When is a condom not a condom? Or, more to the point, what is the real definition of “safe sex” in porn and in modern life?
Falcon Studios, the gay porn outfit that has rigidly adhered to a condom policy since the late 1980s, is now parsing that approach in the most interesting way.
For the studio’s newest release, California Dreamin’, it is using the magic of post-production technology to digitally erase condoms from the actors (a technology first undertaken by Raging Stallion studios more than six years ago, to lesser fanfare).The result of Falcon’s sly handiwork is quite the marvel—and utterly convincing to even the most attentive viewer.
This high-tech act of presto-chango is reviving questions about the definition of safer sex—and the high financial stakes of porn production in an increasingly bareback marketplace.
Presumably, California Dreamin’ will begin with Falcon’s usual disclaimer about the importance of safer sex (and perhaps even state that the actors used condoms on set), but greasy remotes everywhere will likely fast forward right past it. And whatever the qualifiers, consumer preference for bareback porn is now as inarguable as the continued popularity of Falcon’s own catalog of vintage, non-condom films. With the studio’s latest film, Falcon is having its condoms and erasing them too.
Tony Dimarco, director of the new Falcon film, blithely celebrated the “classic, pre-condom Falcon poolside movies” in a statement. “With this movie I really wanted to capture the essence of that time, when life seemed more carefree and spontaneous,” he said.
The irony of Falcon Studios trying to recreate a time before condoms wasn’t lost on at least one bareback porn director. Max Sohl, director of the Citizen Kane of contemporary bareback porn, Dawson’s 20 Load Weekend, was skeptical about the visceral impact of Falcon’s new film. “One of the many reasons Treasure Island Media became popular is because what we do is real,” Sohl said. Also missing from California Dreamin’ will be the voluminous semen injections during anal sex, a money shot that has become the signature of bareback porn. “We don’t fake anything,” Sohl added.
Many HIV advocates have reacted with mild bemusement to the new technology, largely because condom usage no longer, by itself, suggests what other prevention strategies might be at work. With methods like Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), regular HIV testing and the fact that those with HIV on successful treatment are extremely unlikely to transmit the virus, “protected” sex no longer begins and ends with the use of condoms.
“Falcon is doing a little digital magic, and I have to admire them for their commitment to the safety of their performers,” said Jim Pickett, Director of Prevention Advocacy and Gay Men’s Health for AIDS Foundation Chicago. “Of course, Photoshop doesn’t work in the real world. So if your desire to watch sex without condoms mirrors your behavior, you can still significantly reduce your HIV risk with a number of non-condom, non-magic options.” Pickett is a staunch advocate of new strategies such as PrEP, as well as the development of rectal microbicides, a new type of lubes and douches that would kill HIV on contact.
A large coalition of HIV prevention advocates are now pressing the Centers for Disease Control to broaden their definition of “protected” sexual activity, which is currently defined as insertive or receptive anal sex with a condom. New CDC data that shows an increase of unprotected sex among LGBT individuals, advocates say, doesn’t take into account other prevention strategies being utilized.
New prevention methods such as PrEP and the value of HIV treatment success are, in practice, as invisible as the condoms in California Dreamin’. So, whether you are a gay man negotiating sex in your bedroom or a porn actor on film, what is important is not necessarily what you see—it’s what you don’t.
Mark S. King is a longtime HIV advocate living with HIV who produces the blog My Fabulous Disease.