himself, choking his chicken and his air supply off at the same time to horrific consequences. Extrapolating this plight to the ladies of porn, the ones being paid to perform on camera with other people present, he railed about how dangerous such sex is. Yet how dangerous is it? With thousands of movies released each year around the world and probably even more internet scenes shot in recent years, how many deaths or disfigurements have been attributed to a case of choking on a set? If you answered ZERO, I suspect you are correct since no such cases have been reported to date. Contrast this to number of deaths or ended careers from AIDS (numerous in both straight and gay productions) and you would think said person would be a stanch advocate of condoms and ultra safe sex practices. Does his reviewing system lower ratings for a lack of condoms, unsafe sex, or proven risks? Not one bit since that all dangerous choking is the focal point of his wrath. I took a beating on AVN's blogs several years ago defending your right to watch whatever consensual sex acts you enjoy, most members of the AVN team agreeing it should be a personal choice, followed by the nice members of the XRCO, and heaps of others. Make no mistake about it though, just because I advocate a free market deciding what should be on sale (with minimal limits) doesn't mean I get off on seeing women hurt, maimed, or mistreated but let's face it; women in porn are made aware of what is going to happen on most porn sets and are paid a premium to engage in riskier behaviors. They are making a CHOICE to participate, collect a bigger payday, and gain more fans when they get more extreme in their scenes. Belladonna, Audrey Hollander, Ashley Blue, and numerous other ladies have extended their careers years by becoming what I call "extreme queens". Does their love of being choked encourage others to engage in reckless behavior that results in death? That was the same argument some loser used to justify killing people "I saw it in the movies". Are any of you out there willing to buy into that kind of logic, the kind where you will relinquish personal responsibility in favor of a nanny state set out to protect you from yourselves? Anyway, I like the guy and his outlines for movies have assisted a lot of people over the years by giving a basic, if quick, glance at scores of titles where no critical analysis got in the way of his takes on flicks. I even offered him a guest blogging spot to make his case for ending the practice of choking in porn here at XCritic (he declined several times) and I will defend his right to speak his mind about the topic with any that would silence him but ultimately, fans know what they want and will find it no matter how many artificial barriers individuals set up to prevent them from finding out. I suggested he simply refuse to outline any movie he sees choking in since his stance is as likely to get people doing the opposite of what he suggests (like when Roger used to hate on Max Hardcore's titles) but that fell on deaf ears too. That said, I was curious if this was a major issue with any of you out there? Do you want to know about choking in porn we review (like some of you insist on knowing about condoms, for example)? Does the practice automatically merit a failing grade in your collective estimations? Should the industry rally to ban the likes of Max Hardcore, Jim Powers, Jake Malone, Belladonna, Mason, and others that use choking in their movies? Email me at my hotmail acocunt (houstondon@...) or comment in the forums so I'll know what more of you think. Thanks! ----------------------------------------------------------------------10/01/2008 First of all Don, I am very interested in the ckoking scenes that you thought were so good that you awarded a higher score. Do you have a list of them for year 2008? I did a review of Cry Wolf and I was interested in what others thought of this release. So I visited iafd.com to check it out. I found 3 reviews for it: CAVR Movie sex rates 9.00 Extras rates 9.00 Picture quality & lighting rates 8.00 Audio rates 9.00 Overall rating is 8.75 Choking and drugs makes it rate 6.00 Rog Overall Rating B Female Looks B+ Male Looks B- Picture Quality B Extras A- Plot/Acting A Sex C+ XCritic Content 4.00 Video 4.00 Audio 3.00 Extras 3.50 Replay 3.50 Overall (XCritic Pick) 5.00 I didn't understand how it got a 5.00? I sent an email to Don Houston. This very good review is from Rayvn C. The overall rating is based upon the full DVD. The individual ratings are not part of any formula. I suggested that if the Final Thoughts had mentioned that this DVD deserves a XCritic Pick and given the reason, it would have been a lot clearer to me. In subsequent emails with the very nice Ravyn C, we discussed the subject of rape. She was disappointed that I didn't mention rape in my review. I agreed to modify my review to include the rape theme. I suggested that she modify her review to add XCritic Pick to her Final Thoughts section. I also suggested that she mention the DVD had choking in it in her review. My changes have been posted. Her changes have not been posted. Don and I had many emails on choking. I told him about the 2 wives in the Dayton area that were choked to death during sex. The guys got 20 years in jail and gals got 6 feet under. I did mention to Don that choking was a major problem and that all three of the major TV stations have run specials on the how dangerous choking is in general. Don pointed out that the choking was not the type I was talking about. I think Don was referring to Houston Press - The Choking Game I am very happy that there have been no choking deaths on a porn set. We sure don't need any snuff movies. My concern is the effect the choking scenes cause to the viewing public. The ole monkey-see-monkey-do syndrome. Guy tries choking his wife with tragic results. 'women in porn are made aware of what is going to happen on most porn sets and are paid a premium to engage in riskier behaviors'. Great. Just have them sign a Choking Consent Form. It should explain that she is going to be choked in the movie. It should be approved by her agent, the director, the studio and explain the potential dangers of choking. Choking is illegal! Sometimes it is called assault. Google search: Charged with Choking: 09/22/2008 Royal Oak, MD Woman Charged with Choking teen daughter. 05/07/2008 NBA Player Charged with Choking Minneapolis man. 09/17/2008 Okeechobee Man Charged with Choking girlfriend. 10 to a page. 10 pages + Next I consider myself to be Consumer Advocate Reviewer. I quit reviewing Hustler DVDs because they released too many DVDs where the Boxcover says it contains a BTS and it doesn't. CAVR Review - Lowest Rated of Year XCritic Review - Highly Recommended I quit reviewing Wicked Pictures DVDs because they will not answer what happened to Delilah DVD: CAVR Review - Lowest Rated of Year XCritic Review - Recommended The industry should rally to set some guidelines like they did back in the early days when Rueben Sturman ruled the porn world. The problem is who to rally around? We are leaderless. I quit reviewing JM Productions, Max Hardcore and Extreme Associates many years ago. Mason has been a bad bad girl and should be required to appear in front of the camera in her BTS. And, she must make at least 6 movies per year! My CAVR Choking Position is very clear! It is not fun being one of the few that mentions choking in their reviews. I want the Consumer to know if a movie has choking in it. Don is correct that my list of 2008 Movies with Choking probably does more harm than good. I know my point of view is not popular and lots of Studios refuse to send me screeners. I am fine with this. I attended the AEE 2008 Legal Seminar and I agree with those 4 leading attorneys that choking is not a good idea. The lingering question is why are some Studio's 100% against choking and their lawyers will not permit it? Condoms in movies. I am neutral on this. I don't really care one way or the other. It should be up to the performers and their comfort level. I do mention scenes that have comdoms by saying safe screwing. Don, you are a great reviewer and we actually agree on most things. In fact, on some of the blockbuster reviews over the past few years, you and I were the only ones to point out 'flaws' in some of them and we did not give them a high rating! We will have to agree to disagree. The very best to you Don and keep up the good work. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CAVR.com XCritic.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deducts points for choking. Extra points for choking sometimes. Website design: 1996 vintage. Website design: Very modern. Content:...22,545 Reviews. Content:....8,620 Reviews + Other items. Movies A to Z index. No Movies A to Z index. Recap Movies A to Z & Points Movies with Choking Blu-ray and HD DVD Highest Rated Movies Lowest Rated Movies Features Gonzo 'R' Amateur Les Interracial MILF Newbies Stars A to Z index. No Stars index. Stars Rankings Top 3 Stars Stars Frequency Web Scenes A to Z index. No Web Scene reviews. Web Scene Reviews Recap Web Scenes A to Z & Points Highest Rated Web Scenes Misc: Directors BTS First Amendment Trail CAVR Awards Search: Barely Legal 66 Search: Barely Legal 66 1st listed. 58th listed. Alexa Ratings: 108,497 Alexa Ratings: 44,963 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Email Den
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