WATCH: An archive of gay adult films provides a titillating look back at the desires of the queer liberation era
sexual liberation—when the LGBTQ+ community was first beginning to show how loud and proud it could be.It was a time of parades, rallies, and political activism.
It was also a time of bathhouses, swinging parties, and the early days of the gay adult film industry.It was a time where, if gay men wanted to see themselves on screen at all, they had to go to the adult, erotic theaters.Step into the time machine that is Ask Any Buddy, a nostalgic documentary from filmmaker Elizabeth Purchell that takes a look back at queer life in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, specifically through the lens of erotic films from the era.Created as a companion to Purchell’s podcast and Instagram account of the same name—dedicated to archiving the history of “fringe queer cinema”—Ask Any Buddy is a transfixing time capsule comprised entirely of clips from over 120 hardcore adult gay films.A post shared by Ask Any Buddy (@askanybuddy)“Reveling in both the fantasies and realities of post-Stonewall p*rn,” the film offers glimpses of familiar faces like Al Parker, Casey Donovan, and Peter Berlin—all from footage from Purchell’s archival collection, restored and digitized.This isn’t your typical documentary; there are no “talking head” experts setting the scene, no narrator walking you through the events of the era.
Instead, Ask Any Buddy allows the entertainers themselves—and their bodies—do all the talking.“Hi, my name is Mark,” says a grinning, square-jawed man in one of the film’s many archival footage clips. “And I’m an actor in gay p*rno movies, which is what this movie is all about.”“Ten years ago, gay p*rno didn’t exist,” Mark continues.
