No History, No Imagination: Reflections On My X-Tube "Haters"
As many of you already know, I post clips from my movies on X-Tube from time to time, and I never cease to be amazed and amused by the hostility and ignorance of so many X-Tube users in response to some of my movies (usually the ones starring me with the boys). Now I fully understand and respect that my interracial videos aren't everyone's cup of tea, but what astonishes and infuriates me the most is the expectation and demand that all gay erotica depict young, attractive guys engaging in passionate, mutual sex. If the guys aren't screaming and moaning like they're starring in one of those late-night Cinemax movies - if there's even the slightest hint of reluctance or nervousness or resistance on the part of one or more of the models - then the movie's accused of being "creepy," "disgusting," "morally reprehensible," and I'm criticized for "raping" and "molesting" the poor helpless black boys.
The older/younger dynamic alone repulses a lot of people, and God forbid the video feature a horny older white man getting his hands on younger black boys. I'm not naive - even though most of my X-Tube critics don't come right out and say it, I know the fact that I'm white is what provokes many of the most hostile reactions.
Of course most of the guys that fall into that category are hypocrites. They express outrage about the fact that Shyne looks scared or disgusted or reluctant while I'm eating his ass, but don't have any problem with straight porn where older, unattractive guys take pleasure from the bodies of much younger girls who are clearly only giving up their pussies and assholes for the paycheck. Or black-produced gay porn glamorizing rape and violence, i.e. "thugs" robbing and "raping" other black guys (I've even seen scenes where actual handguns are used as props!).
More than the racial issue, however, I think a lot of my critics are just plain ignorant about the history and diversity of gay erotica. It's really sad, actually. A lot of the younger guys in particular have been raised on such a bland and limited porn diet of eager, mutual sex between equally attractive guys around the same age. It seems to me that they suffer from a complete lack of imagination when it comes to porn, and a total lack of awareness about the significance and popularity of things like sex between older and younger males, sex for money, reluctance, coercion, corruption, even exploitation, throughout the history of gay erotica.
Hell, they're not even unique to gay erotica. The same themes are popular in straight erotica as well - innocent virgins being "deflowered," naive small-town girls being "corrupted" by rich older men from the city, broke and/or desperate females performing sexual favors for money or employment, etc., etc. - the list is virtually endless.
For me, it's the story behind each sexual encounter that fascinates me more than the actual sex. The challenge, the pursuit, the conquest.
And that's why it's so depressing and frustrating for me when so many guys settle for predictable porn completely devoid of erotica's most exciting elements - and then become hostile and self-righteous when they're confronted with anything that breaks from that norm!
P.S.: I do believe there's a widening generation gap when it comes to porn knowledge and tastes, but I don't want to generalize too much. My favorite fan mail comes from young black guys in their late teens and early 20's who confess (usually via private emails or X-Tube messages) how much it turns them on to watch me enjoying the boys in my movies. Some of them seem surprised and even a little bit guilty about it. It's unlike anything they've seen before, and they just can't get enough!
The older/younger dynamic alone repulses a lot of people, and God forbid the video feature a horny older white man getting his hands on younger black boys. I'm not naive - even though most of my X-Tube critics don't come right out and say it, I know the fact that I'm white is what provokes many of the most hostile reactions.
Of course most of the guys that fall into that category are hypocrites. They express outrage about the fact that Shyne looks scared or disgusted or reluctant while I'm eating his ass, but don't have any problem with straight porn where older, unattractive guys take pleasure from the bodies of much younger girls who are clearly only giving up their pussies and assholes for the paycheck. Or black-produced gay porn glamorizing rape and violence, i.e. "thugs" robbing and "raping" other black guys (I've even seen scenes where actual handguns are used as props!).
More than the racial issue, however, I think a lot of my critics are just plain ignorant about the history and diversity of gay erotica. It's really sad, actually. A lot of the younger guys in particular have been raised on such a bland and limited porn diet of eager, mutual sex between equally attractive guys around the same age. It seems to me that they suffer from a complete lack of imagination when it comes to porn, and a total lack of awareness about the significance and popularity of things like sex between older and younger males, sex for money, reluctance, coercion, corruption, even exploitation, throughout the history of gay erotica.
Hell, they're not even unique to gay erotica. The same themes are popular in straight erotica as well - innocent virgins being "deflowered," naive small-town girls being "corrupted" by rich older men from the city, broke and/or desperate females performing sexual favors for money or employment, etc., etc. - the list is virtually endless.
For me, it's the story behind each sexual encounter that fascinates me more than the actual sex. The challenge, the pursuit, the conquest.
And that's why it's so depressing and frustrating for me when so many guys settle for predictable porn completely devoid of erotica's most exciting elements - and then become hostile and self-righteous when they're confronted with anything that breaks from that norm!
P.S.: I do believe there's a widening generation gap when it comes to porn knowledge and tastes, but I don't want to generalize too much. My favorite fan mail comes from young black guys in their late teens and early 20's who confess (usually via private emails or X-Tube messages) how much it turns them on to watch me enjoying the boys in my movies. Some of them seem surprised and even a little bit guilty about it. It's unlike anything they've seen before, and they just can't get enough!
Posted by Michael Galletta at Sunday, June 07, 2009 6:05 PM 
Categories: More About Michael Galletta, More About The Movies
Categories: More About Michael Galletta, More About The Movies
Michael,
You have to consider the source and then remember the saying "you get what you paid for". I do love the people that share on xtube but it's usually the ones that only subscribe to view other peoples stuff that whine and bitch and criticize the most. So therefore the range of people is much larger and since it's pretty much free the quality of people on there will vary also and that variety will be wider. Basically it means that you will get dumber idiots that have nothing better to do than bitch and moan about all the things they don't like that someone is giving them for free. My mother taught me to not say anything if all you have is criticism. Usually when I see complaints on someones video or photos I click on the name and 9 times out of 10 they will have NOTHING on their site. So like I said before you let them upset you too much consider the source and the quality of that source.
On another point about people bitching about you being in videos, I'm guessing that most of it is displaced anger from being jealous of you. If they are watching the videos then they are obviously attracted to your subjects (smoking hot black guys) and see you doing what they wish they could be doing and they get jealous and that comes out as bitching about you. I myself find it fascinating to watch you with the guys. I can feel your heartbeat increase as you actually fulfill my greatest fantasy by being able be with such gorgeous guys. To actually be able to feel those firm caramel cakes of heaven. To kiss those succulent lips and hold those incredible bodies and finally to be able to taste and feel those beautiful dicks. I watched the videos with Shyne and to me it truly looked like he was enjoying himself more than he let on because when you guys were kissing he had that lost in the moment look and most of the time he was rock hard and we all know hard-ons don't lie. Plus I think he was just looking into the camera so us the viewers could see his beautiful face.
Bottom line is you are doing an amazing job and I will always be a fan and I will always wish I could love the guys you find for your videos because they are all hot. Don't pay attention to a few pissy bitches that only know do one thing well... bitch.
Most of us love you and the guys and will do so forever.
Brian J aka delmaroo on xtube
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Thanks, Brian, for your words of support and encouragement! Reading your comment totally made my day.
You make a good point about considering the source and context before getting too upset by negative feedback on X-Tube. And you're absolutely right, 90% of the assholes leaving critical comments don't post any photos or videos of their own. Many of them even add to their "favorites" the very same videos they publicly denounce as "creepy," "disgusting," "rape," etc. That always cracks me up
Negative feedback used to upset me when I first started making videos, but I've learned over time that one has to have a thick skin to survive and succeed in this business. I've received death threats and I've been told I should put a garbage bag over my head when I'm in the videos. I try my best just to laugh and remind myself that *I'M* the one living my dream and getting my hands on boys as fine as Shyne, Suspense, Cortez, Jay, etc., not my "haters."
I think you're right about a lot of the hostility being nothing more than displaced jealousy (intensified for some by the fact that I'm older, less attractive, and white). Thankfully there are plenty of guys (and even a few women) like you who understand that my interracial scenes are best enjoyed by envying and identifying with me - fulfilling your fantasies vicariously through me - rather than resenting or hating me for enjoying the boys.
Thanks again for sharing your perspective, Brian, and I hope you'll post comments on the blog more often!
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There will always be haters out there...I've even had a few comment on my blog.....Just keep doing what you do Michael. Eric
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There are a lotta hatarz out there who will do what eva they can to fuk up a good thing. If u like and enjoy what u do then keep on doing it. Somebodi will always hate but thats their problem
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Keep doin what ur doin man. All the vids r hott....shit i would even like to see more interracial vids...luv to see hott white bottoms takin on the black tops. Got any hott white bottoms comin up in any of ur scenes?
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Thanks for the support, STLKing! I'm glad you're enjoying my movies.
I prefer watching white boys as tops (something you don't get to see all that often), but the more common interracial vids with black guys fucking white guys can be really hot as well. I'm talking to a couple cute white boys right now, and you might just see one of them getting fucked one of these days.
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michael at one time i was a very large fan of your productions, but as a black man, it pains me to see the word "thug" thrown around so much on this website, and the fact that these men are treated like senseless pieces of meat. Furthermore, that erotic cartoon posted above is at the most disgusting and racist. I'm calling for all african-american men to boycott this website and I'll do it publically. This is a disgrace to black men. Please quit referring to these young men as thugs!
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If I actually thought ALL black males were "thugs," then you'd have a valid reason to be upset. But that's hardly the case. The only boys described on my website as being "thugs" are those who actually CALL THEMSELVES "thugs" in their interviews. For some of them, it's simply an image of toughness and machismo they wish to project; it's more of a mentality than anything else. Others have actually been involved in gangs, sold drugs, spent time in jail, etc., and engaged in other criminal behavior that makes them "thugs" in the eyes of society.
If you have a problem with the fact that some black males refer to themselves as "thugs," that's one thing. But don't get all self-righteous and start attacking me for characterizing my models the very same way they characterize themselves! (In the context of an AMATEUR website where the boys are just being themselves).
I don't refer to models like Dragon, DJ, Eureka, or Michael as "thugs," because doing so would be both dishonest and laughable. Good erotica usually relies on broad themes and stereotypes to grab our attention and tap into our most intense fantasies. OF COURSE Shyne is much more than a "thug" and Dragon is much more than a "schoolboy." But I'm making PORN, dammit, not PBS documentaries or high-brow cinematic art! The term "thug" is simply part of an erotic shorthand right along with schoolboys, jocks, country boys/rednecks, nerds, military studs, fratboys, and a thousand other easily recognizable (and intensely arousing) stereotypes in gay porn.
You accuse me of treating the guys in my movies like "senseless pieces of meat." Again, let me remind you that THIS IS PORN!!! Every hot guy you've ever jacked off to in a porn video has been a piece of meat, someone you've sexually objectified for your personal entertainment. If you feel guilty about that, it's your problem, not mine. And you should stop watching porn altogether instead of singling out my movies for your hypocritical "boycott."
If anything, I move beyond that objectification by letting you get to know the boys in my movies through lengthy pre-action interviews and behind-the-scenes footage that highlights their unique personalities and shares their personal real-life stories. That's hardly the approach of a producer who views his models as "senseless pieces of meat."
You're entitled to your opinion about "Message to the Emperor," but calling it "disgusting and racist" is taking your "political correctness" to an absurd and repressive extreme, in my opinion. As I've stated many times elsewhere on this blog, I have little patience for guys like you who demand "political correctness" in porn. If anything, porn is one area where I think it can be liberating and therapeutic (not to mention fun and arousing) to explore social taboos, stereotypes, and "politically incorrect" fantasies.
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If you think my website is a "disgrace to black men," then by all means stay away and never come back! There's certainly plenty of bland, predictable, "politically correct" porn out there for self-righteous and racially-paranoid guys like you to enjoy.
But calling for all black men to boycott my website seems a little bit melodramatic and hypocritical to me. Unless you're willing to put your money where your mouth is by boycotting Flavaworks, Thugporn, Chocolate Cream, Thugzilla, Papithugz, ThugSeduction, Hypnothugs, Thugboy, and just about every other black gay website and studio that uses the term "thug" in their titles and advertising.
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Obviously you're upset, but as an african-american its not only hard when people automatically make assumptions about me because of my race, but it further angers me when educated people take advantage of people and encourage the behavior. There's nothing positive about being a "thug". You're not the only one guilty, music executives do it all the time but go unchallenged.
And yes, I am calling racism in that cartoon. Black slaves basically raping an innocent little white child (yes he's 18 but portrayed as very boyish) sounds very early 1900s.
Shame on you Michael for your insensitivty, and the worst thing is that you are very educated. I hope you do more for these young men than just throw money at them for porn. It has nothing to do with being pc, but it has to do with respect.
For you to be upset with someone trying to out suspense you clearly don't feel its "just porn"
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If someone assumes you're a "thug" simply because you're an African-American male, that's wrong and you have every right to be upset about it. But the situation you're upset about has absolutely NOTHING to do with me or my movies. The only guys I refer to as "thugs" are those who describe themselves as "thugs" in real life. If you have a problem with that, take it up with the young black males embracing that identity.
Honestly, you don't seem very familiar with my blog OR my movies. It seems like you're just looking for an argument. Because most of my models aren't "thugs" at all - that's why one of my website's main taglines is "Bringing you everything from straight thugs to schoolboys....". In other words, there are many different types of black guys, and my website will feature most of them.
We're obviously not going to agree about "Message to the Emperor." I think there's a lot of erotic potential in stereotypes and social taboos (racial and otherwise), and I believe that erotica/pornography is one area where people should really leave their "political correctness" at the door.
The ironic thing about your criticism of the Oliver Frey cartoon is that the imagery in the cartoon (animalistic black "tops" with passive white "bottoms") is precisely the kind of predictable erotic stereotype in interracial gay porn to which my own movies offer an alternative. Yet many black guys seem to PREFER the stereotype in the cartoon (which I still acknowledge can be very arousing), while despising anything depicting black males as sexually submissive.
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paying for people to have sex with you is prostitution.
you're a predator...enticing young men by throwing dollars at them but not being concerned about what thereafter.
That cartoon is racist. EZ "Dawg" needs to get a life and step up and realize that our young men are being preyed upon. Just because someone says i'm a thug doesn't mean that you need to describe them as such. And as far as being "my models" why are there only 3 guys in rotation.
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For somebody "boycotting" my website, you sure seem to visit it a lot, LOL!
I'm through arguing with you. You clearly just want some attention, and I've already given you more than you deserve. There are plenty of boring, conventional, "PC" porn sites out there that won't offend your fragile/paranoid racial sensibilities, so good riddance! Let the boycott officially begin
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You may have opened yourself up 2 some frustration and pain by doing a blog... im not really in2 blogs and group chat cauz sometimes people can bring a lotta drama and stupidity in2 the convo.... lemme say this again... if u enjoy what u do and its not hurtin anyone then enjoy urself and move on... as a black man i am not offended because i know the guys u get in your videos wanna do it, get paid and look for the most part like they r really havin a good time...in other words they enjoy sex and dont mind showin it... i luv watchin shyne and dragon doin their thing and wish i was between them. If anybody find porn of this type offensive then stay away... u shud be smart enough to do that... but if u enjoy what u see then dam... just watch and enjoy and do whateva cums natural...lol.. Michael.. dont have a heartattack replying to everybody... enjoy the moment!!!!
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Thanks, EZDawg, for your advice and encouragement! Don't worry about me...I know I might get heated in my blog entries and comments from time to time, but don't worry, I'm not having a "heart attack," LOL. (You'd probably call "911" if you ever heard some of the arguments my family has around the dinner table
I chose to have a blog because I enjoy writing about my experiences as a porn producer and sharing my thoughts about gay porn in general. I also love interacting with the people watching my movies, even when the feedback is sometimes critical. But just because I take time out to explain and defend what I'm doing doesn't mean I'm not still enjoying every moment
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all the shit u been gettin made me get back on the site... and dam am i glad i did....thanks 4 sharin and keep it all cumin...mmm.. um er i mean coming...lol. and stay happy and safe!!!!
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LOL....I'm glad all this back and forth was good for something
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Sex is a multi-layered experience. It can be just for fun and it can be really serious. It can cross generations and races as well as being political. I could go on and on and on.
You must ignore the supposed critics and film what YOU enjoy. Because chances are, the passion you feel will show through versus trying to film porn to please the masses, which might fall flat.
Personally? I say fuck 'em!
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I'd love it if you had more white tops on black boys, I think that's HOT!! That's REALLY whasup!! Especially a bad, cocky azz white boy who's really masculine <3. I don't care if they str8 or gay, just as long as they COCKY!! Believe it or not it's always been my fantasy to get fucked by a hung, ripped muscled up white boy, it really turns me on!! If you can get some dudes like that, all man, I'D LOSE MY MIND!!!
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I definitely plan on bringing some hot new white boys to BBA! I'm not really into beefy, super-muscular guys (regardless of race), but I will definitely do my best to find some hot and COCKY white "tops" just for you
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