Let's talk about Porn Parody Films
Added 2015-01-24 18:54:46 +0000 UTCI'm often asked if it's legal or not to do Porn Parodies of Spidey comics.
Well, in fact, it is.
Parodies are protected as an original work and for being a form of freedom of speech acording to US Supreme Court rulings on what is Fair Use and what is a parody as principle.
Fair use was codified into U.S. law with the Copyright Act of 1978. It's basically a set of exemptions under the law where someone could infringe upon the copyrights of another, but not be held liable.
Without getting too deep into how fair use is determined, parody is one of the most protected forms of speech under the law. The reason is that parody is the act of making fun of an already existing work and both the law and the courts recognize that, in order to “conjure” up a previous work to lampoon it, you have to use a large amount of it.
In 2001, the United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, in Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin, upheld the right of Alice Randall to publish a parody of Gone with the Wind called The Wind Done Gone, which told the same story from the point of view of Scarlett O'Hara's slaves, who were glad to be rid of her.
But it wasn't until 2010, when italian porn Director Axel Braun released "Batman XXX: A Porn Parody", the best-selling and best-renting title of 2010, that the Golden Age of Porn Parodies begun.
His collaborations with Vivid on the Superhero theme spawned hundreds of other film adaptations and coined Porn Parody as a new category of porn productions.
I personally find the concept of making these parodies quite awesome, but the actual stories are just too naive, and underperformed.
Braun thinks differently. He really believes his films are as good as the comics themselves, and even edited non-xxx versions of them, allowing them comparable to the actual movie adaptations (X-Men XXX been the cream of the crop).
And what does that all really mean to my projects?
I'm not quite sure, but for the time being, it makes me feel enough confidence to keep on doing them.
While on topic, attached to this post (right below the picture) you'll find the file for 8-page comic book that came with Vivid's Spider-ManXXX parody.
This comic was made available for free by the artist himself, Matt*Core, on his site.
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Bottomline (tl:dr)
What is your opinion on Porn Parody Films?
Do you have a favorite one?
Is there anything worthy on any of them?
Can I learn something from them and employ it on my own projects?
Feel free to comment below.
Comments
It can work if you're going for a bit of a comical approach haha. Having well known symbols of each superhero/heroine is a very effective way of grounding someone's imagination to a previous memory/experience of that person. Essentially a good thing to do if you are focusing on the fact that they are in fact superheros.
Horizon
2015-01-27 07:06:26 +0000 UTCBatman vs Superman is scheduled to be out this March (although he is shooting it today) and Avengers 2 is supposed to be out in May (to coincide with the movie). In 2016 there will be Wonder Woman in March and Avengers vs X-Men in July (piggybacking on BvS and Apocalypse). Hopefully his Wicked films won't have such a ludicrous release schedule, and will have better effort. At least he will no longer has to shoot two at once.
Spooney Bard
2015-01-25 20:53:03 +0000 UTCIs there an estimate release date for his films with Superheroes this year? If I'm not mistaken, the last one was X-Men in June 14.
Tracy Scops
2015-01-25 20:00:51 +0000 UTCThere are actually more (the Hulk and 60's Batman films are non-canon) but yeah there are 17 definitely in continuity. It can be very confusing mind you, in Avengers Black Widow references Iron Man XXX (which Vivid released a year later). Spidey 2 is in no way a sequel to Spidey, thats Supes vs Spidey and the last scene of that film (with Harry Goblin) will continue in Avengers 2 or Avengers vs X-Men. Though Braun left in 2013, he finished up by giving them a Cap and Spidey 2, they have two movies to be released in 2016. To make it more extreme this week Braun is filming Batman vs Superman which will feature the return of his actors for Supes, Bats, Catwoman, and Joker but new actors for Wonder Woman (2), Supergirl (2), and Lex Luthor (3). Despite being filmed two years later it will come out one year sooner than Wonder Woman.
Spooney Bard
2015-01-25 16:44:03 +0000 UTCThe hardest part is to make THE choices: - Will THIS appeal most? - Am I the only one amused but this scene/line/joke/fetish? - Is this too/enough specific? - Is this too/enough general? There a lot of logical questions in each beat of the story, but in the end of the day, I try to follow my gut. I trust what I'm feeling and I go with it. I will have some misses. But they're directly related to the risks I allow myself to take. And I truly believe that if I don't risk myself, I'll not be able to improve myself. And to my defense: Actual comics are often not the most sound things at time either. ;)
Tracy Scops
2015-01-25 14:58:47 +0000 UTCI still have to check on that Doctor Who one. And I agree with you that what I love most about these parody films and my comics is the opportunity to see the actual sexlife of these characters, often hidden between panels or inked pitch black in noiresque panels.
Tracy Scops
2015-01-25 14:48:03 +0000 UTC17?? Really…? Are there these many? And I completely forgot about the Supes vs. Spidey crossover. That one has good pairings: - Spidey / Black Cat scene - Spidey / Jessica Drew scene - Supes / Super-Girl / MJ threesome scene Good stuff! =)
Tracy Scops
2015-01-25 14:42:30 +0000 UTCOne thing I find very important in superhero erotica fetish is the visual characterization. I always aim to have some of the costumes on them or, at least, have something on the environment that established the characters. Only as a last resort I rely on the dialogue for that effect. Even if it's very understandable from the narrative that they are who they are, I insist on keeping parts of the uniforms / gadgets / accessories, since I frequently use individual panels for promos, and they're not very useful without some recognizable features. And the hyper-sexualization is very tricky, indeed. To their defense, it's quite difficult to write sexy narrative for porn without getting into the "Oh you're so big / Deeper, Deeper, Deeper / Take it, bitch" commonplaces.
Tracy Scops
2015-01-25 14:36:04 +0000 UTCI've watched a parody or two so far and they really lack on anything but taking the clothes off faster than the flash racing a sneeze. Any dialogue is weak and awkward along with everything being hyper sexualized into the ridiculous. The attached comic wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. It's really nice how you ask for our opinions all the time like this is a giant chat room.
Horizon
2015-01-25 06:35:16 +0000 UTCHuge fan of these, and was saddened that Braun left Vivid when he did. At least 1.5 years later he is back doing what he does best, even if it's DC. The continuity of these movies is nuts, especially since he shot two at once and some still are yet to be released (Avengers vs X-men, Avengers 2, and Wonder Woman). But overall we have a 17 film series that has supreme continuity. Best movie: Supes vs Spidey. Worst: She-Hulk. Most bizarre: Avengers. In fact this movie had a massively different )and better) plot originally, but was reshot due to Vivid's demand that Thor resemble the MCU movie. Spider-woman and Thor's scene was cut (she has no scenes and nary a line) and replaced by new Thor and She-Hulk (whose solo movies were filmed much later). Also Iron Man stays utterly clandestine (he shot two scenes for his solo movie during this shoot).
Spooney Bard
2015-01-25 02:57:14 +0000 UTCYeah, that's why we need better porn actors, I'd like to see a porn acting who can stand up against an action movie from the last 10 years. It's unfortunate, they can always make and learn from someone like you. You may doubt yourself, but you do make enjoyable stories that yeah may not be the most sound things at times, but they are better and actually connects well compared to those parodies. Yeah it's filled with fetishes that ain't for everyone but solid. Also accuracy is what some people come to you for(in multiple ways). You have all right to be happy with your content, im happy and from your subs/patrons a lot of people are happy. There will always be things we wish to change, just try to double or triple check that kind of stuff.
That black guy
2015-01-25 02:42:26 +0000 UTCI haven't seen as many as I'd like to. Not complete ones, anyway. Assorted clips have ended up on various streaming sites, and I do appreciate the more modern parodies that at least attempt to accurately recreate the feel, if not the quality, of the source material. The only ones I've seen in their entirety have been the '60s Batman one and the Brazzers Doctor Who one. Both were done quite well, and I love that Brazzers even got the star of an old Who porn parody to reprise his role and regenerate into their version of the character. That and the division of the parody into individual episodes was such a nice touch for fans of the original show and went a long way towards recreating the ambience of the source material. Come to think of it, they even beat the original show to a sex change for one of the main villains, something that only occurred during the most recent season of the real show. Ultimately, I think parodies are neat and provide a glimpse at the naughty side of characters and fictional worlds we all love. I kind of want to collect all of them eventually, even the bad ones and/or ones for shows I don't even watch. I won't, but I want to.
Krimson Kodai
2015-01-25 02:13:45 +0000 UTC1. For me the writing is the worst part. I don't think porn actors can really perform dramatically much better than that. But I would love to be proved wrong. 2. I've seen all the Vivid ones, a few of the Wicked and a bunch of independent ones (all for research, of course). Almost all of them are really shameful. And not the good kind of shameful. 3. Axel really stands above the rest. But since the rest is so bad, he still stands pretty low for my tastes. He should get a good (real) writer and focus on Directing. Professionally competent writers exist. Even in porn. 4. SS#1 was pretty much all over the place with all kinds of fetishes, plot devices, characters and ideas smashed into one story. But if there's one thing that I consider really consistent is how the characters are accurate. Biased as it is, my opinion is that I'm highly proud of 95% of what's in my comics. 4% could be better. 1% is what I wish I could change if hundreds of people hadn't read it already.
Tracy Scops
2015-01-25 00:38:18 +0000 UTCIt would be nice to know of your review if you ever get to check any of the Spidey ones or the lastest X-Men one. My personal opinion is that the first Spidey is the less bad of the three.
Tracy Scops
2015-01-25 00:28:37 +0000 UTCHAHAHA I felt the same thing. Parker luck is ubiquitous.
Tracy Scops
2015-01-25 00:26:36 +0000 UTCI remember the first one made me mad because flash had a three way with Gwen and MJ and peter didn't. LOL. Even in parodies I can't but fan-girl over pete.
Regless Maximus
2015-01-25 00:17:00 +0000 UTC1. They need to be overall better (better production quality, writing especially set ups as to why x would fuck y character and acting) 2. Nope the few i watched have been enough to make me not wanna go further. 3. The fact they try to be accurate in the Axel films 4.no sexual symbiosis #1 imo was a better version of what what they do in terms of accurately representing an overarching storyline while filling it with reasons to have these characters go at it. At least imo.
That black guy
2015-01-24 19:31:46 +0000 UTCI've never actually seen any of them in full. But I am intrigued, especially if they claim to have - yannow - actually interesting stories. The one for Bob's Burgers is the only one I've seen non porn bits for, and I have to admit, that was at least amusing in places. That said, I think the group that made the Bob's Burgers porn was indie, rather than Vivid, and so might have put more effort into it.
GregD
2015-01-24 19:15:53 +0000 UTC
