Pornography, Portrayals of Death In

Portrayals of death in pornography depict the juxtaposition of sexuality with death. Although much literature includes the topic, the representation of death in pornography is relatively rare, as pornography constitutes intention on the part of the pornographer to induce sexual arousal. The understanding of portrayals of death in pornography and its definition are related to whether the material in question is appealing to prurient interests. This entry addresses these issues within the context of changing social mores and the evolving definition of pornography as it portrays death.

The Context of Pornography

Some contemporary media link death with pornography but as separate and distinct elements. Some Internet websites, for example, provide short film footage and claim extremity and perversion. Content does not reveal death and pornography evidenced in the same films. Rather, films of death and films of pornographic representations are offered as distinct film foci. A portrayal of death in pornography may be a fictionalized representation or a depiction of an actual occurrence of death. In the case of pornography, either representation constitutes a portrayal of death.

Arousal from pornography may be physical or psychic. Thus, to arouse sexually does not necessarily require a physiological arousal and may be entirely psychically focused. Alternatively, the intention to stimulate sexually may be unsuccessful in some individuals. But if the text is defined as pornographic in that it is designed and created with the intention to sexually stimulate the observer, the failure to sexually stimulate in some observers does not change the initial intent of the pornographic text.

Pornography is designed to stimulate the mind into considering a possible sexual activity or relationship. Portrayals of death in pornography may personify what Sigmund Freud referred to as the drive of thanatos, the “death” drive. Freud postulated that there were two distinct forces in the human psyche: libido, or the life drive, and thanatos, the death drive. Both instinctual drives are theoretically antagonistic to each other. Freud observed regular though infrequent variation away from what he assumed was a “normal”' sex aim: namely, reproductive heterosexual dyadic coitus in humans. Such variation may include gender or object variants. Other analysts have suggested that Freud's concept of sexual libido may be channeled toward any object, thereby rendering obsolete the idea of a “normal” object onto which libidinal energy attaches. The implications move from a “normal” singular focus of libido within a sexualized arena to a diversity of libidinal objects, situations, spaces, and relations.

Pornography as a text is intended to induce sexual stimulation. If one keeps in mind the flexibility of libidinal object, it may be addressed using a variety of subjects. In this regard, the possibility of the eroticization of death becomes understandable as one possibility.

Attitudes and actions in response to death are culturally specific and significant taboos surrounding death and sexuality in most cultures. Pornography may be received as a text that is intended to be sexually stimulating, or it may be read as a vehicle to instruct the novice in the realm of sexuality. For this reason pornography is often regarded as dangerous for those involved in the production of pornography as well as for the consumer.

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