Editrix Abby |
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Ira Levine aka Ernest GreeneMaster of Fetish EroticaIra Levine, aka Ernest Greene, is the editor of Hustler’s Taboo, arguably America’s only widely successful fetish mag. He’s a prolific director, as well, of fetish films such as O The Power of Submission, and a series of how-to guides for Adam & Eve with his wife and collaboratrix Nina Hartley. Writer, director, editor and raconteur, Levine is also a lifelong devotee to the BDSM lifestyle, with a deep distain for poseurs and “club players.”ErosZine: Okay, so who is Ernest Greene and who is Ira Levine? Do you have two separate personas for different aspects of your career? Ira Levine: Actually, they are one and the same. Like so many naive souls entering porn, I thought it would be a short-lived gig and came up with a silly pseudonym off the top of my head on the assumption it would only be seen a couple of times and then vanish. Twenty plus years later, I'm stuck with it as my recognizable moniker when it comes to X-rated projects. I would have no hesitation about putting my real name on my video work if I thought any of my regular customers would buy it. I do use my real name - I.S. Levine - as a byline when I write for mainstream publications, as what little fame I enjoy on that side of the fence was made as such. There's only one brain between us that produces all my creative efforts and I certainly don't attempt to hide anything about my real identity or my real life from anybody. In my capacity as chairman of the board at Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, I always went by Ira Levine for both legal and ethical reasons. EZ: I read your interview with Luke Ford. He was really cornering you on things you said in your book Coming Attractions with Robert Stoller. Clearly your opinions on things have shifted over time. What do you feel you’ve learned or experienced over the past few years that may have changed your opinions? IL: First of all, Ford never "cornered" me, though god knows he tried. He just dredged up things I said and wrote a decade and a half ago in an effort to enlist my younger self in validating his own peculiar notions about porn. He took every possible statement out of context to portray me as a one-time porn-basher who now hypocritically defends an industry in which I have a vested interest. He didn't do very well with it, either, finally hanging up on me in disgust when I refused to be put on the defensive about statements made long ago by a very much younger man under circumstances that have since changed greatly. It's not so much my views that have evolved, although that process is certainly ongoing, as it should be in any thinking adult - as the industry itself. It was a small, rather grubby business back then that attracted a much narrower range of participants and offered far fewer opportunities of self-expression and/or self-advancement. I'm happy to say that I have observed much progress since in the professionalization of X-rated entertainment, in safer working conditions, higher compensation and more humane and respectful treatment for those who work in the field. This applies not only to big, mainstream-leaning production companies specializing in features, but also to the kinds of harder products often denounced as violent and degrading toward women, exploitative of both audiences and participants and generally the work of devils in human form. While some abuses persist, the truth is that almost everybody in this business now understands the necessity for setting personal boundaries and doesn't hesitate to do so. While the wisdom of some of those choices is debatable, I see far more agency on the part of people who choose to make porn than I would ever have thought possible back in 1989, at the time Coming Attractions was written. The advent of AIM and universal STD testing is, in itself, a huge advance since that time. Bear in mind that porn work attracts a very different and much broader range of individuals now than it did back then. No longer an employer of last resort for young people in flight from desperate circumstances back home, it has become, as one book calls it "The Other Hollywood," a place where good money can be made and a degree of celebrity achieved by those who would otherwise have little prospect for doing either. They may not get to be the next Jenna Jameson - I don't think conditions exist at this point for creating that kind of recognition, regardless of the performer – but opportunities do exist that didn’t before and they appeal to a more ambitious, more self-aware young person. I look to Sasha Grey and Belladonna as examples of the kind of success a motivated player can achieve in the current environment in a much shorter span of time. Also bear in mind that there was no Internet back in 1989 and that it wasn't possible for performers to create and own their content. This is an enormous change that works very much in the performers' favor. They don't have to sign away all their rights in return for a one-time paycheck. They can be share-holders in their own products. EZ: You’ve directed dozens of videos, mostly BDSM, and been dubbed the “master of fetish erotica.” How long have you been involved in “the scene.” IL: BDSM sex is intrinsic to my most basic identity, I was aware of this orientation as a teenager and have been an active practitioner for nearly 40 years. EZ: So you play in your personal life, not just professionally? IL: You gotta be kidding. My whole purpose in entering porn was finding an occupation where I could be "out" about my sexual identity and use the medium to convey something of my personal experience as a dominant player. All the sex in which I personally engage has at least some element of D/s in it. And I might add I have little patience with the hordes of posers and mountebanks who have descended upon the scene as it has become more trendy and who don't truly understand the connection between BDSM and the most basic of sexual impulses. When looking at BDSM erotica or public play, I always apply what I call The Principle of Bob Flanagan's Penis, which is rather like that of Ockham's Razor. Flanagan, a legendary founder of the leather community, once observed that "when any kind of BDSM play gets too far away from what makes my dick hard, I become suspicious." "Non-sexual sceners," "spiritual seekers" and "club players" who are vanilla in private- get thee behind me. EZ: Your feature “O The Power of Submission” seems like your Pieta. What made you tackle such an SM classic? IL: Wow. That's a heady comparison. Like so many BDSM people, the original novel was one of my first literary exposures to the whole topic, and like so many others, I've always found it both fascinating and troubling. Much of the detail is well-observed and the complexities and contradictions of the personalities are given due measure, but the author wasn't a part of the world she described and I don't think she truly "got it." I think she failed utterly to comprehend that submissive personalities do what they do because they find it sexually exciting, not because of a need to fulfill some neurotic, self-destructive compulsion. The lack of understandable motivation made the characters seem simply mad and cruel to no purpose. When I got done reading the book the first time, I threw it across the room in frustration. Ever since, I've wanted to get my hands on the material and "fix it" to give a more honest, more nuanced portrayal of submissive women, of whom I have known and loved many and, despite some superficial resemblances, not one of whom was at all like the O of the author's imagination. The insistent denial of the physical pleasure of BDSM throughout the book is just bullshit. Nobody ever took a second whipping out of love. EZ: How was your take on it different than the original? IL: Well, for one thing, I updated the story to an era in which BDSM is more widely accepted and better understood to place it within a more realistic context. I drew from people and places I really know to create a more believable, understandable story that gives D/s relationships a bit of respect for the rigor they demand. I also took the chance to show how our emergence from the closet has both given sincere kinksters a chance to live open lives, while at the same time attracting some disturbingly superficial and shallow trendoids. I have gotten some negative feedback from my friends in the scene for making the final product too vanilla, without enough elaborate BDSM-specific play, but if they look back at the book, I think they'll find that submission was mainly defined by the author as the surrender of the protagonist's control of her sexual expression to her masters. There was quite a bit of whipping and a touch of bondage in the original, but it was mostly about fucking on command, so I kept to that theme. I've made zillions of bondage videos and magazines, and plan to make lots more. My intent with O was a bit more psychologically-focused. EZ: You’ve been collaborating with your current partner, Nina Hartley, on a line of instructional “Guide To” videos from Adam & Eve, a few of which I’ve reviewed here. What’s it like working with your lover? Ahem. Nina and I are legally married, and though we still treat each other as lovers, we are a husband and wife team. As such, our collaboration is truly delightful. Though we come from slightly different starting places, we are both non-monogamous and genuinely enthusiastic about the power of sexuality to enhance people's lives. Our work together is fun, exciting and virtually free of conflict. We've known each other nearly 20 years now and find ourselves completing each other's sentences both on and off the page. EZ: Do you come up with ideas together? IL: Sometimes. We each have our own priorities. She's more about polyamory and spreading the gospel of sexual liberation to the masses. I'm more about providing validation to those who have already adopted a non-conformist sexual identity of some kind. EZ: The two of you have covered a lot of ground, from Sensual Domination to Threesomes. What area is your favorite? IL: Among the Guides, we have some favorites, although it's less about the topics than about the chemistry we managed to catch between the players. We both love the Multiple Orgasm Guide and the Female Ejaculation Guide. The Masturbation Guide is much hotter than you might expect. We think the Ultimate Sex Party, How to Strip for Your Partner and Erotic Bondage Guides are lots of fun. Also think the Guide for Bi-Curious Women came out great. And the Spanking Guide won an award that I think it really deserved. EZ: And what topics will you be dealing with in the future? IL: Coming up, Sex During Pregnancy, How to Give a Successful Orgy and Advanced Anal Sex Techniques. EZ: We’ll be looking forward to those! Thanks for your time, Ira! IL: My pleasure. [Written Feb. 2007] |
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