American Hard Core: Pornographic Film Since 1970

Joseph Duong
History
UC Berkeley

This project‚ “American Hard Core: Pornographic Film Since 1970”, sought to document the history of the American pornographic film industry from 1970 to the present. The project tells the story of how and why hard core films emerged in the last third of the twentieth century, through the experiences of performers, directors, producers, feminist protesters, lawyers, judges, and movie goers. “American Hard Core” does not deny that the pornographic film industry was a business motivated by profit. Instead, it seems to complicate the picture we have of the industry by showing how it was shaped by historical forces such as oppositional politics, counter-cultural ideas about the body and sex, and a brewing cultural war between conservatives and liberals.