IS THIS THE MOST IMPORTANT GAY PORN FILM EVER MADE?
The Huffington Post is claiming that Treasure Island’s Dawson’s 20 Load Weekend is the most important porn film ever made. Which might be stretching things … a bit.
HIV-positive guest blogger Mark S. King claims that Dawson revolutionized the porn industry:
This was not a film that was made in the absence of HIV but was created because of HIV. You can practically hear a disembodied voice whispering, “Watch closely. This is how gay men have sex now. That is where semen belongs. Fuck AIDS.”
Depending on your point of view, it is either a transgressive act of eroticism or an incredibly irresponsible act that demonstrates how to become infected with HIV. Or perhaps both. […]
Um. I can’t quite ever remember thinking “that is where semen belongs” and never quite bought Paul Morris’ claim that HIV-negativity was “the new virginity,” something to be dispensed with as quickly as possible. Liberating for positive men, certainly. But as with everything in porn, the power it has is relative. Less a revolution, maybe, than an insurrection. Like Morris, King can’t quite contain his glee at the thought of the rest of the world joining the club.
What [newly out] young men will almost certainly see online are depictions of unprotected sex, because bareback videos now outperform scenes of condom usage on every site that carries them — and most of them now do. It is unquestionable that bareback sex will be viewed as typical to the uninitiated, and anyone crafting safer-sex messages to those young men is going to have a difficult time trumping those images. The use-a-condom-every-time message is officially dead, drowned in buckets of bodily fluids by Dawson and his barebacking brethren.
Dawson’s 20 Load Weekend redefined bareback porn and the men who appear in such porn. It influenced subsequent videos and expanded the availability of bareback films. It depicted a prevailing truth about gay sexual behavior “post-AIDS” and arguably encouraged risky sexual adventure-seeking. It led to the saturation of bareback porn online, making unprotected sex normative to whomever might be watching. To dismiss this film, to minimize its social and cultural impact, would be to demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of gay sexuality today.
Significant? Sure. But it’s as hyperbolic an argument as any other else in this industry, fond as it is of best and most and biggest and anything other word that can take an exclamation point (or twenty). Gay porn has always had an outsized effect on gay men, though mostly in the days when porn was the only place you could actually see yourself. So is HIV conversion more significant than the legitimization of sexuality that came with Boys in the Sand or the liberation that came with LA Plays Itself or the Joe Gage movies. The Other Side of Aspen and Boys of Venice fueled the VHS boom; Style, a generation of shaving. Or Chi Chi’s More of A Man, which brought condoms INTO porn? Bel Ami’s Lukas Story set off a gold rush in Eastern Europe; Arabesque, the return of body hair. Or Corbin Fischer, Randy Blue and the one-time amateur studios that up-ended the studio system. Let’s all calm down a little.
And I don’t mean to be an latex umbrella that stops his cum-parade, but I’d say it’s less than half as important as Dawson’s 50 Load Weekend, no?
The Most Important Gay Porn Film Ever Made? (Huffington Post)
Dawson’s 20 Load Weekend (via NakedSword)
— Mike
Tags: Bareback porn
Tom July 12th, 2012 at 3:18 PM
Absolutely vile man lauding an absolutely vile studio. Fine, you have HIV, but don’t act like that’s a good thing or something that people should ASPIRE to contract; that kind of attitude will make me and others stigmatise you even more, as you consider sharing your disease to be a natural state of affairs that should be encouraged (what the actual fuck?). These people are seriously warped.
The overwhelming majority of studios who are sane enough to realise disease = bad, note their models have been tested stringently, unlike TIM, which plays into and possibly even films actual disease transmission. Scum.
Michael July 12th, 2012 at 4:06 PM
Whilst I don’t agree with the nasty condemnation of the first comment, I agree with his comments. The reality is if there was no HIV many of us would be taking loads and yes though there are valid arguments about sperm yes it does belong inside me. Orgies are great. But again it is about choice. These films exist we don’t like them but it is up to us to abstain or use condoms.
John July 13th, 2012 at 12:52 AM
I am sorry guys. I’ve got to express my truth.I was never excited by any porn movie as I am with Tim’s bareback movies. Especially when Dawson is a part of them. I wish I had this kind of sex, but I know I’ll never have. Plainly. I want my man to shove his bare dick in my ass, fuck me and cum all of his load into my hole. And that’s it, Even if I don’t know my man’s name, I want his load inside my ass.
Rich July 13th, 2012 at 3:49 AM
The Huff Post is the worst. They get everything worng most of the time. It ranks with the National Enquirer as to worth.
jay July 13th, 2012 at 5:04 AM
i mean, if you don’t like them.. don’t watch them?
Derek July 13th, 2012 at 11:07 AM
I think this video may be viewed later on as a changing point whereby gay men, who are aware the HIV medicines can now negate the need for a condom, begin to quit using them. Unfortunately, younger generations will see this video and think everything is fine, but what they don’t see is the long-term effects of HIV medication. Also, where is Dawson now? He hasn’t released a film in several years. Is he still alive?
Tony July 14th, 2012 at 1:26 PM
I think you are giving this video WAY too much credit!!! The real cause of the rise in unprotected sex is the fact that young gay men today are far removed from the first wave of the AIDS epidemic from the early 1980’s. Getting HIV today does not SEEM to be such a bad thing. The new drugs keep infected men living longer and LOOKING healthier. Young gay men today had better wake up and realize that these drugs may not always work, and the long term effects of taking these drugs is a death sentence itself!!
John July 14th, 2012 at 4:35 PM
I agree with Tony. I grew up during the 80’s, when AIDS and HIV were new, and everyone was terrified of it. We all saw the devestating effects this disease had on the infected as well as thier loved ones. Thankfully, the condition is more managable with drugs, and many can live long and relatively healthy lives, but not everyone. It’s because of this that the younger generation thinks HIV is no big deal. They think it’s just as managable as diabetes or high blood pressure, but they couldn’t be more wrong. People must take drugs for the rest of thier lives, and as we all know, there are millions in this country without health insurance. What are they to do? The drugs are VERY expensive. And if somebody gets a new job and has to get health insurance, HIV is a pre-existing condition, and health insurance agencies do not want to cover it. And then of course, there are those who the drugs don’t work for, and others who will have a host of side effects which can be almost as bad as the condition they are trying to prevent. While this is a free country, and it’s true people don’t have to watch anything they don’t want, porn is actually a very big part of the gay community. Almost all gay men know who alot of porn stars are, and we all have our favorites. It’s not the same as straight men with straight porn. Porn for gay men is almost important, and it is influential. And the arguement that this product wouldn’t exist unless there was a market for it can be argued back with the statement that perhaps there is a market because the product has made it a part of our culture. Wheather we like it or not, times have changed, and sex has to be treated accordingly. We can still thouroughly enjoy sex while keeping ourselves safe and not sending the wrong message to our gay brothers at large.
Michael July 14th, 2012 at 1:29 PM
I came on this site to jack off and then I saw this and I can’t not write something.
Look, let’s be very honest, shall we?
No amount of rhetoric or endless babbling about first amendment or interpretation of work will justify making bareback porn today. None, zip, zero. When so many have HIV or AIDS or are dying from the effects or ill or suffering the severe psychological effects this plagues has on everybody it touches, making porn which normalizes the very act which brings about so much unnecessary unhappiness is morally wrong. Life is hard enough. Why add HIV to the mix? Wake up, people. HIV is not easy nor is it a picnic. Man.
None of this will make it morally okay to make this work and put it out there. Making these films and knowing the risks is wrong, pure and simple. We all know this, maybe we try to hide from the facts by saying saying ‘don’t watch if you don’t want’ and ‘it’s okay if they are tested’ or ‘people can do what they want to do’, but the simple truth is these films do have an effect on the gay culture by normalizing unsafe sex and that is where it is wrong because the last thing the community needs right now is unsafe sex being normalized. But yet here it is!
Porn movies have an effect on the lives of gay men so YES producers DO have a moral responsibility to their community to show gay men what is smart and what isn’t.
I’m not naive – we’re talking the porn industry which I’m sure has loads of darkness and people who are not aware and only want to make money – regardless, they will pay the price for not doing the right thing. But I feel so bad for the younger generation that sees this and thinks it’s normal. It’s NOT. It’s a mess.
I go to porn sites to jack off and it’s endless the amount of bare-backing. I won’t jerk off to it. I won’t support it. It’s the last thing we need as a society of gay men. Wanna see guys fuck w/out condoms? Watch older porn. Some of that shit is very hot.
While I get that there are deeper psychological issues here at play with gay men and their destructive sexual habits and such, they also need to grow up. Want to film men having sex, then use rubbers. It’s not complicated.
But hey – people can do whatever they want to do…right? It’s a free country. Right? Right.
Jay July 15th, 2012 at 6:07 PM
What a condescending load of crap. That’s an awesome movie, I’ve jerked to it a million times and I NEVER have unprotected sex with strangers. If someone is stupid enough to imitate any risky behavior they see in movies then they have whatever happens to them coming. And NO, porn companies DON’T HAVE any moral responsibility, their only responsibility is to produce HOT porn scenes for every taste. You have the responsibility to protect yourself, they don’t have to do it for you. By the way, HIV can be transmitted via oral sex and I’ve never seen any studios producing oral scenes with condoms, how come that doesn’t outrage you?
kyle July 22nd, 2012 at 3:48 PM
Lets all stand and give Jay one big clap. Selfish wrapped up in shame with a bit of bad manners. What interests me are the thoughts running through Jay’s mind as he beats off trillions of times…hmmm, My guess, it’s more than just primitive sexual thoughts, maybe ” I bet that whore Dawson needs to be bred and used over and over and over. A lifeless object alive, just a piece of meat.” Let’s see you in 20-30 years, we’ll see how brave you are. Time will smack that arrogant black or white world view right out of you. You can count on that.
Jay July 23rd, 2012 at 2:19 PM
“… a lifeless object alive, just a piece of meat..”, whoa, that is awfully specific, looks like some is projecting.
People, not porn companies, are responsible for taking care of their own sexual protection, and yes, my view on that is very black and white, to use your own words. As for what goes through my head when I watch porn, do I watch porn and not think about the actors’s personal lives but just let myself enjoy the fantasy? Yes, THAT is the whole point of porn and if you claim otherwise you are the biggest self righteous hypocrite on the planet.
I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me how come no one is outraged at the total lack of condom use in oral scenes when it’s been proven oral sex CAN infect you with HIV.
Consenting adults have the right to engage in the kind of sexual behavior they prefer, even if it’s found shocking by the majority, and yes, even if it’s risky. Oh and funny you call me arrogant when your reply to my opinion is a whole lot of nothing but catty, arrogant, condescending bull.
jessi July 14th, 2012 at 10:57 PM
I’m actually floored that Huffington Post allowed an article like that to be published on their website. I’m sure there are alot of people that read this blog that could care less what straight people think about us gay people, but this truly makes us look bad. Is Huffington Post also publicizing straight female pornstars in gang bangs? There is a time and place for everything, and this article doesn’t belong in the mainstream media to turn more straight people against us.
LB July 15th, 2012 at 6:47 AM
Most Important Gay Porn Film ever made?? I’ve never seen it and have no interest in seeing it. STD transmission just doesn’t seem that sexy to me. Shrug.
BrosExposed July 16th, 2012 at 6:53 AM
While I think raunchy porn such as TIMfuck is a hot fantasy, I see more and more young gays thinking bare-backing and HIV are now acceptable to WANT TO GET if they don’t already have it. ESPECIALLY down around in the San Diego, CA area… their attitudes towards getting HIV are getting scarier and scarier.
Pablo July 16th, 2012 at 3:27 PM
Depends on what they understand as ”important”. Are they going to preserve it in the National Film Registry due to its importance?
I don’t think that porn movies are really important, gay or straight, most of us watch them once and then we want something new. So, there’s the importance.
Q of M July 19th, 2012 at 7:57 PM
I think I liked it better when gay porn flew below the radar.
TrueWords July 20th, 2012 at 7:47 PM
Agreed, it seems that GAY PORN is a little too mainstream and it has been diluted to the masses…
Also Dawson’s 20 Load weekend heralded in a time in gay porn where being HIV+ was OK and permissible (i.e., lots of bareback sex) and it further allowed countless other sites such as Helix, Corbin Fisher, Sean Cody, etc…to proudly announce that their models have undergone EXTENSIVE testing so it was OK to have bareback sex…
All of this is a very confusing message to a “community” that has a “let me do what I want because I am gay” attitude…too many gay men are not being HONEST about their sexual practices and so many are playing a dangerous game of misplaced trust in order to be HYPER-SEXUAL beings instead just being alive and vibrant….
Jose July 21st, 2012 at 10:22 PM
First off I’m going to disclose I’m HIV Poz and have been taking meds for over 6 years. Yes I do jerk off to bareback porn cause I find it simply mega arousing period. Bareback porn never influenced me in any way or made me go out and get “converted.” I did an act of stupidity years ago and paid the price which I take full responsibility for…and…it was before bareback porm was widely available. What I believe is happening with HIV now is not due to any film but HIV is being minimized to a ” chronic and manageable ” disease by the medical community ( direct words from the many doctors I have seen.) Its being treated and ranked on the same category as diabetes. The ” death sentence ” connotation has been removed thus removing the ” fear factor” which stopped many people from doing anything risky. I have actually heard a few gay men comment that if they ever get “sick” aka getting HIV, all they do is “take a pill.”
Denny L July 31st, 2012 at 4:49 PM
People died so these dumbasses would be able to avoid their mistakes. It will NOT be a day that HIV will be erradicated because people are so busy finding new ways to get it, spread it, make excuses for it and mix the virus. I was in porn(never condomless porn)and I was so focused on who had what that I could not perform. HIV is not diabetes. Some dont get past the initial meds to get to a “cocktail.” Your immune system and function is in, up and around your ASS. No amount of money in the world would make me risk thousands of dollars a month in MD bills and pills. Let these fools do bareback sex. Make up a national registery that these folks would have to manditorily register. Then cut off all free and discounted medical care and deny insurance coverage. THATS FAIR. And lost in all this is if the conditions are right, You can contract it orally as well. People get infected and write it off. I thought it was against the law to knowingly infect or neglect to disclose status. If you got beat down/stabbed/shot/thrown in jail for it I bet infection rates would go down(Or if the cocktail stoped working and your only option is DEATH)I know guys lie as I have seen gay sites where I see the same profile and all of a sudden….THERE IS A CURE FOR HIV. NOPE, Its just some bastard changing his status from Pos to neg, the ask me. If you got your ass beat, stabbed or shot for passing a disease or I dont ask anyone, I see EVERYONE as HIV positive. Thats the only way you can eventually make that audition for the gay version of I AM LEGEND as the last NEGATIVE on earth.
Anonymous August 2nd, 2012 at 9:37 PM
I never feel inclined to post on these ‘discussions’ because from skimming the posts, the gist appears far more negative than positive (pun intended), but like many of you I feel compelled to write something.
I am not going to try to change your mind about bareback sex in porn [though I will point to the original post’s attempt to position other films and reasons that are more important to gay porn than Dawson’s 20 Load Weekend].
I will ask some questions instead that I still can’t find any answers for myself:
Why is a man who is HIV positive ‘less’ than someone who is HIV negative?
Why value a person in terms of how much medicine costs to keep them alive/reduce symptoms?
Why is a person with a disease also a criminal? (When I ask this, I think of the stigma gay HIV positive men have within the gay ‘community'(to rephrase it bluntly, an HIV positive man seems dead to a lot of people; he has a disease many view as preventable)?
I am HIV negative and was born when HIV/AIDS first got a name. I watch a lot of bareback porn online. I also enjoy watching porn with condoms. What else should I ‘disclose’ to you? I don’t have sex with strangers without condoms (or on camera for money). Time has removed me from decades of fighting for rights I now enjoy (polite way of saying I did not grow up with people my age dying from HIV/AIDS and am out and about online and in my real life).
Will curing HIV/AIDS solve this fear? I don’t know, but I hope it will answer some of these questions by making them irrelevant.
Small observation: fear is often the source of anger at difference.
*PS I’m big on quotation marks when I try to write sarcastically.
Miguel August 9th, 2012 at 7:33 PM
Dawson is the most boring bottom ever…
Jexter13 January 23rd, 2013 at 10:17 PM
Considering the recent passing of gay porn actors from HIV and disclosure of Mason Wylers positive status, I don’t think that the porn industry is the place to be looking for the way to live a long healthy life. Just as one does not act out the scenes they see in regular Hollywood films, you should not be acting out the scenes you see in porno. Yes, it would be awesome and hot to live out what we see in movies, but that’s not real life.
Are we still blaming movies, music & video games for our own bad choices? Try to take responsibility for your own actions and consequences. I don’t know who, or when, some gay men got the idea that HIV is not a big deal but let me tell you, if you are positive, be sure to let everyone know that you plan on having any sexual relations with. It is the right thing to do and you don’t know how much you really are hurting them by not telling them. (Yes I speak from experience, but he wasn’t a guy I just met, he was my boyfriend for a few years and was too selfish to tell me and risk losing me-needless to say, he lost me because of that-not the HIV).
If you are a man attracted to men, then grow up and act like a man. Be responsible. Be honest. Stop with the excuses.