There being well over a hundred posts to the thread "What's wrong with liking porn?" and the temptation to thread creep being hard for me to resist, I thought I'd go ahead and start the obvious.I wish I knew my art history a little better. There is a painting by a well known European artist called "The Rape of [I can't remember who]." The painting was inspired by Greek mythology. That's art. I've seen prints of the painting. Pretty graphic stuff. Even the brush strokes look violent and one gets a real sense of movement viewing the painting. Now if that same painting were posed as a photograph, color or b&w, your choice, would that be art, or porn?
Some twenty-five years ago, I pulled off a book from the library shelf. The title was Sisters photographs by one David Hamilton. I had never heard of David Hamilton. I was surprised to find the volumn contained pictures of nekkid teen-aged girls. Nothing really dirty, no overt sexual acts, etc. Just a lot of skin, filmy lingerie, and some undies. Some of the photos reminded me of paintings I had seen by Reubens. None of it was any different than "The Birth of Venus." But Reubens and and the guy who painted the "Birth of Venus" were artists. What's David Hamilton?
Some time ago, while onstage at an arts and crafts festival, a friend who was in the audience not just dared me, but double dog dared me to sing the unexpurgated version of "Cabbage Head" (Child ballad also known as Our Goodman. I observed that there was an underage person in the audience, sitting with his parents, and I wasn't sure how Mom and Pop would take to such goings on. The double dog dare was issued again, and I said not to egg me on, for this friend knew I would not refuse the challenge. Finally I turned to the Mom & Pop and I said, "OK, [So-and-So] asked for it. You cover up that young one's ears at the proper time." Mom and Pop grinned from ear to ear and sure enough, covered up Junior's ears at the last moment. Now was that porn, or art? I'll leave you to decide. Here is the verse:
I came home the other night
So drunk I couldn't see
And there was a thing in my wife's thing
Where my thing ought to be.
I said to my wife, my pretty little wife
Explain this thing to me.
What's a thing doing in your thing,
Where my thing ought to be?
You fool, you fool, you drunken fool
Don't you plainly see?
Why, it's only, it's only a candle stick
My granny sent to me.
Well, I've travelled this world over
Ten thousand miles or more
But balls on a candle stick, I never have seen beforeWhat's porn, what's art, 'Catters?