The second feature at the Parkway was "Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy", a documentary film. Sweet wanted to see this and this it was a good excuse to make our first trip to the Parkway. For some reason he thought I would have some qualms about it because it's about the pornography industry. Hey, I have nothing against porn, I just don't want to be in the same room as my friends jacking off to porn. Actually, the bigger objection I had was that this movie starts at like at 22:00 and ends close to midnight. I didn't want to stay up that late.

So what did I know about Ron Jeremy? He's one of the big male names of the porn industry. Granted, there aren't that many males in the porn industry, though you'd think lots of guys would jump at the chance. It's just not easy having sex in front of a camera. Like a few other occupations that people think are easy (actor and model come to mind) -- it's really not that easy. To be good is hard.

I've heard that Jeremy is a nice guy for the porn industry. Backhanded compliment that it is, it also underscores the negative image of porn. I'm sure that there are mean people, people who would sell their mothers for a buck, women who are oppressed, men who are oppressed. But it isn't as bad as most people think. There are people who want to do this. There are production companies who are conscientious because it's good business sense. There are people who watch porn who are not degenerates.

I saw Jeremy on The View. The ladies sort of ripped into him, keeping in mind that their hostility can be subtle. Even Star Jones who had invited him on was at best neutral and tried to keep an open mind. Barbara Walters wasn't there, as is the usual case. But Jeremy came off as a nice guy. Smart, as he did go to college and got his teaching credentials. Relatively humble and quite honest without being vulgar.

So the documentary goes over his life and career. He first came to the limelight when his girlfriend submitted a photo of Ron to Playgirl. They used his real name so his parents got a bunch of calls. His dad was cool with it, but he did warn Ron not to use the family name again so Ron used his middle name as his last name. That picture in Playgirl got him a couple of offers and since the teaching thing wasn't working out too well (and let's be honest, the teaching thing doesn't work out too well for most teachers) he accepted that offer and a legend was born.

The things that make people interesting (and consequently make documentaries interesting) are the flaws and idiosyncracies, and Ron Jeremy certainly has them. He's cheap -- not so much in the welches off of other people way though there's a bit of that, but more in the he doesn't spend money on himself sort of way. Jeremy has a lot of money and he still lives in a dumpy apartment and drives an old Pinto-like car. Hey, some people are like that.

What makes him endearing is how hard he tries to get into mainstream pictures. Ron Jeremy will do anything, play any role, he likes meeting celebrities and partying and socializing. He usually gets little roles where his character is killed off or maimed horribly and there are directors and producers who try to put him in their films. The problem here is that the higher ups veto people from the porn industry, especially the more famous ones. So he ends up on the cutting room floor an awful lot. Still, he tries and I can appreciate someone doggedly going for his dream.

I found this to be a pretty interesting documentary. It wasn't dry, wasn't vulgar, and it was rather low key. There is some humor and some nudity and risque language (again, not enough for me to consider it vulgar but I live in California). The director made Ron Jeremy into a person, one is who mostly happy with his life and certainly someone who I wouldn't dislike personally. If you can watch it I'd recommend seeing it.