When asked about her change in career choice from famous 1970’s porn star to erotic magazine editor, Gloria Leonard said, “The difference between pornography and erotica is lighting”. Thinking of a sound stage, it’s easy to imagine a film set with big lighting apparatuses and crafted film angles demanded by a director. Erotica is crafted in much the same fashion, with staging, direction, and editing. But the spotlight is on the characters themselves and their personal, sexual journeys and sensations.
What’s So Different?
As people, we read for many reasons but two of the most common among them are empathy and escapism. Those two feelings are often the strongest working emotions you’ll experience while reading and they often work in tandem with erotica. Erotica allows the reader to be on a much more intimate level with a character. You’re with them from the beginning of their sexual journey and you’re aware of them as people in their own right. As a reader, you empathize with their feelings of joy and hurt. With that first person perspective, it’s easy to imagine yourself as the character. It’s much harder to do that with visual pornography as the actors you’re viewing don’t look or sound like you do.
Our attachment to celebrities is more along the physical side of our psyche, porn stars included. We are more attached to their facial expressions, bodies, and often their voices. We know nothing that’s going on inside their heads and often, our attachment comes when we imagine their personalities and how they might feel or react to our presence in their lives. This is just as true with porn actors or actresses: We see them get into new situations or positions or outfits, but they still remain an actress or actor who is playing a part. Sometimes we want a sense of voyeurism – something you don’t get often with erotica – but the video is self-contained, for you finish viewing when the film is over. An erotic series can follow characters for multiple books or individual stories with the same characters you’ve grown attached to and may be constantly aroused by, giving them several new experiences.
Erotica is the Foundation, 3DX is the Bridge
3DX bridges an interesting gap between the two genres here of visual porn and erotica in that the creators often strive to create interesting and unique characters with stories you come back to, whether there are words involved or not. The 3D aspect means their creators spend time and thought on their every stimulating movement. A character’s body language sends a message with every movement and each character is specifically posed to create meaning and lend structure to a scene. In this way, 3DX draws you in no matter which genre you like better and especially if you enjoy both of them. It eliminates that impersonal aspect of an actress playing a part and what’s left is the character, their thought process, and their physical pleasure.
One of my personal favorite 3DX comic series is The Stone Sorceress by Nok’Tus. The studio’s main characters have a true life of their own, as well as relationships, magic, and very sexy red hair. Sara Slane and her golem lover, Stoney, use sexual magics to protect unsuspecting citizens and still have a great time. With both comics and animated movies, it’s a notable and interesting fantasy series and a great bridge between erotica and 3DX, giving you interesting, unique characters and visual stimulation.
This Month’s Recommendation
The Verdantia Series by Patricia A. Knight is something I recommend this month as a great series and an interesting resource for our 3DX creators. Though BDSM books are the most common type of erotica series, this is a fantasy ménage à trois focusing on one woman and two men and the power of their relationship, emotionally and sexually. Called the Tetriarch, their relationship goes through five books and is both a roller coaster of action and sexually charged and detailed situations. As a basic read, it’s worthy of your time and investment. As a resource, it’s an interesting take making not just one leading lady your 3DX comic focus, but a trio of characters and their partners and situations.
Erotica is another outlet of sexuality and following a character through their different sexual impulses and desires may be revealing for the reader or may just be a great time. It is a genre that can be used for an extended exploration of fantasies and I hope that following an erotic series proves the point that erotica is just as valuable in telling a story as lighting or props are to a porn film and you have a great time doing it.
Let me know in the comments if you read any of my recommendations from May and what your opinions are!
Richard
June 24, 2016The idea that popped into my head was that Erotica is a story that happens to have sex scenes in it; Pornography is sex scenes that are somehow connected into a story.