The Ever-Changing Life of Sex Toys on the Silver Screen

By Amy Balfour

When it comes to mainstream movies, the introduction of sex toy images has always been inevitable. Film itself was created to appeal to the universal human fascination with watching others: voyeurism. The narrow nature of the camera's lens automatically turned its subject into a fetish object, and that object was the human form, specifically, the female form in most cases. In a way, the invention of moving picture technology was the invention of a sex toy.

Fritz Lang's 1927 sci-fi epic Metropolis hinted at the sexiness of objects, both human and otherwise, by displaying a very sexy female robot dancing erotically in front of hundreds of men. Durand Durand, the villain of the 1968 film Barbarella, sentenced the heroine (Jane Fonda) to death by multiple orgasms. Barbarella was placed inside of the giant "Excessive Machine" and "tortured". The camera stayed on Barbarella as she "endured" multiple orgasms at the electronic hands of the giant machine. Eventually, Barbarella caused the machine to malfunction as it could not withstand her infinite desire. The film shed light on the female capacity for pleasure, but unfortunately, Barbarella was violently attacked many times throughout this film, possibly as "punishment" for this trait. Violence often accompanied images of sexual exploration and nowhere more so than in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, 1971. The film mixed sexual exploration and giant dildo art with rape and gory violence.

One of the easiest ways directors found to sneak sex toy references onto the screen was through kink. If the character was kinky and strange, the audience members didn't necessarily have to feel like he/she represented them in any way. A famous and popular kinky character was Tim Curry's cross dressing dominatrix in Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1975. Later, Madonna would drip painfully hot candle wax on Willem Dafoe in Body of Evidence, 1993. Soon James Spader would spank Maggie Gyllenhaal's behind to a deep crimson in Secretary, 2002. While these films did a lot to expose alternate forms of pleasure, they kept them peripheral to everyone else. Using objects and play in the bedroom was still depicted as unusual.

In order to truly create a feeling of acceptance around sex toys, filmmakers first had to force their audiences to accept masturbation. Films that approached this subject with a humorous, tongue-in-cheek attitude may have had the greatest effect on getting audiences to admit that they, in fact did, get the joke. In Fast Times at Ridgemont High, 1982, Phoebe Cates turns a carrot into a kind of sex toy by giving Jennifer Jason Leigh and impromptu lunchroom lesson in fellatio. In The Great Outdoors, 1988, two wives joke about the pleasures of the spin cycle when one of them asks, "Have you ever seen whiter whites?" In 1989's Parenthood, writers gave audience members a creative cover story for their vibrators by calling one "an electric ear cleaner." The funnier the moment in the film, the more the audience members could laugh at themselves and their own embarrassment. A recent film that certainly may have comforted many a young man about following through on a strange impulse was American Pie, 1999. Watching Jason Biggs defile a pastry in his mother's kitchen could make any teenager feel more normal. Laughing at our normal desires may slowly have the greatest effect on alleviating our fear of them.

The Sex toy industry owes a lot to the silver screen. It has been our mirror for the past century, revealing the countless ways sex toys and sexuality make their way into all our lives.

Amy Balfour has been copywriting for Topco Sales since October 2006. This is her first time working in the adult industry. She also contributes monthly to the Novelty News.

Topco Sales co-sponsoring the Penthouse Lingerie Party

As the manufacturer of Penthouse Toys, Topco Sales is co-sponsoring the Penthouse Lingerie Party to kick off the International Lingerie Show. Hosted by the gorgeous Penthouse Pets, the party will be held at the very hot Light nightclub at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 15th, at 10:30pm. Music will be provided by DJ Crooked. Attendees will be treated to samples of the Penthouse Body Collection as well as a variety of other tantalizing treats. Proper dress is required. To RSVP click here.

Adam & Eve Pictures Held An Open Casting Call For Big-Budget Feature To Be Shot In Hawaii!

By Desiree Duffie

On Tuesday, March 6, 2007 Adult powerhouse Adam & Eve Pictures held an open casting call for new female talent to be in their upcoming big-budget feature "Eden". Daniel Dakota has been tapped as director and shooting will take place mid-April of this year.

"This is our biggest project so far this year and we are doing everything we can to make it special" says Executive Producer Meredith Christopher, "We are looking for the hottest girls in the business to add to our already stellar line-up for this shoot. Not just girls who shoot hot sex, but girls who can make a bikini thrilled that it's a bikini!"

Topco Sales is buzzing about the big budget production and Polita Barnes, Topco Sales Licensing Manager, says "Such a huge movie is sure to inspire Topco Sales to create some great new items for Adam & Eve Signature Toys!"

Adam & Eve Signature Toy line has been manufactured by Topco Sales for over ten years and is one of the premiere licenses of Topco Sales. To see the full line of products, click here.