ABSTRACT
In 2005, the editors and reviewers at AVN released a volume entitled The AVN Guide to the 500 Greatest Adult Films of All Time (Ramone et al. 2005). A few things struck me immediately about this collection. First, the vast majority of the films recommended were made after 2000. Second, the titles are ordered alphabetically rather than chronologically, with no list or index that would enable readers to track films by year or by era. And, third, raincoater-friendly gonzo pornography is by far the most mentioned and lauded genre. Ironically, AVN’s strikingly ahistorical approach to tracking the best pornographic films of all time says something important about the history of the genre: “Adult entertainment” has changed so drastically over the past 40 years that the insiders of today aren’t sure what to make of what came before, and are not always enthusiastic about it.
