Taboo is a landmark in porn, not only still a part of the tailend of The Golden Age of Porn, but one that could very well be considered an early American, feature-length porn film focusing on a fetish, in this case, mother/son incest. Incest is always a curious subject, even moreso due to its lack of exploration on film, because of the fact that it's a largely forbidden, condemned act that still results in pleasure for both parties (if they are consenting, of course). Taboo tackles the subject in perhaps the most relaxed, classy, and sexiest manner, also catering to the "mature/MILF" subsector of porn before the two were even largely recognized as genres within pornography.
We focus on Barbara, played by the beautiful Kay Parker, who's husband walks out on her in the opening scene of the film following stiff sex and a continuing downward spiral in their marriage. This leaves Barbara crushed and without financial support, forcing her to go out in the working world to find a job. However, because she's approaching middle-age, she is immediately unattractive to a great deal of employers, yet still manages to land a secretary job with a perverted boss. Meanwhile, Barbara's only son Paul (Mike Ranger) spends most of his time with his girlfriend Sherrie (Dorothy LeMay), who loves having sex with him.
Ever since his father's departure, however, Paul sees himself growing more and more sexually attracted to his mother. One particularly arousing scene comes when Paul is staring at his mother while she showers and subsequently dresses in lingerie and stockings underneath her evening attire. Barbara is built beautifully, with a knockout figure complete with round hips and gorgeous brown hair. Parker is a universally appealing woman here, as not only is she a believable screen presence, but she can turn on the horny teenage boy and the seasoned porn veteran with just a few winks and a hip thrust. Her character's conservative attitude and mannerisms throughout the film only work to assist this attractiveness.
One day, Barbara comes home from an orgy she was taken to by a date. Despite persistent encouragement, and even after being manhandled, she refused to participate and returns home unbelievably horny. She finds Paul sleeping in the nude and, overcome with hormones, prolonged feelings of loneliness, and inferiority, she gives him a fellatio, which leads into a passionate sex scene between the two for about five minutes. The two fall asleep together in ecstasy.
Amazingly, Taboo was written by a woman named Helene Terrie, which could very well explain the film's sensitive angle. One can easily look at the incest angle, view the mother/son sex scenes as deplorable, and find this film uncommonly offensive. However, one can look at this film as a sensitive portrayal of the desperate measures people can go to in order to combat their own loneliness. The film, at its core, shows how a woman is rejected from everything, society, employers, and even her husband for allegedly not being good enough, and the first time she finally does something she wants, she's overcome with guilt and shame. Who would've thought a pornographic film would ever go this deep (metaphorically speaking)?
The scenes here carry a terrific level of eroticism and hold weight as some of the sexiest I've seen in pornography yet. They are intimate, usually assisted by soft, soulful music choices rather than ones that hinder the scenes themselves, and are beautifully constructed to flow very naturally. It also helps that, again, Parker and Ranger are such talented performers, able to act, have sex, and get emotional all in a film that's very intelligently written, which only elevates the level of believability here.
Taboo was a film born to divide in a genre born to be embraced by some and lambasted by others. Yet, it proves that even pornography can tackle a subject with a strong level of thoughtfulness, so much so that perhaps there's another reason why mainstream cinema won't touch the topic of incest with a ten foot pole (again, metaphorically speaking).
Starring: Kay Parker, Mike Ranger, and Dorothy LeMay. Directed by: Kirdy Stevens.
