On Forced Entry

by: Punchinello, Sep/17/03

John Bloom (a.k.a Joe Bob Briggs) has written an opinion piece on US Attorney General John Ashcroft's latest diversion from the war on terrorism: a criminal case against the makers of a pornographic rape film called, appropriately but unimaginatively, Forced Entry (don't get excited; judging by the rest of the site, it's probably terrible).

I found the piece "It may be dirty but is it legal?" very interesting, and I don't disagree with it. I consider myself a pretty normal guy, but one with a rich imagination and a passion for uninhibited story-telling. Among the stories I write for Pulp Erotica are rape and other taboo sex fantasies that would logically fall into the same category as Forced Entry, altho it reportedly includes elements of scat, urine, and other fetishes not generally explored on this site (or the pulps of the 30s and 40s).

Altho the article doesn't really pass judgment on the film, Bloom's piece suggests that most Americans would agree that Forced Entry is obscene because of its rape aspects.

I don't believe it. Violent sex fantasy entertainment has existed in various forms for a hundred years; it's just rarely been as explicit as mainstream porn.

The scat fetish is another matter. Bloom points out elsewhere that these "gross-out" fetish elements are what Ashcroft will rely on to shock the jury into returning a guilty verdict and shame the appellate courts into denying any appeal. This is key because rape porn has been around for years, but the gross-out elements make it an easier target for the label "obscene."

Pulp Erotica builds on the same tradition of schlock entertainment popular as pulp magazines of the 20s to 40s, exploitation novels of the 50s, men's adventure magazines of the 60s, true crime magazines of the 70s, and sex-and-horror films of the 80s. All of these frequently featured scantily-clad women in distress that ranged from shame and embarrassment to rape and torture to gory murder (check out the covers of Spicy Adventure, Weird Tales, and other pulps). And all of them were designed to feed the fantasies of men and women who fantasized about such things.

Forcing or being forced to experience pleasure (or at least sex) is a common fantasy for people of both sexes, studies (and Anne Rice novels) show. For the person doing the forcing, it is empowering to control another person so intimately. For the person being forced, it relieves him or her of responsibility for desiring sex and allows an excuse for being (temporarily) weak.

I don't mean to imply that this kind of thing is okay in real life. Forcible rape inflicts emotional damage that is profound and permanent. But that doesn't make the fantasy any less valid. Americans fantasize about a lot of things (and romanticize them in the movies) that are dangerous, illegal, and hurtful in real life, like jewel heists, vigilante justice, high-speed car chases, and casual sex.

In fact, I will suggest that even Lifetime TV movies about rape and incest victims are a kind of fantasy that provides its mostly female audience with the thrill of taboo sexual encounters and the emotional sympathy drain that women love so much. It's a terrible tragedy for the victim... and they wouldn't really want to be raped themselves... but it is kind of exciting. If you think differently, take a look at the Lifetime movie list. There aren't many stories about women conquering mountain peaks or earning equal pay with men. (And, damn it, why not? Isn't that inspirational too?)

Drawing a line between violent sex stories meant to educate or titillate and violent sex stories meant to arouse seems futile. I hope that John Ashcroft learns that he cannot foist his personal morality on the rest of America. He cannot tell Americans that we can fantasize about violence and we can fantasize about sex but we can't fantasize about them together. He should spend his time preventing violent crime directly, and not bothering innocent people who just enjoy a little danger in their fantasies.

Punch Editor-in-Chief

All Pulp Erotica Editorials:

On Forced Entry (Sep/17/03)

One Year and Counting (Oct/18/03)

Hitch's Cock (Dec/13/03)

Too Helpful (Feb/06/05)

Year Two in Review (Mar/01/05)

Punchinello's Inspiration (May/17/05)

Year Three: Holy Shit Time Flies (Jan/04/06)

Noir and Pulp (May/07/06)

Also check out How to Write Pulp Erotica.

30s Pulps fed the kink for rape and white slavery (note the hanging corpses).

50s Campus Town didn't deliver on its lurid cover. 60s men's mags loved Nazi sleaze.

Murder-rape mags were called "true crime." — Slasher flicks love naked chicks.