Song of Cinemax

Jon Weinbach was published in the Los Angeles Times, writing about the proliferation of "soft-core pornography" on cable television. He specifically addresses what is found on premium channels and their on-demand channels.

With much harder stuff free on demand online, I paused to wonder why “soft” stuff is so important to the cable business.

I think this quote from the founder of a producer of “soft erotics” explains a lot of it:

"You're more likely to get your wife to watch my show - it's not so in-your-face,"

Yup. I never had pay TV before I married. My wife grew up with cable and subscribed as an adult, and we continue to subscribe, but not to the premium channels. My wife, who was virgin when we married and had also maintained boundaries well beyond intercourse, confessed that before we married she had taped some of this soft-core stuff during free preview weekends, during which one or more premium channels would be temporarily viewable for free. She apparently erased the tape, however. The principle, though, is like how the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue will make it into homes that would not welcome Playboy.

The article goes on to say that skin and depicted sex is also making its way to series that aren't presented as "erotics".

At the same time, premium channels have been upping the skin factor on their higher-profile, higher-brow series. Shows such as HBO's "True Blood," which debuts its third season next month, and Showtime's "The Tudors" and "Diary of a Call Girl" all showcase fairly graphic sex scenes that are often as explicit as what you would see in an R-rated movie in theaters.

The question again is – why? I think that is somewhat addressed...

Ironically, the proliferation of hard-core porn in recent years seems to have made the softer stuff more appealing - or at least more palatable - to a wider audience, particularly among women, according to industry observers. While women who are now in their 20s and 30s have grown up in an era when adult entertainment has become increasingly mainstream and sex tapes helped launch the careers of celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, many of them are still uncomfortable watching all-out porn, even if it's in the company of a partner.

With the "mainstream" series, some of it may boil down to a series having the sex/nudity garnering more viewers than a similar series that doesn’t have it. The article describes more about what the difference is between the hard stuff and the soft stuff.

In contrast to hard-core pornography, which depicts full male nudity and actual sex, soft-core sex is more simulated than real, and the films usually attempt to have coherent storylines and dialogue. Many of the soft-core TV series also center around a female character, such as the madam in "Beverly Hills Bordello," a longtime cable-TV staple, or the pair of sisters - one a recent college graduate, the other an erotic model - who are the leads in "Life on Top," a Cinemax series that debuted last year. But while soft-core content may be less graphic than a Jenna Jameson film, it does not aspire to high art.

Ever the writer, I don’t find bad writing appealing, even with sexy women doing sexy things. But that’s me.

All of the premium channels will air films that are rated X by the Motion Picture Assn. of America, but they also adhere to certain self-imposed guidelines when it comes to sexy material.

I thought NC-17 replaced X?

In general, cable channels won't show full male frontal nudity or extended close-up shots of female private parts.

For now.

I know entertainment producers like to say that nudity and sex are necessary to tell a realistic story. That's  the gist of what "Zane" says. A female African American author from the D.C. area, she wrote a series of “erotic” short stories that has been turned into a series on cable, with which she is also involved.

Across all platforms, the series, which follows the romantic adventures of a group of professional women, attracts about 1.4 million viewers per episode, according to the network, which has nearly 12 million subscribers. "I don't think that sexuality should be separated from the rest of life — it can be fun, it can be painful, it can be kinky and it can be entertaining in a tasteful way."

Is the stuff eye-catching if channel surfing? Sure. I would guess, however, that most married people have a lot of other things they could be doing to stimulate each other rather than watching this stuff. And unmarried people who don't have qualms about sex outside of marriage could do a lot "better".

Married or not – what do you think about this stuff and why? Have you watched any of it? Like I said... although I find the female form extremely attractive, I'm more likely to find a well-written story on paper more appealing than a ridiculous barely-there story on the screen – whether or not I should be subjecting myself to either. Solomon gave us plenty. Think you'll ever find a copy of it under your son's bed? Speaking of the kids... this stuff is one reason why it is a good idea to keep screens out of their rooms (but what are you going to do about smart phones?) and to use parental controls/filters.