When it comes to the male controlled film industry, the struggle for female directors to make their mark has been just that, a struggle. In the adult film industry, the idea of the female director is almost unheard of. How could an industry that films men and women, who make millions off of men and women, be only made by guys? Film star turned filmmaker, Candida Royalle, has been working to change this construct for the past 25 years.
In 1984, Candace left being in front of the camera to embark on a journey, behind the camera, as a director of her own production company, Femme Productions. As an auteur, she would use her ideology, of "women oriented pornography"(Cameron) into practice. Contrasting classic porn constraints, Candace works to make sex the object as apposed to women, the man isn't fucking the woman, they are having sex with each other. It is not a violent encounter, or a domination of one sex over another. While watching a few scenes, a few things that I
could point out was the realness of the women, no Barbie's here. Women and men had real body parts and seem to be having real emotions and the focus wasn't just a woman being looked at by the camera, but both bodies being looked at by the camera.
Candace however isn't just a filmmaker who happens to be a female, she is actively making choices to target the female fans of porn who dislike seeing women be used as sex items. Along with stressing ideas of safe sex that is rarely seen in many conventional films of the day, she also gets rid of the staple of adult films, The Money Shot. On her Youtube page, she is interviewed on this topic with one of her fellow female directors and they agree that the Money Shot, shouldn't be the end of story and after "shared sex" his pleasure shouldn't be end all. She stresses on women not being objects or victims, but sexual creatures who comfortably explore their sexuality. She is realistic in understanding that this company is only at the start of the battle on changing the adult film industry.
The critics on her work often range on both sides of the spectrum, as an inductee of the ANV(Adult Video News) Hall of Fame, she is well respected in the adult film industry, "she has directed 15 films which 3 are considered porn classic,and continue to sell well" (Bragge). Although respected, she has been criticized by anti-porn feminist that "Porn has cleaned up its act, maybe, but it still falls far short of being a female "myth of sexual pleasure" (Cameron). Candace simply responds to her critics by saying "I believe I am doing good things for people, helping them to appreciate and see their sexuality in a positive way. Helping women to embrace their sexuality and helping couples to come together in better understanding, which only furthers their overall relationship"(Bragge). As a female director in the porn industry she is truly breaking molds and stereotypes one scene at a time.
Works Cited
Bragge, By Lilly. "Girls on Top - General - Www.theage.com.au." The Age - Business, World & Breaking News |
Cameron, Deborah. "Discourses of Desire: Liberals, Feminists, and the Politics of Pornography in the 1980s." American Literary History 2.4 (1990): 784-98. Web. 20 Nov. 2010.
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