Marilyn Chambers R.I.P.

Marilyn Chambers
April 22, 1952-April 12, 2009

I was deeply saddened to hear of Marilyn Chambers death earlier this week. She was one of the bright and shining lights of the late 70s-early 80s adult film industry. These days it seems like she is best remembered by a pairing or two with the legendary John Holmes. But that was just a blip on the radar of a career that brought a bit of class to a "genre"" that is often derided and considered unsavory.

The pornography of the 21st century has proven to deserve the negative adjectives often applied to it. There's no sense of adventure, as it's all been done before. No ambitions (realistic or not) that something truly innovative is about to explode into mainstream culture. No attempts to place explicit sexuality within the context of anything more serious than some guy's best friend walking in on him and his gal getting it on, then nonchalantly joining in. Or a gaggle of girls congregated around a coffee table talking about the sexual exploits they've enjoyed with their men(with obligatory flashback) before deciding, en masse, to explore lesbianism (with obligatory male-free living room orgy scene).

I don't mean to suggest that such things were absent from the porn created in what has been called "The Golden Age of Adult Films". Then, as today, there was a demand for it. Yet it seemed that the Golden Age producers, writers, directors, stars were shooting for much more. Like Burt Reynolds' character in "Boogie Nights", realistic about what he's done and is doing, but dreaming of taking his "art" to the next level. He wants to make a "serious film", and one gets the sense that it can actually be done. Maybe not in the USA, but entirely possible in a country with less inhibited sexual mores.

I don't think that any "Golden Age" movie ever rose to such a lofty height, but anyone who remembers it and can compare it to what is produced today will confirm that at least the people TRIED.


Which is all to say that Marilyn Chambers played a huge role in that free-spirited "movement". She was a gorgeous modern beauty with an athletic body that she exploited to amazing effect. She was obviously quite smart, and even more obviously secure with her self and her choice to be an adult movie star. She didn't star in all that many films, actually...but the ones that did feature her became classics..."Behind the Green Door", "Insatiable", "Inside Marilyn Chambers"...Not exactly Academy Award material, but nevertheless the cream of the crop of the embryonic adult film industry (I think it's telling that no one uses the term "Adult films" anymore...what you've got now can only be called "porn").

As of this writing a cause of Chambers' death had not been released. She will be fondly remembered.

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