According to some unconfirmed surveys, over 37% of the internet is porn, While the number can be disputed, the exact value won’t be that far removed from it. While most of today’s porn is consumed through websites which aren’t a part of mainstream media, that wasn’t always the case. There was a time when pornographic movies were shown in movie theaters. They had decent budgets, storylines and production values. The amount of money they would generate considering their budget was so good that more and more producers started getting involved in it. The movies started getting more intricate plots, well designed promotional posters and featured decent acting (at least by porn standards). That 15 period of time between 1969 and 1984 became known as th “Golden Age of Porn”. During this time peeriod, American pornography became very commercially successfully, started getting global exposure and even received positive acclaim from critics and fans. The phenomenon was kicked off by the release of Andy Warhol’s seminal Blue Movie in 1969. A year later, Biss Osco’s Mona gave the movement another shot in the arm. These two led to the release of porn classics such as the Linda Lovelace starrer Deep Throat, the Marilyn Chambers starrer Behind The Green Door, the Georgina Spelvin starring The Devil in Miss Jones and The Opening of Misty Beethoven featuring Constance Money. Speaking in an interview, Andy Warhol disclosed that Blue Movie was a big influence on his influential erotic superhit starring Marlon Brando, Last Tango in Paris. Porn was so prevalent in the mainstream during the Golden Age of Porn that Deep Throat was mentioned on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. The movie went on to achieve a lot of commercial success. Released a year later, The Devil in Miss Jones became the seventh most successful movie of the year. It even received a favourable critical review from noted critic Roger Ebert. As porn started being publicly discussed by celebrities, and taken seriously by critics, The New York Times’ Ralph Blumenthal came up with the term “porno chic”. It became obvious that box-office returns of very low-budget adult erotic films could fund further advances in the technical and production values of porn. This made it seem like that porn movies might start competing against Hollywood movies to an extent. However, naysayers also believed that such a boost in the popularity and success of porn movies might lead to porn movies having a direct influence on Hollywood movies as well. Before the “Golden Age of Porn”, participating in the creation, distribution, or consumption of obscene films constituted criminal action according to numerous American state and municipal anti-obscenity laws and ordinances. Multi-jurisdictional interpretations of obscenity made such films susceptible to prosecution and criminal liability for obscenity. This played a huge role in restricting the commercial viability of porn movies. However, they were still made because they carried very low budgets, and ended up being profitable regardless. The landmark US Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Miller v. California, narrowed and simplified the definition of obscenity. This resulted in a stark decrease in the number of prosecutions. This led to an increased degree of creative freedom, higher budgets and salaries. Porn movies also started having a more “Hollywood mindset” during this time and it showed. The “Golden Age of Porn” looked like it was set to last forever. However, that was not to be the case. As the 80s started, more and more American households started getting video cassette players in their houses. This allowed people to view porn in the privacy of their house, something which most patrons preferred anyway. As video tapes became the preferred medium of porn distribution, theatres eventually stopped running shows with porn movies. As a result of that, porn videos reverted to their pre-Golden Age low budget style with highly gratuitous shots. Once the internet arrived in the 90s, the prospect of any Golden Age revival was buried for good as porn eventually made a complete transition to the web and that’s how most people consume it today. However, the 15 year “Golden Age of Porn” will always be something exciting and intriguing to look back to, and that’s exactly what we are doing here. Let’s find out more. Continue reading to know more about The Golden Age of Porn