What a wild ride 2024 was, full of uncertainties, disappointments, and opportunities. And throughout, there was extraordinary pornography to light the way.
I was still writing for Fleshbot when the year started, a position I had enjoyed since their merger with XCritic. But little did I know, my time was coming to an end. I was notified that my longstanding column, Parker’s Picks, would not continue into the new year. Times were changing, and the publishers were shifting the brand away from the sort of work that I enjoyed.
I could have called it quits, but I had been here before. Truth is, I’m in this industry for one reason: I love pornography. I’ve never known any other pursuit or passion that quite measures with the desire to study and analyze perfect pornographic masterpieces.
Porn is my Starry Night, my Ninth Symphony, and my Hamlet. I’ve written in other fields, far from the pornographic arts, and it has consistently resulted in soul-crushing and dissatisfying work. I had to stay in XXX.
”I spent 674 hours watching new porn scenes this year, and most of it was incredible!”
But then, right on cue, Austin King from PornCrush reached out with ideas for a monthly column, and Crushin’ It was born. Crushin’ It was a new concept for me, rather than looking back at my favorite scenes of yesteryear, this one would keep my nose to the grindstone, screening all of the newest porn scenes and highlighting my favorites each month.
It was and remains a spectacular opportunity and forced me to shift my focus back to the very thing that drew me to this business in the first place: watching pornography. It was like reuniting with an old friend, and I hit it with a real sense of dedication. By my record, I screened a total of 1,248 new porn scenes, narrowing them down to just over 60 picks for the column!
This was also the year I met Catherine Duffy, the founder and queen Goonette of Whoreuro. I was put in touch with Ms. Duffy while working on an article on Gooning. From the start, it was clear that she shared my seriousness and passion for pornography in addition to her love of Gooning culture.
That relationship led to a series of collaborations with Whoreuro, which has become one of my favorite places to write. More blog-like, Whoreuro has become a safe haven for more personal writing, including op-eds and retrospective pieces. It’s become a place to wax philosophically about pornographic pleasures, and I’m ever-so-thankful to Ms. Duffy for making a home for more creative work.
Later I became acquainted with the folks at Pornstar.Town, an upcoming porn project with an exciting and growing list of contributors that I’ve known across various projects in the pornoverse. I’ll be doing semi-regular features there, where I place a specific star, studio, or director in focus. While I’m still working out the details, I’m thrilled to add my name to the list of top-tier porn professionals contributing to the project!
And let’s not forget about the porn! I spent 674 hours watching new porn scenes this year, and most of it was incredible! I saw Rissa May go from a relatively unknown newcomer to one of the most beloved pornstars of the year. This was the year I finally got to see Melrose Michaels in a full-on pro porn scene with her Slayed debut.
I also was privileged to see Sky Wonderland hit the scene, fucking Robby Echo and Ryan Mcclane in her debut year. 2024 also saw the launch of LucidFlix, Seth Gamble’s solo porn project, highlighting a variety of beautiful and artistic takes on erotic film.
”Porn is my Starry Night, my Ninth Symphony, and my Hamlet. I’ve written in other fields, far from the pornographic arts, and it has consistently resulted in soul-crushing and dissatisfying work. I had to stay in XXX.”
But most exciting to me, this was the year that one of my favorite porn studios of all time returned. X-Art, a ma & pop porn project from the early 2000s and one of the reasons I fell in love with adult film in the first place began to post new content while teasing that they were, in fact, back.
This is the studio that inspired the art-porn trend that culminated in the likes of NubileFilms and Babes and certainly influenced the rise of Vixen. They reimagined art porn, gave us incredible moments like Little Caprice and Kenna James’ first male-female scenes, and helped to push Mia Malkova into the spotlight.
A Heavy Air of Cautious Optimism
Indeed, 2024 was one of the best pornographic years I can recall. While I’m optimistic and hopeful for 2025, I approach the new year with concern. Forces are at work to deny our rights to this beautiful art. While some of them may be well-meaning, new legislation and certain age verification requirements have already begun to curtain of-age, law-abiding, and paying customers access to this peaceful and loving art.
I am concerned for the businesses that I have come to love, I’m worried about the well being and livelihood of the artists and creators in our industry. But I know that love and art will endure, and as such, pornography will endure. I approach 2025 with an air of cautious optimism.
