Rocco

Let me start off by saying I'm the furthest thing from a prude. Like most men, I've seen my fair share of porn and then some. I've lived through porn's "golden era", (i.e., pre-videotape and pre-internet).

Porn used to be very expensive to buy. It also wasn't very high-def either. This so-called documentary almost goes out of its way to be as blurry as those old VHS tapes were. The documentary is structured as if you just came in the middle of something, and no background or context is provided.

It takes a hardcore subject, and illustrates gang bangs and other raw activities in such a way that it already puts into question the morality or lawfulness of what they are doing.

Most documentaries about porn or its actors often tend to portray the negative side,casting its participants as hapless unfortunates drawn together for the sake of a quick buck or infamy. The girls have Daddy issues and the guys have big dicks and unmatched libidos.

To an outsider (i.e., those who haven't seen much porn), it almost always comes as a shock. You only get to see one side of the game. It all seems like chaos and indulgence. Rocco's duality, between his sex drive and his pious Italian upbringing appears to the reason why he's left feeling empty inside. Religion has a long tradition of treating sex as sinful and vile. But Rocco made his decision early in life to satisfy his earthly needs, and deal with the morals and ethics down the road. It's all an empty gesture to claim sorrow over choosing a life of porn, screwing every single fantasy woman imaginable.

To me, it's all "first world problems". I have zero sympathy for his internal demons. Men in his position could have handled their super libidos in many different ways. To start crying the blues now just seems pathetic and dumb. There are millions of men who suffer every single day NOT having sex, or living with ED. Rocco's over-abundance doesn't move me to tears.

Just about everything in this documentary is designed to confuse, misdirect and prop up the man as a tragic character. I'm sorry, but I don't buy it. Boo hoo, boo hoo... poor old me. I'm washed up as a porn actor, and I've suffered for my craft. Sure buddy. Whatever. The way Italian men think of their mamma's as saints makes me puke, especially for those that are in the mob or make a living porking the babes. It all seems a bit hypocritical, in my eyes.

Rashida Jones' series on the porn industry is ten times better than this load of horse crap.

So he's a porn star who is obsessed with his own Mother but gets off on hurting and humiliating girls he is attracted too...... Hmm? Norman Bates anyone? He said his mother was protective and would defend him and she would go after people using various things as weapons. Who were these people and why did he need protection from Mama? To be honest my opinion of the porn industry wasn't changed by this effort. I just see damaged goods who are making a living from letting us see them mating.

I watched a couple of Rocco Siffredi porn videos many, many years ago and was always put off by his "nasty" streak. In fact, he likes the word "nasty". I hated his bullying attitude, disguised as a love of women. This is an interesting documentary regarding his decision to pack it all up. It's a shame he didn't take that decision long ago. I felt sorry for the poor, degraded victims of his particular brand of punishment. They probably have their reasons for participating. I only hope they'll learn a lesson and move on.

I don't know why he carries his idiot relative around with him to do the photography. They obviously dislike each other and he's incapable of doing a professional job. Why not hire a proper photographer? It only makes sense in the context of his being Family. A distinctly Italian thing.

So he loves his Mama, hates his partner in crime, and seems to be ignored by his kids (sensible pair of boys). What his ex-porn wife sees in him, God only knows. After watching this I felt primarily sad for his victims.

An interesting watch, as long as you read between the lines.

Pornstar Rocco Siffredi retires from porn and looks back on his career and why he quit.

Not sure what I was expecting out of this and watched out of curiosity more than anything else. Mostly, I figured it might be interesting to see what motivates people to do porn, and keep doing it, and then, looking back, what they think of the whole experience.

This documentary doesn't really shed a light on this. It tries to, but there are no profound take-aways. The reasons for quitting seem kind of phony, as if Rocco Siffredi is trying to get us to sympathise with him for being a pornstar. The introspectives just seem staged for the camera, with him saying what he thinks we want to hear.

This makes the whole thing seem quite self-indulgent, like him saying "Look at me, look at what a sensitive guy I am".

Woven through the whole thing are behind-the-scenes clips from the making of some of his movies. This jars with his "Porn is bad, I'm a family man" vibe. I guess that was the idea but the way these scenes make them gratuitous, rather than a demonstration of why he is turning his back on the industry.

Quite pointless in the end. The only thing I learned is that Rocco's cameraman is a dufus...

An excuse to show porn as a documentary and it wasn't even very interesting. I forward wound after the first five minutes to see if it got better and the answer was no!