Cuando se acaba el porno

So the movie tries to give us an insight into the life (or after-life?) of those who have done porn movies. Depending on your viewing habbits, you may be able to recognize people involved here. But even if you never heard of them, the documentary tells you what they've done and where they went from there. A nice touch is the ending bit, where you get a "where are they now"/"what are they doing now?".

Some of it seems a bit negative, but it just may have to do with the people that got selected. I do wonder if Jenna Jameson was asked to do that. Arguably one of the most famous ones, who also has retired (although she has shown privately that she has gone off the rails). Well if you don't count Pamela Anderson, who might have (unwillingly?) pioneered the celebrity Sex tape thing. So if you are interested what people go through, after their career this is the first one to watch ...

Changing careers is never easy, but it's even harder when your previous job includes starring in movies with titles like "Sorority Sex Kittens 3" and "Backstage Sluts," and doing anal is listed as a special skill. Bryce Wagoner's documentary, "After Porn Ends," interviews a variety of ex-porn stars to find out how they transitioned from adult video stardom to more mainstream lives. Real estate seems to be the preferred profession for a lot of them, though none of the women who went into that field—Houston, Raylene, Amber Lynn—stayed in it. Asia Carrera became a stay-at-home mom, while Crissy Moran and Shelley Lubben became born-again-Christians, renouncing their porn pasts. Self-employment is the easier path to building a life outside of porn: Randy West became a semi-pro golfer; the late John Leslie was a musician and painter (a pretty good one, too); and, perhaps the most interesting career switch, Tyffany Million (a.k.a. Sandra Margot) became a P.I. and bounty hunter. Seka is self-employed, but earns money from her website, capitalizing on her porn fame. Mary Carey used her porn notoriety to get some D-list recognition on reality shows and a couple publicity-grabbing runs for governor of California.

Though "After Porn Ends" is fascinating, many of the stories start to sound alike. For the women, the narrative usually involves running away from an abusive family and battling drug and alcohol problems. For the men it's often a less complicated "Can you believe they PAY ME to have sex with all these women?" (Richard Pacheco recounts how he was contemplating studying to become a Rabbi when he was offered a part in a porn film. "It wasn't a tough decision," he says.) Though a good number of the former sex stars are fairly well-grounded – notably Pacheco, Leslie, Seka, Million – there is, predictably, a lot of sadness here. The pain is not always explicitly detailed and seldom explored, but it's usually visible. Just look at the eyes. Lubben, whose videography is so scant it barely justifies her inclusion in this documentary, and Moran seem to have psychological scars that go beyond their porn careers—scars that a devotion to God hasn't fully healed. As porn legend Nina Hartley observes: "A lot of people who are in porn have no business being in it."

Besides the always enjoyable Hartley (I regret that her response to suggestions she enter politics can't be quoted here), former porn blogger Luke Ford and adult industry fixture William Margold offer insight to the pitfalls of life after porn. One of those pitfalls, it seems, is dealing with men like Ford and Margold, both of whom make it clear they don't have a high opinion of women in the industry (men in the X-biz are cool, though). Ford refers to women in porn as "prostitutes" and "hookers," and while starring in porn is similar, Ford's disdain is disingenuous. Margold at least acknowledges the hypocrisy of porn consumers looking down on adult video stars, but otherwise he's a Hawaiian shirt-wearing stereotype of a sleazy flesh peddler.

Director Wagoner himself offers little insight, letting his subjects speak for themselves. On the surface this hands-off approach is a positive thing, preventing any moralizing or self-conscious sniggering, but there are several instances where I wished he'd asked follow-up questions, like when Lubben talks about how she and the man she eventually married got high on meth and discussed the bible(!), or when Mary Carey, the most vapid of the ex-porn stars, mentions that if she returned to porn she would, eventually, do a scene with a black man, seemingly implying an interracial scene is only a notch above gonzo porn.

As other reviewers have mentioned, making a documentary about the lives of retired porn stars is so obvious it's amazing it hasn't been done before. Though Wagoner does a respectable job with "After Porn Ends," it's hardly definitive. There's room for this subject to be done again.

After Porn ends is an insightful and often poignant documentary that not only reveals the different paths chosen by those who have retired from the adult movie industry, but which also delves into their reasons for entering that particular career in the first place.

Amongst those interviewed for the film:

Tiffany Millions, the bounty hunter/investigator, who has gone from sucking dick to being a private dick. Raylene, the estate agent, who turned to selling houses instead of her body. Crissy Moran, the religious convert, who is still to be found on her knees, only now it's while praying to God. Randy West, the golfer, who went from shaving his balls to hitting them. Amber Lynn, the counsellor, who now gives advice instead of head. John Leslie, the artist—less vinegar strokes, more brush strokes. Houston, the nursing student, who swapped ATM for A&E.

It's a wildly varying set of stories: some of the ex-pornstars seem to be thankful to the adult video industry for the money and opportunities that it afforded them, while others are clearly embarrassed or regretful about their past. Some of them entered the business out of choice, as a means of earning an easy wage, while others gravitated towards porn as the result of a difficult or abusive childhood. Some successfully stay out of porn, but others find it hard to say no forever. Whatever the case, it's interesting to see these people laying bare their souls instead of their bodies.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

I found the topic interesting and think it was great that someone finally did a somewhat better job at the topic. It was very passive voice, no questions were asked, there were no interviews, just subjects talking, telling the story. Which was very humanizing but not as informative. I wonder why all the men subjects had been out of porn for so long. Surely there are younger men who have left porn. The industry has changed a lot. Thought their experiences weren't quite as relevant. Of course the bottom line is.....can you ever get a handle on how porn performers really feel about what they do or did? Would they tell the whole truth even if they could?

The stories are the stories of people. People being people living their lives and making choices. Porn, a variation on the ancient profession, was their vehicle. Even confirmed more by historian, Margold, of the trend toward escort today. Nina shed the most wisdom about actors in the industry. Rightly so, since she of anyone would know. Dr. Malamuth shared some facts of what little air time he had. Ford, the writer, explained them as broken and turbulent souls twisting and turning. I didn't find them to be all broken. Who isn't a turbulent soul twisting and turning in life? Worth a view if you wish to know the person behind the illusion.