LOS ANGELES – Recent reports about the firing-squad execution of North Korean singer Hyon Song-wol, allegedly for participating in the production of amateur pornography, caused a media frenzy that dissipated fairly quickly. Yes, there was the expected outrage over hints that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un may have had his former girlfriend executed because their well-publicized relationship proved embarrassing after Kim’s marriage. But in some shadowy corners of the internet, even some First Amendment-loving Americans implied Hyon got what she deserved for making smut, especially in a country where pornography is illegal.
One American adult industry veteran sees the issue in a much broader context. For Homegrown Video owner Farrell Timlake, Hyon’s nonviolent defiance of social and legal taboos represented a valiant, subversive rebellion — and Hyon is hardly alone in her choice of weapons.
According to Timlake, Homegrown Video receives amateur sex videos from many of the countries where porn is banned and where its production and distribution can be punishable by life in prison or death. He said he applauds the defiance and determination shown by those who submit the videos, but he’s cautious about purchasing the content.
“Homegrown Video is in a very unique position to see the political importance and revolutionary significance of how amateur porn works into this context,” Timlake said. “We get videos from around the world. Within the past few weeks, I have received inquiries from China, Syria and Turkey.
“In situations where it is obvious the only motive is profit, then we are quick to reject [the videos] because the potential for [the content] being non-consensual is much greater,” he continued. “We look for those who do it because they believe in their right to do it.”
Timlake said he views legitimate, verifiable submissions as a form of protest similar to the clandestine orgy parties rumored to take place in Iran.
“For those involved, the risks are huge,” he said. The parties “become a political statement, a protest against the suppression of [participants’] rights. I think there is a similar form of protest in making videos.” Executions and other legal retaliation demonstrate “how a totalitarian regime — no matter if it is political, religious or class-based — controls sex and sexuality to subjugate completely the heart and souls of its people. Nothing is so universal, as well as so personal, as the freedom to express one’s sexuality; therefore, it should be held as a basic human right.”
It seems as though Americans, whose rights to self-expression are guarded by laws established during America’s own rebellion, should be able to understand the rebellious spirit of amateur pornographers who live under repressive regimes, but Timlake said many don’t.
“For some, seeing those who make porn as champions of freedom and democracy or as revolutionaries — fighting with pillows in a sense, for basic human rights —remains impossible,” Timlake said. “Unable to free the bonds of the stereotype that persists and makes people in the adult industry targets for everything from condescending disdain to being enemies of the state, many [Americans] will have a hard time embracing the notion the act of committing sexual enjoyment and exploration to recording can be considered a patriotic act.
“No one understands this better than those with the misfortune to live in cultures, societies, religions, etc., where sexuality of any kind is persecuted, where a simple beautiful act of nature can be twisted into becoming a crime against nature.”
Any rebel takes a calculated risk, and porn-rebels are no exception. Timlake said Homegrown must perform a delicate balancing act presented with videos from countries where consequence of disobeying a porn ban can be deadly.
“At Homegrown, a very fine line must be walked,” he said. “We want to support those who wish to share their intimate videos, but we do not want to have anyone suffer for it as a result. From the conservative counties of the U.S.A. — like Broward in Florida, where people are arrested for lewd conduct as a result of making amateur porn in the privacy of their own homes — to the countries in the Middle East where making porn is often a crime punishable by death, the risks must be addressed and fully understood in order for us to even think about purchasing those videos.
“We don’t want anyone to suffer for something that is supposed to be about joy and happiness,” Timlake continued. “We do believe it is their right to make these videos, and we patriotically stand on the belief that the liberation of sexuality can plant the seeds of freedom, speaking in a language everyone can understand.”
