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| Big dreams and high beams |
Recently, there was a mention in my trending section about this young man, Antonio Suleiman, a 19-year-old Syrian refugee living in Germany, eager to come to America, who, through his need for work, has become a porn star.
Actually, it's more complicated than that. And then again maybe it's not. You can read all about it here.
First things first: I don't begrudge this guy his life choices. We all have to do some odd things to survive in life (such as my entire career and several past relationships). He's not hurting anyone--although, after witnessing his rapid-fire, jack-hammer love-making style (through the magic of Google, possums), I would just like to state for the record that I might forgo first-hand (or whatever) experience. So I don't have a problem with his porn star career.
In the interview linked to, he makes an interesting observation about showing how Syrian bodies can live, not just die, how they can make love, not only war. In my mind, it somewhat ties into the whole "black bodies" aspect of the Black Lives Matter movement, that the bodies of people of color are often degraded in the public sphere and thus the human beings who inhabit those bodies are ill-regarded, abused, and even killed.
Does a career in porn counter that argument? I don't know. There is a long history of people of color being treated as "exotics" in the media. And guess what? There's a long history of that happening in real life, too. And this history isn't just a 20th-century reality. I would suggest for evidence you read about the life of Saartjie Baartman, if you can stomach it.
But then again, why not a career in porn? I am not sure that Mr. Suleiman is incorrect: We now just think of Syrians either dying in war or as refugees making their way to Europe to "take our jobs." We think of them being held in camps at the border. We think of them drowning. We think of them being picked up lifeless from the shore. We think of them being pulled out from underneath the rubble of bombed cities. We think of them being kicked, cursed, and screamed at. And many of us stand idly by while it happens, including our governments, unsure of what to do or unwilling to take action. Our dithering ends up causing more misery and death, however much we may not want that to happen. Although I suspect there are some, the deplorables among us, who don't care that it happens in the first place.
Mr. Suleiman has aspirations to become an artist, an actor. The prospects of an actor crossing over from porn to "legit" acting are mixed, but then again, so is making it as an actor or an artist, period. Having known a couple of actors in my time (as well as Southern Californians, as well as millennials), I think there is a thin line between the actor's art and just enjoying attention and having pictures taken of you/taking pictures of yourself. A quick perusal of Mr. Suleiman's Twitter feed (NSFW) and Instagram account (also NSFW), it is difficult to say which is more at play here: The consciousness and nobility of a Syrian Lives Matter movement or the Kardashianization of culture.
But, again, I do not want to judge this young man. I haven't lived the same life as he. And, besides, I like porn.
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Where I do think Mr. Suleiman could make a different life choice is in the type of porn he performs. Rather than straight porn, with its focus on the female body (or more specifically and explicitly, the female orifices that serve male needs), a cleverer career move might be for Mr. Suleiman to star in solo porn or, better still, market himself exclusively to a gay or bisexual porn-loving audience.
I am not saying that Mr. Suleiman is gay or bi. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) But that's hardly the point. There's also a long history of men in porn being "gay for pay," playing roles in gay porn movies without actually being gay, mostly (but not exclusively) playing the role of the "top" or the straight guy who decides that, um, a hole is a hole is a hole. So why not tap into this lucrative market?
Here's my case for Mr. Suleiman making the switch to gay porn--
Mr. Suleiman is handsome, sexy, and has a beautiful body (see above). Gay men will appreciate this more than straight men watching porn made for a straight male audience ever will. Admittedly my exposure to straight porn is very limited, most memorably recently via a late-night TV channel in Paris where a spray-tanned blonde woman with her hair in cornrows (the aesthetic horror) manhandled a male member that most closely resembled a sloppy tube sock full of coins. I actually find straight porn quite disgusting because, as mentioned above, the focus is on women's orifices being abused by oversized penises and because of the overall unappealing aesthetics. (Plus I'm gay.) Straight porn gives you guys like rapey-boy-next-door James Deen and '70s 16mm on-continuous-loop-in-a-booth-at-a-truck-stop superstar Ron Jeremy. Blech. Obviously the focus isn't on the beauty or sexiness of the male form. Rather it's on workmanlike performance and woman-as-receptacle.
Not that Mr. Suleiman's performance in the one portion of the movie I watched in order to write this post isn't workmanlike (anything for you, dear readers). He was like a guy with a pile driver tearing through old, pothole-riddled asphalt, which is not a "making love" style I particularly welcome or encourage in a partner. You do see this style in gay porn, probably increasingly so (it's cheaper to make and quicker to, um, digest). But there is gay porn that is erotic, where the sex is mutually pleasurable, less like a job and more like a sexy interlude between, if not friends or even acquaintances, then at least equals.
Nonetheless, with the intense facial expressions Mr. Suleiman makes, with his style of kissing (yes, kissing in porn! who knew?), and with reasonably paced thrusting, this man could be a success--all while being gay for pay without any of the commitment to the politics, lifestyle, or ridiculous cultural trends.
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| The ohhh's have it |
As a porn star in gay films, Mr. Suleiman would have an appreciative audience. We would want to admire his beautiful body, not see it hidden behind the shellacked carcass of a female porn star. He could take as many selfies as Twitter and Instagram could store, make as many movies as Catalina Video or Colt Studio could shift. And we, his devotees, would collect and trade his photos, download his movies for our collections, and discuss him rapturously in online forums. We would, in effect, eagerly consume him as a product with the utmost loyalty and pleasure. We might even pay for the privilege.
We would also listen to what Mr. Suleiman has to say. If he wants to talk about the savagery besetting Syria and desperation facing its refugees, we would pay unflinching attention--as long as he delivered the money shot on a regular basis. Telling his story of a down-and-out young man, who, faced with hardship and adversity, performs his way to the top--or as a top--would be an exceptional crowd-pleaser with both the romantic fools and the horndogs among us.
It would be like Showgirls with dicks!
Unlike women who have to fornicate with Ron Jeremy in straight porn, Mr. Suleiman would almost always be assured of having attractive, receptive co-stars. Say what you will about the tyranny of beauty and the body in gay life (and there's plenty that I can say about the topic, believe me), the actors in our porn look fantastic (if uniform) and deserve adulation for their gene pools for which they can claim no responsibility. Mr. Suleiman may not be intrinsically inclined to have sex with a man, but the required job duties will be made all the more easier by the aesthetic appeal of his partners faces and bodies. Mr. Suleiman can match them ripped muscle for ripped muscle, chiseled jaw for chiseled jaw, with the need to offer only a passing explanation that that he's not really gay but is, rather, inspired by looking at the well-developed physiques of other men and appreciative of the generosity of his fellow actors and the adoring attention of his fans.
Contrast the body of the professional gay porn actor with the overblown breasts and weathered, leathery skin of some female porn stars--because let's face it, a guy that can make do with a blow-up doll ain't watching straight porn for the beauty of the women--and once again it's another plus for the artistic aspirations of the Syrian porn actor.
As a result, gay porn would make Mr. Suleiman financially successful. I would wager that male performers are more than likely better paid in gay porn than in straight. And once Mr. Suleiman catches fire with his fanbase, it will offer him expansive career opportunities with sidelines in stage shows, solo videos, personal appearances, web cams, and sex toy endorsements.
Additionally, most gay porn, at least that made in California, requires the use of condoms, so Mr. Suleiman could stay healthy while simultaneously becoming wealthy, all with just a little more concerted effort on his part to separate his brain from his body and dive in head first into this lucrative career.
I would caution that a life in gay porn won't necessarily lead to a successful Hollywood career in mainstream film and television. I think it's difficult for actors in gay porn to break out of the San Fernando Valley sex industry ghetto. But Mr. Suleiman would be so financially successful, it might not matter. And if you want to foster an appreciation of the Syrian body living and not dying, making love and not war, then gay porn is your better choice of artistic veins.
Just one man's objective opinion. That's just the kind of humanitarian I am, a one-man Syrian refugee resettlement program for the beautiful, passionate, and porno-licious.
