Shane said: I wouldn't say that pornography distorts anyone's mind, any more than violent movies (etc.) do, either. But if you're fed a steady diet of the stuff, with no corrective factor from other material (a healthy sexual partnership, a fondness for great literature, psychotherapy...), I think it might have some bearing on how you view reality, relationships, etc...
Dana said:
I think this confuses cause and effect. No one is 'fed' any amount of pornography, s/he chooses to consume it, and the type of pornography selected usually reflects the person's existing preferences and fantasy life.
Absolutely right. But I'd raise three points:
1) Sometimes B7 fandom reminds me of a trip I made to Amsterdam a while back. The first day I was there, I was walking around with a big grin on my face, looking at all the dirty shops, museums, etc. By day three, I was just totally deadened to it; sort of like "oh God, not sex _again_." Likewise, when I first got into fandom, I was like "good God, somebody's written a story about Avon and Blake having sex." Now, I'm so totally deadened to it that I just don't question it any more... unless something happens to make me think.
2) Porn's a fun thing. So are cigarettes. So is chocolate. But all three are addictive, and are best used in small doses.
3) Slash, however mild, only works if you take it out of the context of the series, cause it's not canon. I think there's been a couple of threads on the subject of the distortion of the programme lately which have proved this more or less conclusively.
Shane
"Avon, you were my only friend." --Blake