G4 crews have also been spotted covering the occasional adult industry party, manning the red carpet and even utilizing the inestimable interviewing talents of gram ponante.
Now G4 is stepping it up once again, actually promoting the fact that they will be in Vegas in January for the Adult Entertainment Expo. They are also going around town interviewing people for a documentary. They even had the nerve to stop by the XBIZ offices to interview me!
Not everyone is happy. Steve Lightspeed has lodged an official complaint. He says his kids like to watch G4 and he's not sure he wants them exposed to, say, the highlights of the kink.com booth show. One has to assume the little Lightspeeds fall well under the 18 threshold and are not inclined to playing in dungeons.
Tough call, imho. One can well understand that G4 would want to give their of-age audience the content they live for, which of necessity includes undulating flesh and lots of it. Indeed, G4 has probably looked at the landscape and long since concluded that a bleak future awaits if they don't at least acknowledge the dark side.
On the other hand, what to do with the little ones lured by the excitement of the video game world and the chance to hang with the big kids?
My guess is they'll simply stick with softer fare overall, continue adding escalating shots of naughtiness during the nighttime TV slots and maybe over time think about integrating an age-restricted members area into the G4 website. Of course that last item may never happen.
Of greater interest is the fact that the mainstreaming of porn is also happening at a place like G4, which is a community for all ages. Steve's first responsibility, as he has shown, is to his kids, but he also has to be concerned about the "gentrification" of adult content or any trend that would make this less of an "outlaw" business.
Paradoxically, people in adult are rightfully protective not just of the sanctity of their industry, but also of its singular identity as a sanctuary for taboo bending if not breaking.
In that sense, G4, with its fun, gee-whiz attitude, while exposing us to a new generation of potential consumers, may also be unwittingly planting the seeds of our destruction.
Happy New Year, btw!
