Porn

[Kapitano]

Pornography, from the Greek meaning "Writing about prostitutes". Pornos - Prostitute, Graphia - Writing.

It's a word spoken only by those who don't use the stuff - indeed, by those who don't want anyone to use it. "Police broke a pornography ring", "Pornography = Rape", "Save our children from pornography".

Have you ever heard anyone say "I love pornography" or "I'm going to watch some pornography tonight"?

No. Real people don't have pornography. They have porn, which is completely different.

Ten years.

Ten years of being there for each other, of talking and listening to each other, of hurting each other's feelings and making it better.

And now you tell me it's all over. And why? Because you think you might have found someone else.

So what if we haven't had sex in four years, or kissed in two, or hugged in one? Yes I've been keeping track. You know why? Because I care, that's why. Because I care about you. About us. But now you're saying there is no more us.

As if you haven't spent the night in dozens of other beds before coming home to ours. As though I haven't done the same. We've both been to saunas and cottages and parks, and afterwards we compared notes. In our home.

We're supposed to be friends, goddamnit. And now you say you think it'd be best if we didn't see each other any more?! What is this?!

Porn is text or images designed with one purpose only - to assist masturbation. A lot of people get it confused with erotica, and sometimes to be fair there is an overlap.

Erotica give you a little rush of sexuality, in the broad sense of the term. It gives your hormones a pleasant jolt without requiring you to follow things to conclusion. It suggests the enjoyment of another's body without pushing you towards penetration or orgasm.

Erotica is sexually sensual, not just sexual. Maybe that's why some erotica is great art, but no porn is.

Porn doesn't get you in the mood for sex, though erotica can. Porn is what you use once you're already in the mood for sex with yourself. Porn is just boring if you're not already a little aroused.

So who is he, this other man you'd rather be with than me? Does he even exist, or is he just an excuse to leave me? Is that what you really want, to be alone? I could understand that; You don't have to lie.

Ten years of our lives. And what have you left me with? A box of the letters we wrote when we were apart, a headful of memories, and a stack of your mucky DVDs. Half of them with your name in the credits.

There you are, freshfaced and eighteen, getting off with two strangers in a barn. There you are again with a different haircut, making exactly the same noises with someone else.

Aroused. Now there's a word. It can mean "awake", or "angry", or "with an erection".

When we arouse the wrath of the gods we provoke nemesis by committing hubris. More Greek words.

Psychologists talk about "arousal" to mean something like alertness. They're probably the only people who say "Are you aroused?" to mean "Are you paying attention?"

But when you wake from sleep - when you're "roused" - why don't we say you're "aroused"? Especially because when you wake up, first thing in the morning, you're probably...aroused.

I was reading one of your letters, from when you were setting up photoshoots in Europe.

Your descriptions and photographs of the churches and caves - they made me want to be there, so we could explore them together.

I always liked going places with you. Do you remember the time the truck broke down a hundred miles from anywhere, you built a fire, and we slept under the stars, huddled together for warmth?

Masturbation is another word used by people who don't want you to do it. No one says to themselves "I think I will masturbate tonight" - they say "I'm gonna have a wank".

You can imagine religious nutjobs holding placards reading "Masturbation is evil!" - but not "End wanking now!".

Pornography - Porn. Masturbation - Wanking.

Do you remember how we met? The final scene of one of your films is of an orgy - you and twenty youngsters who look just like you in a forest.

If you look closely, in the background, one of them is me.

[Trab]

[Caylor]

Very, very, very.......touching - painful - empathetic - intense

[Camy]

Hey, Kapitano!

Props for a beautifully observed piece.

I especially liked:

...a stack of your mucky DVDs. Half of them with your name in the credits.

Camy

[Tanuki Racoon]

::applause::

[colinian]

This shoud be posted on AD's story page so others can read it.

Colin

[DesDownunder]

Kapitano, that is almost a theatre piece. Certainly it be could a performance piece with images on a screen behind the performer/s.

Yes it could be for more than one person, posing, dancing, speaking. A score of sounds and songs in the background and you are looking at a half an hour of stimulating (not porn) entertainment.

A few workshops by a theatre group could see it become a longer piece of great interest.

There is much here that would inspire further exploration.

I have seen shorter pieces with not nearly so much potential or talented writing become plays.

So much to consider. Congratulations. I agree it should be shared by a wider audience just as it is.

[R.J.]

Everything I wanted to say has already been said.

Rad

[Kapitano]

Oh wow. Looks like I'm appreciated . I might have to get an editor.

I shall submit it to the story page. And then spend a week reading what everyone else has put there.

Thanks people.