Sweethearts from Europe (Video Art Holland)

[Caroline-NL]

A short review of the dutch " Sweethearts from Europe " series.

What is the idea behind the " Sweethearts from Europe "?

The concept was developed in the mid-90s, when the dutch teen porn company, Video Art Holland, wanted to enter non-european markets too. Because of our old dutch law, the minimum age for porn wasnt 18, but 16 ( § 240 ). Their famous "Seventeen" porn series was produced only for the european market, where it was legal to distribute porn with models over 16. But many grey area sales and unlicensed exports where made, without the approval of Video Art Holland, also US/CAN tourists bought some videos, getting quite a lot of trouble, when the national custom service detected this. Because of the strict § 2257 laws, it wasnt possible to export 16 or 17 material. US legal advisors even warned before the use of the title "Seventeen" alone in the States, because it could be illegal too.

(The title : "Yesterday, I was Seventeen", seems to be the most provocative you can use in US porn) So they created a sampler series with the best teen porn scenes, where only scenes with models 18+ are included. You can be sure, that all of these DVDs are legal under US/CAN law. All proofs of age were checked and re-checked. Its a little ironic, that the NLs had to change their laws too (Thank you, Uncle Sam), now they can only produce 18+ material too. So what was developed as a series for US export only, is now a regular "best of" series for the whole european market.

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Not only dutch teenage girls are on these DVDs, but many scandinavian girls, especially danish, swedish, but also from Finland and Norway, Belgium, England, France, Italy, etc.

The spirit of these teen porn movies can be best described as " Girls just wanna have fun ". You dont get the professionalism of US porn, and some of the models arent as perfect as US models, but they are incredibly beautiful and natural. They enjoy what they do and many girls play with their real-life partners or girlfriends/boyfriends. You will find no degrading talk, no mysoginistic stuff, its the exact opposite of Max Hardcore/Gonzo porn. The girls are always the driving force behind the sex and they control the sexplay, they arent objects of lust, but subjects of lust.

Background music is very nice, sensual, sometimes funny, but always in the background. Especially interesting is the use of very strong primary colours, it reminds me of pop art. Sometimes you even detect a picture of Andy Warhol or Roy Liechtenstein on the wall. Sometimes dull boy group posters. Joy of sex here isnt simulated, but real. Years ago, Ive talked with one cameramen of this series, and he said, after the scene was finished, he shouted: "cut. that was it", but the two fucked again, because they had fun. They just didnt stopped. Models told me, who later worked for other studios, they liked, that there was no time pressure at all. They just did, what they did at home, or they tried crazy things, but had always the chance, to do this without a camera running.

I think all of the elements described, are the reason, that this series was one of the few porn series, that had a large (young) female fanbase. Its a series you can watch with your girlfriend. But its NOT feminist porn. Its normal porn as it should be. Funy, pure lust, no primitive talk, no hate, no degrading, just consensual good sex. Nothing more and nothing less.

Now 10 volumes are released, if you can find one, rent it. US dealers can order these DVDs, but they arent cheap ( $ 30-35 ), because they still have lower print runs, as the usual "Gonzo-Mumbo-Jumbo-women-hating-stuff". Before Ive discovered these porn movies in 1994 in Amsterdam, I was totally anti-porn, like almost all german girls/women. This series convinced me, that porn hasnt to be primitive, mechanic, idiotic. That girls/women havent to be treated like trash bins, as Ive seen in german porn. That emotion, caring, love and kisses AND porn arent contradictions.
Hope you will enjoy this superb series - as much as I did and still do.

[Caroline-NL]

http://img264.imageshack.us/my.php?i...wgirls1sk5.jpg
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[Caroline-NL]

Even if you dont have seen them yet ( and you only have the covers I posted here as a first impression ), I am very anxious to know, what you think about the concept and if you are aroused by the girls.

If such a series would had existed in the USA in the 80s or 90s, had it helped to get more female viewers, or not ? Or is it just based too much on a dutch/scandinavian way of life ?

Thank you !

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Caroline-NL Even if you dont have seen them yet ( and you only have the covers I posted here as a first impression ), I am very anxious to know, what you think about the concept and if you are aroused by the girls.

As I understand it, the concept is to present girls who are performing on camera in a natural way and enjoying what they are doing with little direction. To me that sounds like someone who attends a swinger party with a video camera and just shoots whatever happens.

No doubt, that would appeal to some viewers such as voyeurs. However, I don't think that is what most porn fans look for. I suspect more porn viewers look to XXX movies to see specific female behavior that they don't normally get in real life. If the female talent was acting "natural", wouldn't that be the opposite of this?

If such a series would had existed in the USA in the 80s or 90s, had it helped to get more female viewers, or not ? Or is it just based too much on a dutch/scandinavian way of life ? Thank you !

I would say no in the 80's or 90's. However, I think the Internet has helped porn expand it's female audience. Few females used to look forward to visiting seedy adult bookstores or the "back room" at the local mom and pop shop to rent porn back in the old days. Now females can explore it much more easily in a private way without feeling embarrassed or shame.

[Bigboi]

While porn is more widely accepted most of the consumers are men. In the years that I have visited my local video store. I have seen less than 10 females enter the adult section which is in a separate room. Most of those ladies came in with a bf or so. I do believe a lot of women now look at porn on line but I doubt many are buying porn.

[Caroline-NL]

Snowman wrote: "(...)with little direction. To me that sounds like someone who attends a swinger party with a video camera and just shoots whatever happens."

No, there is a direction, but the girls talked before with the director /cameraman, about the story they wanted, how they wanted to play the scene, etc. Director has to pay attention, that the scene isnt getting totally out of control ( too short or too long ), the cameraman has to pay attention, that the girls dont block the picture with her long hairs, when they enjoy a blowjob. Its a sort of mildly controlled and chief edited "full creativity".

I was mostly disappointed by swinger videos, because the sex was too long, or you couldnt see something, because the camera man was very bad. Often too many did too much. I prefer to watch 2 or 3 enjoying sex.

"look to XXX movies to see specific female behavior that they don't normally get in real life. If the female talent was acting "natural", wouldn't that be the opposite of this?"

Hmmm, hmmm. Looking at the dutch girls Ive met in the 90s, I would say no. Acting natural wasnt the opposite of good and intense sex. The overacting and the artificialism ( sounds like a "bloom" word ) in most US porn, also the perfection of the women, was always a little strange to us.
It was a sort of Hollywood porn.

We hadnt the shame to enter sex shops, and it was not necessary to buy sex magazines there. In the 90s, you still could buy hardcore mags on the newspapershops in NL. By law, they were only allowed to sell them to adults (+16), but girlfriends of mine bought them with 14 or 15. Nobody asked for an ID, as long as they shelled out the money. Now only the Seventeen mag is still sold - shrinkwrapped, with a tame cover. And the christian rights want to ban this too.

And now I shut my mouth an am looking forward to reactions by other members.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Bigboi While porn is more widely accepted most of the consumers are men. In the years that I have visited my local video store. I have seen less than 10 females enter the adult section which is in a separate room. Most of those ladies came in with a bf or so. I do believe a lot of women now look at porn on line but I doubt many are buying porn.

I worked in a mainstream music store that rented (relatively tame) adult videos for about 3 years in the mid to late 80's. The buyer for the chain mostly ordered classics, features, and Vivid titles. Once in awhile, they got "crazy" and ordered something much harder like Dark Brothers' titles such as New Wave Hookers and Between the Cheeks(!). The adult section was in a cubby hole in the back corner walled off with display racks from mainstream selections. Very few women would ever rent adult tapes. Once in a while younger women with a boyfriend would venture back there, but 98% of the time, it was men alone who would rent them. And keep in this mind, this was not some seedy adult store in a blighted area. This was a clean regional chain in prime locations with about 400 stores at it's peak.

As far as adult bookstores go, I think it is also relatively rare to see females shop there. When I've seen them, they usually look at clothing or toys and most of the time it is with a boyfriend. Most of the women I've seen wandering alone around the actual video sections were hookers!!!

[Caroline-NL]

In preparing my scientific work ( "Teen porn in Europe"), I made a statistical evaluation and counted the percentage of female porn consumers in Amsterdam in Dec.1999. It was around 13% in general, with the exception of the movies by Video Art Holland, where the percentage was 35%.
But this was the highpoint - or should I say climax - it dropped significantly in 2000 and later. I have no hard statistics now, but would estimate 9% in general and 14% for VAH movies.

[Caroline-NL]

Originally Posted by Snowman I worked in a mainstream music store (...) Very few women would ever rent adult tapes. (..) but 98% of the time, it was men alone who would rent them. (...) Most of the women I've seen wandering alone around the actual video sections were hookers!!!

Is this a representative sample for the whole United States, or was your music store in Utah, South-Carolina or Alabama ?

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Caroline-NL Is this a representative sample for the whole United States, or was your music store in Utah, South-Carolina or Alabama ?

This is based on my personal observations only at 2 stores in Arizona. The chain was called The Wherehouse and was based only in the West Coast (California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Arizona). I don't think the area I worked in was particularly conservative as you suggest in terms of adult material (or strip clubs for that matter). Quite a few places in the local area rented adult videos at that time and I don't recall any of them getting hassled. Also, back then The Wherehouse was quite a powerful music and video retailer:

*** The company also embarked on a program of expansion. At the time of Hartstone's death [in 1982], The Wherehouse had 130 stores; by the end of fiscal 1985, that number had grown modestly, to 142. That year, Business Week named Wherehouse Entertainment one of the 100 best companies in the United States with annual sales of less than $150 million. Two years later, however, The Wherehouse had more than doubled in size, to 295 stores, and sales reached $225 million. At the same time, the chain proved quick to adapt to radical shifts in recording technology, phasing out long-playing records as compact discs became the wave of the future. The company also moved into sales and rental of videotaped movies, and, by 1987, it had become one of the two largest video retailers in the nation, vying with the East Coast-based Erol's Video Club chain. (Full article from Funding Universe)

Yes kids, there was a time when Blockbuster and Hollywood video did not rule video rentals! In retrospect, it was really rather bold and risky for The Wherehouse to stock adult product in all it's stores. I can only imagine someone high up the Wherehouse chain loved porn for this happen.

I think the percentage has probably gone up slightly, but I very seriously doubt females make up 14% of porn consumers here. I would estimate the number is 5% at most in the USA. When I say this, I am not talking about sex toys. I am talking about dvd sales and rentals.

If you think about it, this forum itself provides good evidence of what I am saying. Female participants here have been few and far between, especially if we do not count the starlets.