Christopher Booker once wrote that there are only seven stories in the world of movies and literature, and that those seven stories are: Overcoming the Monster, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Rags to Riches, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth. I thought about this, and came to the conclusion that porno movies seem to follow a completely different formula from all other forms of writing, and wondered if I could find a similar formula to categorizing stories. After quite a bit of, ahem, "research," I managed to come up with my own list of the seven plots found in almost all porno movies and videos, as well as porn games and erotic stories. Naturally, one movie or story can include elements from multiple categories, but in each video or story, one category will tend to emerge as the dominant theme for each story. Obviously, this does not include pictures or short videos of people fucking without context, as such cases have no "story" to categorize. With that in mind, here is my list of the seven porno plots.
1. The "Dear Penthouse" Story - Named for the classic forum letters in Penthouse magazine, this plot features a protagonist, someone the viewer or reader is meant to identify with, and may even be a mostly or entirely POV shot, who finds him/herself in an unlikely sexual situation with zero effort. In this story, the protagonist is completely passive, and the other performers are acting upon the protagonist, apparently intuitively knowing exactly what he/she wants. A line commonly used in such stories is "I couldn't believe my good fortune," because all sexual acts are desired but unsought. Some examples include, a man delivering pizza only to discover a horny naked housewife, a boy masturbating in his bedroom being unexpectedly joined by his hot stepmother, a student being held after class by a hot teacher who couldn't help noticing his frequent erections, or a shy virgin suddenly being propositioned by his more-sexually-experienced best friend who he always had a secret crush on. In all cases, the protagonist takes no initial action, and the story ends with a gained experience and usually the promise of a continuing sexual relationship.
2. Boldness Pays Off - In many ways, this is the reverse of the "Dear Penthouse" story, being the same structure of events, but seen from the opposite character's perspective. In this story, the protagonist has zero reservations about initiating sexual acts, secure in the knowledge that the other person, although not having said so, is down for anything. In this story, the pizza guy does not stumble into the home of a horny naked housewife, but instead, he whips his dick out in front of the housewife, who is surprised but very grateful. Another key difference between this and the previous category is that if any third or additional players are present, in the Dear Penthouse story, they would more likely also be sexually assertive, while in the Boldness Pays Off story, they would more likely be additional passive players, although this does not need to be the case. The story ends with the supporting characters having enjoyed the experience. The protagonist, despite going completely against all societal norms and mores, does not face any consequences, such as prosecution, loss of job, loss of respect, or even the slightest feeling of embarrassment or awkwardness. When the sex act is over, the story is over, and the protagonist presumably moves on to his/her next encounter.
3. The Sexual Awakening - Unlike the previous two stories, which show only the protagonist's point of view, the Sexual Awakening story may include the thoughts and perspectives of multiple characters, though the main focus is typically on the "virgin" character. In this story, the main character is a shy or prudish and sexually inexperienced person. He/she may be a complete virgin, or may simply be a "virgin" to the specific act about to happen, such as having never before experienced anal sex, a one-night stand, a homosexual encounter, group sex, exhibitionism, bondage, etc. The "virgin" character finds him/herself coerced or even forced into a new sexual experience by an aggressor or aggressors. The virgin is reluctant or even resistant, but the aggressor intuits that the virgin will soon come around to enjoy the new experience. Sure enough, the virgin soon experiences a surge of sexual pleasure so intense as to completely change his/her character. Once the "pain has given way to pleasure," he/she finds him/herself involuntarily begging for more. The story ends with the former-virgin looking forward to a life of consensual sexual submission, and the aggressor having taken great pleasure in "corrupting" an innocent.
4. The Power Fantasy - In this story, the protagonist commits acts of sadism on an unwilling victim. Unlike the Sexual Awakening story, the victim does not come around, and the aggressor protagonist does not expect him/her to. The aggressor may use some form of financial coercion, blackmail, the facade of punishment for some invented misconduct, or simply kidnap and restrain the victim, and the act performed may be purely sexual, purely torture, or a combination of the two. Typically, the protagonist is out for his/her own amusement in the manner of a bully, not acting out of anger, but rather for the thrill of being in control of someone else. The story ends with the victim too physically and mentally exhausted to seek help, and the protagonist already planning his/her next assault. Obviously, stories like this are not for everyone.
5. Erotic Fun & Games - Unlike the previous stories, which almost entirely focus of some kind of first encounter, these stories revolve around friends and lovers whose sexual relationship has already been established, or at the very least, have a prior understanding of what is about to happen. In these types of stories, partners or groups may engage in uninhibited sexual acts with no one person being in a dominant position over any other person. Such egalitarian sexual adventures may include wife-swap parties, strip games, or full-blown pansexual orgies. Although the free-love environment lends itself to a lack of restraint, there are implied boundaries, as all the participants seem to already know each other's likes and dislikes. The story does not have an ending so much as the fun simply slows to a halt as the participants feel satisfied. Broadly speaking, this category also includes live-streaming webcam shows, as the viewers experience a parasocial relationship with the performers, and the social mores, although clearly defined, are far more sexually permissive than in a normal context.
6. Stealth Fantasy - This story may follow a similar setup to any of the previous five stories, but with the major difference being that the main focus is on the avoidance of being discovered by a third party, and the thrill of the risk involved. This may include a sex act in a public place, cheating on a partner, spying on someone, using a concealed sex toy, etc. Cartoon or prose fiction may also include major social taboos such as incest, pedophilia or bestiality, provided that the primary focus of the story is on maintaining secrecy. To a lesser degree, the Stealth Fantasy can also include solo pictures and videos in which the performer is trying to conceal his/her identity, thus creating a real-life scenario where the performer is engaging in a parasocial sexual interaction with online strangers, while maintaining secrecy from in-person acquaintances. A typical Stealth Fantasy story can end in a number of ways. The performer or performers may have successfully avoided being discovered, giving a figurative or literal wink to the camera. The performers may be discovered after the act is completed, giving a comical shrug, suggesting it was never that big of a risk to begin with. Or the performers may be discovered by a third party who, in an unsurprising plot twist, expresses an interest in joining them, or disappointment at having not been invited to join them. This is one type of story that lends itself well to comedy as a way of lampshading the absurdity of how oblivious the third party can be.
7. Meet and Fuck Games - Due to the necessary long-form of this type of story, it is found more often in erotic video games than in movies or stories. In this story, the protagonist encounters or is acquainted with a person, or more often, several different people, who finds the protagonist sexually attractive, but is unwilling to engage in any sexual acts with him/her until after they have gotten to know each other better, or until the protagonist has completed some sort of test. In many ways, this follows a similar structure to the Boldness Pays Off story, but with the difference being that the secondary characters do not immediately capitulate. Naturally, this lends itself well to the genre of video role-playing games. Assuming the protagonist is achieving sex with multiple separate partners throughout the in-game narrative, there are often also elements of the Stealth Fantasy. Such stories may also include complex nonsexual subplots, though they rarely impact the sexual elements, and could easily be done without.
Additional note: To expand on the "Sexual Awakening" or "Corruption" plot, there is the added variation wherein the protagonist is "corrupted" by his/her own inner demons, i.e. he/she does not want to be doing this (cheating, spying, molesting, etc.), but cannot resist the temptation, and eventually gives in completely. Of course, the story must end in a state of total acceptance. Nothing ruins porn like a regretful protagonist.
ReplyDeleteAnother additional note: Assuming that each of these plots reflect a specific category of sexual fantasy, then we could make a simple list of classifications of the fantasies themselves. My starter list would be: Passive (reflecting Dear Penthouse scenario, but also the submissive role in the Power or Corruption scenarios, and to a certain degree, the Meet'n'Fuck scenario, because the outcome is uncertain), Assertive (the Boldness scenario), Corruption, Power, Libertine (the Fun and Games scenario, but also, to some degree, the Meet'n'Fuck scenario) and Risk (the Stealth scenario). I would also recategorize "taboo" fantasies as "liberation" fantasies, that is to say, the breaking down of one's own personal barriers, and make it it's own category The Liberation fantasy is basically the Corruption fantasy, but directed at oneself instead of another, but may not necessarily fall under the Passive (because it doesn't require being pressured by another) or the Assertive (because it doesn't play out devoid of reservation).
ReplyDeleteThus, the complete list would be:
* Passive - Someone else takes the lead entirely.
* Assertive - Acting without reservation or risk.
* Corruption - Pushing another beyond his/her boundaries.
* Power - Dominating a reluctant (or role-playing as reluctant) other.
* Liberation - Breaking one's own boundaries without risk.
* Libertine - Having no boundaries, and being in neither a dominant nor submissive role.
* Risk - Breaking societal boundaries in such a way that one may be caught.
Okay, I just thought of another one, which I am dubbing "The Wedding Night" plot: Two (or more, but usually two) people who are both shy and sexually inexperienced sharing the act of learning/experimenting, but not in any sort of transgressive way. This doesn't happen often in conventional porn videos, but it does show up sometimes in erotic prose or comics or hentai. It definitely does not fit into any other category. Basically, both parties agree that they want to have sex, but they are both nervous. (I suspect the reason this doesn't often show up in conventional porn videos is that it's closer to real life, which makes it less of a "fantasy.")
ReplyDeleteAnother addition/revision to my list: The "accidental" scenario, in which a person's clothes embarrassingly get ripped off in public, or a person walks in on someone changing, or someone has sex with the wrong person due to mistaken identity, or some other random circumstance puts someone in a sexual situation where no actual person is the initiator. At first, I considered this as its own category, but after giving it some thought, I decided that it's a sub-category of the corruption/awakening fantasy, just where the corrupting influences is not a person but a situation. Unless, of course, the embarrassed or humiliated person doesn't come around to enjoy it, in which case, the person enjoying the situation is an onlooker who takes advantage of the situation, in which case, it becomes a power fantasy.
ReplyDeleteOkay, but what if nobody is enjoying the situation? Well, then it's just bad porn.
Another additional note on the Meet-N-Fuck games: Although I still do consider them their own category, because they often involve multiple situations, the nature of each encounter withing the game typically falls into an existing category. A character who is willing, but wants to set a challenge first, may be a variation on the libertine fantasy (Erotic Fun & Games), because they already want to engage in sexual activity, and the challenge is part of the foreplay. However, a character who is reluctant or tsundere may be playing out the corruption/awakening fantasy. Of course, some of these games might be less complex and just include a sex video clip or something after passing a game level, but this would be not much different than just watching an out-of-context clip of a porn video skipping over the setup or dialog, or just looking at a still image, which would put it into the zeroth category (no plot at all). I suppose you could make the argument that even an out-of-context clip or a still image is implying some sort of plot or situation (like for example, if she's wearing a schoolgirl uniform, it might be implying a teacher/student story, or if she's wearing lingerie and looking at the camera, it might imply that she's corrupting/seducing the viewer, even though nothing has actually been said), but that would require some extrapolation and margin for error.
ReplyDeleteSo unless there's an in-game story that falls into one or more of the other categories, I would continue to consider Meet-N-Fuck to be its own thing.