Inside Deep Throat

##[Crime Of The Century

by Supertramp playing]

# Now they're planning

the crime of the century #

# Well what will it be? #

# Read all about their schemes

and adventuring #

# It's well worth a fee ##

We are living

in a glorious time,

a time of great conflict

to be sure.

(male newsreader 1)

Today, a nationwide crackdown

was underway...

(male newsreader 2)

...eight men were arrested

from...

(male newsreader 3)

...hardcore

pornographic pictures.

(Gerard Damiano)

On one side of the coin

are those in favor

of absolutely no censorship.

[crowd clamoring]

On the other hand,

there are those who advocate

the government dictating to us

what we should see,

read, and hear.

(newsreader 1)

... they say it all started

with the sex film Deep Throat.

##[Spill the Wine

by Eric Burdon & WAR playing]

(Waters)

I saw Deep Throat in New York

when it first came out.

(Larry Flynt)

People were lined up

for at least three blocks.

# I was once out strolling

one very hot summer's day #

Oh, yeah, there was

a screening in some

psychoanalyst's apartment

and everybody

watched and smoked dope.

Oh, yeah.

# I dreamed I was

in a Hollywood movie #

# That I was the star

of the movie #

# This really blew my mind #

(Dr. Westheimer)

I thought, "Fantastic.

"This is going to change

the climate

"of talking about

issues of sexuality

in these United States."

# Spill the wine

and take that pearl ##

(Dick Cavett)

I'm one of the handful

of people who never saw it.

I didn't intend to not see it.

[clattering]

Perhaps you could

arrange for me to see it.

Now.

[machine humming]

[projector whirring]

(Camille Paglia)

Deep Throat was

an epochal moment

in the history

of modern sexuality.

It is the first time

that respectable

middle-class women

went to porn theaters.

It really broke down,

uh, traditional codes

of--of decorum.

(Hugh Hefner)

Linda Lovelace,

and conversations,

and jokes about Deep Throat,

appeared

on network television.

If the film

became mainstream,

conversation about it

became truly mainstream.

It's kind of

a strange country, isn't it?

Judges can see Deep Throat,

but they can't listen

to those tapes.

[audience laughing]

(Hefner)

I think the major thing

that set, uh,

Deep Throat apart was,

it had a gimmick.

Ah! Ah--ah!

Well, there it is,

you little bugger,

there it is.

What?

Your clitoris, it's deep down

in the bottom of your throat.

[crying]

The clitoris

hidden in the throat

was something

you could talk about

and laugh about.

It's better than having

no clitoris at all.

[sobbing]

That's easy

for you to say.

Suppose your balls

were in your ear.

(Bill Maher)

I was 19 when I saw it.

I don't think I had found

where the clitoris really was.

So I think the idea

that it was misplaced

on the human body

was lost on me.

I--I was looking for

the original site.

It was a giggle.

And the worst thing

to be said about us,

as Americans,

is that we'll sell

our souls for a giggle.

Listen, uh, we have

the problem solved.

All we have to do now

is find the solution.

[sobbing]

Like what?

Like deep throat.

Deep what?

Throat.

Have you ever taken

a penis all the way down

to the bottom

of your throat?

It was a badge of

the new freedom.

[projector whirring]

Have you been

to the experience

of paying to go

in a porno theater

[woman moaning]

and see a woman

give a blowj*b

in a movie theater

in your community?

That was very, very new.

Something that's hard

for people today to imagine,

how liberating that was.

Or--or terrible, depending on

what you believe in.

It's a floodtide of

filth that's engulfed

the minds and

hearts and souls

of America like

nothing else ever has.

We have smut all over the face

of this country now

because we are letting

those immoral people

have their way

in our country.

Deep Throat succeeded

commercially at least in part

because the government

went after it.

The government became

the driving force

behind the public relations.

(old lady)

I just saw it and I liked it.

I liked it. I wanted to see

a dirty picture

and that's what I saw.

But I want the right

to see that picture.

I don't want somebody

telling me that I can't

see a dirty picture.

Deep Throat attacks

the very core of our being.

(Linda Lovelace)

Every time someone

watches that movie,

they're watching me

being raped.

Do I belong in jail

for five years

for acting in Deep Throat?

Deep Throat now

has had a phenomenal success

going on

for two-and-a-half years,

and it's only

because it's being hassled.

(female reporter)

Do you think

it's a good movie?

No, I don't think

it's a good movie.

I'm takin' a walk,

Mrs. Brown.

I am doing fine, dear,

thank you.

[birds chirping]

##[Brand New Key

by Melanie playing]

# I rode my bicycle

past your window last night #

# I roller-skated

to your door at daylight #

# It almost seems

like you're avoiding me #

These are some pictures

or posters from some

of the films I've done.

# Well, I got a brand new pair

of roller-skates #

# You got a brand new key #

Aren't they kind of cute?

# I think that we should

get together #

A picture of Gerard, my son,

when he was a lot younger,

and my daughter

when she was younger.

# You got something for me #

(Dennis Hopper)

Long before Deep Throat,

Damiano was a family man.

He and his wife

ran a beauty salon

in Queens, New York.

# Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah ##

(Damiano)

I enjoyed being a hairdresser

because I always

could relate to women.

After you got to know

the woman,

especially when you

worked on them weekly,

you start to get into history

about "we went to the movies"

and "he did this and I did..."

And realize that most--

most of the women

were very unhappy

in their relationship

with the person that

they were married to

and supposedly

in love with.

After 40 years of marriage,

you know, you can get

tired of the good old

in and out.

You--you got to be intimate.

It was almost like a priest.

I mean, l--I don't wanna say

I was a priest,

but it was almost like--

it was almost like

a confessor.

(Hopper)

The confessions Damiano heard

in his salon,

made him realize he

was on the frontlines

of a sexual revolution.

(Hefner)

We grew up in a time

in which sex itself

was largely taboo.

When I was a kid,

young people didn't even know

where babies came from.

(Cavett)

I'd love to know.

If I watch

the rest of this program,

will I know the answer?

Gore Vidal would be very good

on the subject.

You must take into account

how ignorant people are.

Particularly our countrymen,

who have never taken

a course in biology,

never read a book.

Do you know anything

about the facts of life?

Not very much,

I'm afraid.

(Hopper)

The facts of life

and sexual morality in general

were forbidden topics.

But as all that changed,

issues about sexuality

began to divide society.

(old man)

Artificial contraception

is wrong.

Evil.

(Norman Mailer)

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