I'm A Porn Star

"I'm a Porn Star" is a scintillating documentary that profiles the lives of four porn stars. Director Charlie David ("Dante's Cove" "Judas Kiss") doesn't shy from hot button topics like HIV, gay-for-pay acting, and condom use. He also lends his own sexy voice to a brief history of gay porn that begins the feature.

Brent Everett, Johnny Rapid, Rocco Reed and Colby Jansen all weigh in on the world of porn and how it has affected their lives. The documentary does "go there," and profiles some touchy and controversial topics like barebacking, escorting, and how HIV can factor into the lives of porn actors. However, the majority of the actors profiled are straight or straight-adjacent. It seems to offer a pretty singular view and doesn't touch on the internalized homophobia that results from gay men purchasing porn featuring mostly straight men.

Brent Everett gives the best and most honest profile. He discusses his early introduction into porn, his fame from webcam sites and how HIV affects his plans for the future. He also is one of the only fully-gay actors in the film. He is married, out to his parents as a porn star, and has planned for retirement. It's inspiring to see that there is someone not being eaten alive by the industry.

The film does take a very pro-porn, sex-positive view of the business. It does also seem slightly biased towards the number of straight men in the industry. There's an interview with a director, Ryan R, about the industry and how he makes gay porn as a straight man. It's ironic that the film would be so forthcoming and direct in questioning but never once discusses the role that porn has in the gay community. How does it warp expectations of what is attainable sexually if most of the models of sex in porn are (mostly) heterosexual men?

Despite some shortcomings, the film offers a sex-positive perspective. The actors may be mostly straight -- but hey, talk about the fluidity of their sex. Reed started in straight porn and transitioned to gay porn for some financial freedom and a better work/life balance. Jansen met his transgendered wife through porn and doesn't discuss the sex he has on film as laborious or counter to his sexuality.

Porn fans will enjoy the behind-the-scenes moments, and the real talk about the business. Porn is a job, and the film does offer a balanced view about how that work affects its employees. Ideally, it would get a balanced perspective about the gay community in gay porn but what can you do? It's well shot, sexy and more upbeat than some porn profiles, but it doesn't shy away from telling the truth. It's definitely worth checking out if you're a huge porn fan... or a fan of huge porn.

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