Le Freak So Chic

In the 1970s, there was a moment when it seemed like adult moves and mainstream movies might merge -- where actual hardcore sex movies would go mainstream. Much of this had to do with the twin successes of Deepthroat and Last Tango in Paris, both of which not only hit at the box office but became popular amongst the "beautiful people", the trendsetters, known as "porno chic."

In NYC, these movies were very popular, and the Village Voice even wrote an article about this supposedly burgeoning "movement" in 1973. It seemed to be the dawn of a new era, a whole new culture, a truly liberated world. 

Nope.

If you've has seen Boogie Nights or The Deuce, you know that the concept of "porno chic", of adult and mainstream movies merging, of the freaks and the squares combining, died a quick death with the rise of videotape and Ronald Reagan in 1980s. So that's why it's fascinating to read about the height of this moment back in the 1970s when being freaky was very chic -- and when NYC was still a freaky place.