‘Deep Throat’: How one adult movie changed cinema and culture forever
While these days porn is a little bit too accessible for viewers of all ages online, back in the latter half of the 20th century, such adult movies were restricted to the top shelf of petrol stations and the basements of back-door cinemas. Still, the porn industry likely wouldn’t have looked as it does now without the influence of the erotic flick Deep Throat, directed by Gerard Damiano, which would change media forever.
Created in the midst of the ‘Golden Age of Porn‘, the film told the bizarre story of a woman born with a clitoris in her throat who decides to make the most of her unique situation. Starring the iconic American pornographic actor Linda Lovelace, the hour-long film was one of the first of its kind to feature a plot, genuine character development, and a production value that went beyond the basics.
Despite being banned in significant parts of the US, decades later, the film is considered to be something of a media milestone, helping to continue the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Attracting the glare of the mainstream media, Deep Throat became one of the most commercially successful movies of the time, earning over $30-50million from a budget of just $47,500, with several industry stars admitting to having watched the movie, such as Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Frank Sinatra, Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma.
Gathering steam throughout the early 1970s, the notoriety of the film helped it to gain considerable popularity amongst the upper-middle class, who saw it as ‘socially acceptable’ pornography. Such sparked ‘porno chic’, a strand of pornography in the 1970s which received positive public attention, with movies being screened at cinemas whilst also being covered by popular newspapers.
The rise, fallout and legacy of Deep Throat and Linda Lovelace
Later, in 1975, it was discovered that the mafia helped to produce the movie, reaping significant profits, with the film and its director gaining greater notoriety as a result. In conversation with The Guardian, Gerard Damiano’s daughter, Christar, told the publication: “He never thought that it would get the notoriety it did. He never set out to think that he was going to make this phenomenon and start what was known as the sexual revolution. He had no idea. He had a whim when he saw Linda and just took it from there”.
Over 50 years later, the influence of Deep Throat is self-evident, with the movie opening up a wider commercial interest and acceptance of pornography. Still, while the film remains popular, it’s not without its deep-rooted controversies, with Lovelace stating that she was sexually assaulted during production and was coerced into taking part in the film by her abusive husband at the time, Chuck Traynor.
The film’s influence, while plain to see, is harder to untangle from its more troubling legacy. For every piece written about its so-called cultural breakthrough, there’s an equally pressing case for why it ought to be remembered as a grim reminder of exploitation. Deep Throat helped nudge pornography into the mainstream, yes, but it did so off the back of serious harm, and Lovelace was left carrying the weight. She didn’t just star in a cheeky blue movie; she was trapped by it in so many ways.
Years down the line, Lovelace came forward and laid it all out in a bid to rid herself of lifelong trauma. Her account turned the film on its head. What had been sold to the public as titillating fun suddenly looked far more sinister. Watching it now, with even half an ear on her testimony, is a sobering experience. It’s not just uncomfortable, it’s impossible to ignore. And it’s a sharp reminder that the history of any so-called cultural ‘moment’ often glosses over who was chewed up in the process.
Of course, there’s a real lesson here, one that goes far beyond the realm of adult cinema. Cultural milestones don’t get to skip scrutiny. If a film helped shape the modern media landscape but did so by bulldozing basic human decency, then that stain sticks for a terribly long time. Deep Throat may have kicked open the door for more open chat about sex and censorship, but it also exposed how much abuse could be brushed aside in the name of so-called progress. And when you peel back the glossy headlines, what you’re left with isn’t liberation—it’s a bloody mess.
“Virtually every time someone watches that movie, they’re watching me being raped,” Lovelace told the Messe Commission back in 1986, with the adult film actor joining an anti-pornography movement as a result of her experience working on the movie. Speaking to feminist groups and at colleges, the actor would spend much of her later life working with prominent feminists like Catherine MacKinnon.
