Inside Deep Throat Page #4

to corrupt the minds

of children,

then the time has come

for new moral leadership

to make itself felt

in America.

[crowd applauding]

(Hopper)

Before Deep Throat

was even shot,

politics and pornography

were on a collision course.

In 1968,

the government launched

a scientific commission

to determine if pornography

really was harmful.

# Jungle Boogie #

# Jungle Boogie,

Get it on #

[machine beeping]

[moaning]

# Get it on ##

(Howard Smith)

Well, today, the final results

were published.

The presidential commission

recommended doing away

with most of the laws

that cover pornography,

because they don't

seem to be doing much good,

and because pornography

doesn't seem to do much harm

to the adult mind.

(Georgina Spelvin)

For one brief shining moment,

it did look like

society was going to become

a little more adult

about their sexuality.

(Hopper)

But committee member

Charles Keating,

appointed by President Nixon,

fought to dismiss

the findings.

Obscenity does indeed effect.

The effect it has

is detrimental to society.

Charles Keating was

a notorious censorship bug.

Later on, of course,

we discovered he was

a good deal more.

He was a swindler

and went to prison.

The president said today,

"So long as I am

in the White House,

"there will be no relaxation

of the national effort

to control

and eliminate smut. "

(Hopper)

Then Nixon persuaded

the Senate

to reject the report,

suppressing its findings.

Everybody forgot about

the President's commission

on pornography,

because they--they

didn't come out

with the answer

they were looking for.

Instead, Nixon got reelected,

after being declared

politically dead,

and the forces of repression

came in,

in a huge, huge way.

(Gore Vidal)

He knew all the buttons

to press.

Sodomy...

[crowd clamoring]

[exclaiming]

I mean, everybody starts

to vibrate like a gong.

We lie about human sexuality,

because we're taught

to lie about everything.

When you have a nation

that totally lies,

then you have

no reality.

(Hopper)

The message was clear;

Cleaning up porn

was good politics.

And what better place to start

than Times Square,

the nation's capital of sleaze

and the site

of Deep Throat's premiere

in June 1972.

(Judge Tyler)

A good many

of the so-called perverts

are attracted to 42nd Street

and we've had complaints.

# Superfly ##

[siren blaring]

(Goldstein)

Suddenly, I see a movie

that knocks my socks off.

And here's

the wonderful thing:

This film, Deep Throat,

is funny.

And Linda's a wonderful,

wonderful cocksucker.

God, I wish my wives

could suck dick like that.

And I give it 100 points

on the Peter-Meter.

"Peter" means

how many hard-ons do I get.

Now it would take

to get me hard,

but then I'm virile and young

and I get many hard-ons.

New Yorkers greet it

with the same

enthusiasm as I did.

It was a joy.

As we say in lsrael,

it was a mitzvah.

I have the privilege

of announcing

the formation of

the Times Square

Development Council.

(Hopper)

Deep Throat

was the perfect target

for New York's campaign

to clean up porn

and the police moved in.

[projector whirring]

(John Gorman)

I first became aware

of Deep Throat

when it was, uh,

it was advertised

in the papers.

It was the talk of the office,

you know, "Look at this."

(Waters)

Being in the industry,

so to speak,

we all ran out to see it.

It was stunning.

The cinematography,

for a porno movie,

was very good.

The movie was funny.

It had the kind of lines

in it, uh, that were amusing.

Mind if I smoke

while you're eating?

No, not at all.

It was definitely

a change of pace,

definitely

a change of pace.

We knew that this was, uh,

this was something different.

# Love, love is strange ##

(Hefner)

I think they picked

on Deep Throat

because it was

the highest profile.

If they could, uh,

successfully prosecute

Deep Throat,

uh, then they felt that

the other prosecutions

would be easier.

(Hopper)

Not once, not twice,

but three times

the police raided Deep Throat,

staging their final raid

for the cameras.

[people chattering]

(Herb Kassner)

This was political.

If nobody records the arrest,

then nobody will know

that they are doing their job

in fighting sin.

Do you--you consider

what you're running

pornographic, sir?

If it was pornographic,

they could prosecute

in a diligent, proper manner.

They wouldn't have to

come around in hoards of 50

and take signs

out of windows

and act like

the Gestapo of old.

This theater that had not done

$5,000 a week in 20 years,

was running

virtually 20 hours a day.

It never stopped running.

The owners really couldn't

afford to shut it down.

They didn't want

to shut it down.

And so, uh, there--there was

going to be a trial.

[gavel pounding]

(Hopper)

Deep Throat's defense

produced expert witnesses

to argue that the film was

more enlightening

than merely obscene.

[witness speaking]

(Hopper)

But the prosecution countered

that this sexual satisfaction

was dangerous to women

because Deep Throat emphasized

the wrong kind of orgasm;

the clitoral orgasm.

(William Purcell)

I remember that the judge

hadn't heard the term.

And, uh,

so he expressed surprise

and asked the question,

"What's that?"

(doctor)

Here, just outside and above

the vaginal opening

[echoing]

is the clitoris.

[prosecution speaking]

[doctor's voice echoing]

The clitoris.

He should have been

sitting in my classes

because he would have

heard me say loud and clear

that let's get away

from that idea,

which still

some people have,

that, uh,

a vaginal orgasm

is, um, more satisfying

for a woman

than a clitoral orgasm.

No such thing.

(Helen Brown)

At that time, a real orgasm

could only happen

if you were with a man

and his penis

was inside of you

and that was total,

utter nonsense, of course.

Sex is not only for penises.

Uh, sex is something

for women.

[doctor's voice echoing]

The clitoris.

(doctor)

This tiny organ,

about the size and shape

of a garden pea,

is the seat

of sexuality in women.

I think the judge

learned a lot during the trial

as l... Look,

l--I certainly did myself.

(Hopper)

As the judge retired

to consider his verdict,

ticket sales almost doubled,

prompting a young reporter

from the New York Times

to write an article

that would give the film

mainstream legitimacy.

(Ralph Blumenthal)

I remember

writing the article.

Uh, the--the headline

was "Porno chic. "

[chuckling]

I wrote it on a typewriter.

People look

at the Times as a validator.

And they see,

if--if the Times can

write about Deep Throat,

well, then it must be safe

in some way.

(Hopper)

The week the article

hit the stands,

the film's box office soared

as people rushed

to see the film

in record numbers.

(male reporter)

Approximately how many people

have seen Deep Throat?

Approximately

have been in to see the film.

(reporter)

Are you looking forward

to this movie?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes