Louis Theroux likens pornography to ‘advertising’ for prostitution

London: Documentary film maker Louis Theroux has said that pornographic films have become advertisements for their performers, whose real business is prostitution.

The 42year-old English broadcaster, who recently investigated the adult film business for a new programme, said that piracy and the internet had meant it was in the middle of “a commercial tailspin.” He said that what was once a “byword for easy money” and exploitation was now “fighting for its life.” The finances were so bad that prostitution had become “widespread” and for many “performers” pornography was simply “advertising for their real business” of having sex with private clients. The presenter first probed into the world of pornography industry – based in Los Angeles – 15 years ago and found it raking in billions. But like many other media-based industries, it is now struggling for its very survival. Writing in the Guardian, he said that some time around 2007, the business started going into a commercial tailspin. “The arrival of free YouTube-style porn sites meant that consumers could download pirated scenes from the vast backlog of old content for free,” the Telegraph quoted him as writing in the publication. “The phenomenon of DIY amateur sex – part-timers uploading their videos on sites such as clips4sale – also put a dent in the professionals’ pay cheques,” he said. Theroux said that it was an open secret that many female performers were supplementing their income by “hooking on the side.” “It’s an open secret in the porn world that many female performers are supplementing their income by It’s also called “doing privates”, as in private bookings. “The official industry line is that it’s dangerous (because clients aren’t tested the way performers are) and irresponsible (because the women could then infect the closed community of professional performers). “But the women can make far more money having sex behind closed doors than doing it on film and, in fact, the practice is widespread. “For many female performers nowadays, the movies are merely a sideline, a kind of advertising for their real business of prostitution,” he added. ANI