This is a really well made series that offers a peek into the life of one of the most famous male porn stars ever. It does have a lot of gratuitous sex scenes but there's really no way to avoid that given the subject matter. It does it's best to deep dive into the life and family of Rocco Siffredi without glamorizing his upbringing and struggles, but it far too often lets him off the hook and tries to paint him as more of a tortured artist who just wants to free the world. This is ridiculous
As someone who used to watch a lot of porn when Rocco was in his prime, it was him that turned me off it for good. It is important to note that a lot of the adult productions of that era were all about pushing boundaries and depicting male dominance and female degradation, and for this Rocco was truly ahead of his time. He could be overly aggressive and violent in the way he handled his co-stars and seemed to relish in pushing a scene partner way past her boundaries for his own gratification. He could be extremely violent and would verbally ask for consent well past the point the act began. You could see in his face the arrogance of knowing that he was on top of this world and let anyone object to his brand of humiliation to their demise in the industry
It was a couple scenes in particular where you could very clearly see the fright and panic in a female performer who was being pushed to a breaking point that I could no longer justify participating as a viewer. Now you could say "well they consented right", and that would pass for an explanation in those days before people really cared about power dynamics and could just cast off accusations of sex workers because that's the life you signed up for. But I don't buy it. Especially in the European market at that time any up and comer was almost required to pass through Roccos clutches at some point and young female performers then were not in a position to say no
I have heard quotes from his contemporary adult stars musing about how Rocco is able to get girls to do things they would ever do with other performers. I guess he likes to think it's just his charm and care, but more likely it's because he simply did what he wanted regardless, and the female performers had no recourse to object lest they lose money and future status. Of course I wasn't there so maybe they all really liked it and consented enthusiastically to his particular brand of brutality, but I highly doubt it. Sure, many probably enjoyed it, but I would challenge anyone to look into the eyes of the performers with him and tell me they wanted it
For this I won't condone this romanticized view of his life where he is just a victim to his desires, and after all he was so good at it who wouldn't want to be with him. It's clear he was involved in this production, and I would much rather a film about all the damage he left in his wake.
