Though once adamantly against jumping on the bareback bandwagon, Lucas Entertainment is releasing its first condom-free film, starring Seth Treston and Billy Santoro. For those who actually read about porn, this will come as a bit of a shock, as the eponymous head of the company, Michael Lucas, has been outspoken about his disdain for bareback pornography.
Forgoing the rubber is a growing trend in the gay porn world. It’s something porn powerhouse Sean Cody has struggled with, and the popularity of Czech Hunter and Treasure Island, for example, has been sending messages to large porn producers, such as Corbin Fisher and Falcon Studios, that the people want bareback. One can only assume the pressure felt by these companies, like Lucas Entertainment, to shed their moral standpoints and give the people what they want to pay for.
The spin on this story, however, is that Treston and Santoro are real-life partners, and the video is a part of an exclusive series, implying that they won’t be doing this outside of their relationship. The message in this marketing is clear; there is no risk of a new HIV infection in the making of this video. A press release, quoted on queerty.com, paints a sort-of non-exploitative, no-risk situation.
“The physical understanding and sexual ease that comes from being real-life partners shines through in this scene,” the release states.
This is a rather different, almost conservative take on a genre of porn that seems to bask in the glorification of risk and recklessness. As such, Lucas Entertainment makes their point, but the question remains: just how subversive can a bareback film be? Is the viewer really going to be affected by the loving couple’s “passionate kissing, deep bare fucking, and comfortable sharing of cum,” as quoted in the release? Or is it another example of how sexy condomless sex can look, prime for deposit in the old Spank Bank?
The concern that viewers may be tempted to emulate the sexual practices seen in these videos is one among many that has been explored in Xtra’s two-part video report on barebacking in gay porn. While it’s debatable as to whether or not an exposure to unprotected sex may cause viewers to crave it, the fact remains that HIV infections rates are sadly high. As quoted in Xtra’s report, many models have contracted HIV in their personal lives, making the production of these films themselves a risky endeavour.
Beyond the chances the models take, the pre-screening and questioning of sexual history aren’t served up in these films and are certainly not part of the fantasy accessed by the viewer. So in the end, once the pants are dropped and the movie queued up, will the context of a monogamous relationship set these Lucas Entertainment films apart from the others? Or will it just be more tantalizingly produced bareback porn?
For more thoughts on barebacking, check out Treasure Island Media owner Paul Morris’s thoughts.
Why you can trust Xtra
