FOURPLAY: Art house porn?

A great article from the recent issue (Spring 2009) of JUMP CUT:

"Real Sex: the aesthetics and economics of art-house porn" by Jon Lewis

I think it does an amazing job laying out the history of films that investigate sexuality and their marginalization by "mainstream" media. Also, reveals yet again the hypocrisy of the MPAA ratings board that lets "anything go" w/ torture porn movies like the psychotic SAW franchise, but is scared shitless of frank, adult films that deal with the very social, and frankly "normal", contours of our lives as sexual human beings.

This is what we are up against, folks. If you make a film dealing with a variety of dramatic/comedic situations that just happen to pivot around sex, will it only be relegated to the "art" ghetto (and the bottom of that ghetto)? Or is there a place, perhaps on-line, where these shorts can find a wider, broader audience that partakes in massive amounts of pornography every day, but sees very little "art" that deals w/ the interior, emotional lives of those engaging in sex acts? Also, since most "art-house porn" strives for hyper-realism (see, they are really doing it!), what will viewers make of our very Romantic, surreal, comedic dramas that strive to break your heart, not bust your nutt (or bust your balls as is the case w/Euro-nihilists like Lars von Trier)? We'll see.

- Kyle