Perversion for Profit

Presented and narrated by veteran newscaster and later right-wing pundit George Putnam (A registered Democrat FYI) and funded by fraudster/anti-porn crusader Charles Keating this production is what is often described as the "Reefer Madness of Porn". Various ludicrous postulates of the most alarmist nature are asserted as pure facts.

The censorship brigade which. by the time this was shot and cut. likely shared membership lists with the Temperance Union and other flaky outfits. The sheer panic that somebody might be getting sexual fulfillment literally anywhere probably horrified them enough to get them to watch this silliness over and over.

Even a prude (I'm one of those guys who complains to convenience store owners about porn being in full or partial view of minors) like me was disturbed by the moral arrogance and conspiracy theorist-style paranoia not merely present in the actual production but the forces behind it's conception.

The idea of it all being subversive was of course absurd in most of the examples presented. But the attitude, which at the time was so prevalent. meant that it was an underground industry which mafiosi produced for massive profit which financed other illegal enterprises. The notion that it was a gateway to depravity was only true because it had been driven underground into the clutches of organized crime.

Featured are nudist magazines which were of course just pornography masquerading as lifestyle magazines - a silly pretense employed to vend porn which fooled no one. Along with that are muscle and fitness magazines which in some cases they really were just that, but in other cases were openly gay erotica.

With it's paranoic's homophobic stance and junk science we get an idea of not only of the kind of prudery so dominant before the Sexual Revolution but the kind of virulent prejudice that now appears to have been an inseparable.

Keating, later convicted of fraud, racketeering and conspiracy used his public stance as defender of morality to hide behind. The anti-porn stance was an utterly brilliant way to win the confidence of crazy old ladies with money which they were only to happy to let him make off with in his various scams.

Keating testified before congress that he believed pornography was part of a communist conspiracy. All part of his narrative. All part of his scam.

I'm only guessing that most of the money put up for this production was spent on Putnam's services and his cachet as a news gatherer/presenter. Shot inside an office, with a map of the United States as backdrop and picture cards as props, his voice and presence are the one aspect that aren't bush league.