Blog 7

Boogie Nights by Paul Thomas Anderson is a script that deals with the graphic nature of the pornography industry in a very graphic way.  I can't really say I enjoy a script about pornography and cocaine, but with its success in the film world, Anderson must have done something right.  The rise and fall of most of the main characters seems to have been of their own making, Dirk's due to his addiction to cocaine and his arrogance, and Amber's because of her addiction and her criminal record.  The fall of Jack's porn empire was not his own making, however, as his funding was cut after Colonel James was arrested for child pornography.  One would expect a film dealing with such mature subject matter as the pornography industry and drug addiction to have a real "downer" ending, but Dirk's reconciliation with Jack at the end forges an ending on more of a happier note, though the audience is most likely scarred by the graphic journey they have just taken.  

1.  Why do you think Anderson chose the porn industry as a subject for his movie?

2.  Do you think the graphic nature of the script was necessary because of the graphic nature of the subject, or do you think Anderson chose to include it for a different reason like style, or simply to be controversial?

-Kyle Deason