Pornhub Releases Its First Ever Non-Porn Movie
American pornography site Pornhub is adding a very special new feature today. That feature is a documentary by conceptual artist Leilah Weinraub, titled Shakedown. The movie is a stream-of-consciousness, non-fiction narrative piece, focusing on the experiences of men and women engaged in the lesbian strip club scene in Los Angeles. Shakedown has been featured in exhibits at the prestigious Whitney Museum and the MoMA over the last three years. Ladies and gents, Pornhub is now home to a piece of fine art.
In 2019 alone, the site received 115 million visits per day, but the company would not disclose just how many of those visits were made by men vs. women. According to Variety, Weinraub’s film is partially in effort to generate more female interest in the website. “There’s a cool opportunity right now to present films in the art space, there’s more openness to diversity and content, and a different sort of storytelling,” Weinraub said.
That’s all well and good, but why Pornhub? A site that’s known ubiquitously for pornographic content? As stated by Pornhub’s brand director Alex Klein, that image is trying to change. “This film is part of a larger general commitment Pornhub has to supporting the arts. We want to be seen as a platform that artists and creators can use," said Klein. "For us, premiering a feature length film is a first. We’re very excited about it.” Klein’s use of the word “first” suggests that more artistic pieces like Shakedown will appear on the site in the future. How long before Pornhub joins the ranks of Hulu or Netflix?
Shakedown is available for free viewing on Pornhub for the month of March before moving to the Criterion Channel, and then to iTunes by summer.
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