Private Dicks: Men Exposed

Last updated

Private Dicks: Men Exposed
Directed by
  • Thom Powers
  • Meema Spadola
Starring
Theme music composer
  • Stephan Crump
  • John M. Davis
  • John Mettam
  • Andrew Ramsey
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes1
Production
Producers
  • Jacqueline Glover
  • Sheila Nevins
  • Thom Powers
  • Ann Rose
  • Meema Spadola
Running time58 min
Original release
Network HBO
ReleaseMarch 15, 1999 (1999-03-15)

Private Dicks: Men Exposed is a 1999 American HBO TV documentary on the human penis. The film was directed by Thom Powers and Meema Spadola who previously made HBO's 1996 Breasts: A Documentary , a similar documentary on the breast. [1] [2]

Contents

Plot

The 58-minute [3] documentary features 25 men [1] with age ranging from young to old, and who work in a variety of professions, some of whom are professional performers. A mix of heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual men, along with two transgender individuals, were interviewed. They were interviewed nude on a variety of topics related to their genitals and sexuality, including first sexual experience, frequency of masturbation, penis size, oral sex, libido, sexual performance, and sexually transmitted diseases. [3]

Hoax

One of the people featured in the documentary, a 57-year-old musician by the name of "Bruce", was featured heavily as having an extremely small member that he claimed was "the smallest in the world. One inch, erect." [4] "Bruce" was later revealed to be professional prankster Alan Abel. [4] HBO decided against removing Abel from the documentary and later versions of the documentary labeled him as a professional hoaxer. [5]

Reception

Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly described the film as "alternately funny and quite literally touching". [6] Eric Mink of New York Daily News calls the film "insightful" and "funny". [7]

Kam Williams reviewing the DVD in AALBC.com described the film as "excellent". He notes, "The directors were clever enough to contrast all this graphic present-day content intermittently with some tame file footage from stock Sexual Education films which probably passed as state-of-the-art instruction back in the Fifties." According to him, these interludes, which he labels as "antiseptic", "humorous", and "amusing", are "a welcome reminder of how far we've come from the days of learning about the birds and the bees in clinical presentations by a nervous nerd in a white lab coat standing in front of a blackboard with a pointer." [8] MaryAnn Johanson, writing in Flick Filosopher, asserts that it is the openness of the interviewees, not the nudity, which is significant. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Holmes (actor)</span> American pornographic actor (1944–1988)

John Curtis Holmes, better known as John C. Holmes or Johnny Wadd, was an American pornographic film actor. He ranks among the most prolific adult film performers, with documented credits for at least 573 films.

<i>Santa with Muscles</i> 1996 American film

Santa with Muscles is a 1996 American Christmas comedy film starring Hulk Hogan and directed by John Murlowski. It was released for two weeks in cinemas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Dick</span> American comedian and actor (born 1965)

Andrew Roane Dick is an American actor, comedian, and convicted sex offender. Dick was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and joined The Second City and studied improvisational theater. Dick has had a long career as a stand-up comedian; he has appeared throughout the U.S., has released several comedy albums, and has acted in television and film. Dick's first regular television role was on The Ben Stiller Show on Fox. In the mid-1990s, he regularly appeared on NBC's NewsRadio and as a supporting character on Less than Perfect. He also had two short-lived television series on MTV; these were the sketch comedy series The Andy Dick Show (2001) and the reality series The Assistant (2004). He also is noted for his behavior on a number of Comedy Central Roasts, stand-up comedy performances, and late night talk show appearances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Abel</span> American hoaxer (1924–2018)

Alan Irwin Abel was an American hoaxer, writer, and mockumentary filmmaker famous for several hoaxes that became media circuses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce LaBruce</span> Canadian filmmaker and artist

Bruce LaBruce is a Canadian artist, writer, filmmaker, photographer, and underground director based in Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judd Apatow</span> American filmmaker (born 1967)

Judd Apatow is an American director, producer, screenwriter and comedian, best known for his work in comedy films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), Trainwreck (2015), The King of Staten Island (2020), and The Bubble (2022).

In film, nudity may be either graphic or suggestive, such as when a person appears to be naked but is covered by a sheet. Since the birth of film, depictions of any form of sexuality have been controversial, and in the case of most nude scenes, had to be justified as part of the story.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirby Dick</span> American film director, producer, and screenwriter

Kirby Bryan Dick is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best known for directing documentary films. He received Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary Feature for directing Twist of Faith (2005) and The Invisible War (2012). He has also received numerous awards from film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival.

Nudity in American television is a controversial topic. Aside from a few exceptions, nudity in the United States has traditionally not been shown on terrestrial television. On the other hand, cable television has been much less constrained as far as nudity is concerned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gay pornography</span> Pornography depicting sex acts between males

Gay pornography is the representation of sexual activity between males. Its primary goal is sexual arousal in its audience. Softcore gay pornography also exists; which at one time constituted the genre, and may be produced as beefcake pornography directed toward heterosexual female, homosexual male, and bisexual audiences of any gender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human penis size</span> Measurement of the human penis

Human penis size varies on a number of measures, including length and circumference when flaccid and erect. Besides the natural variability of human penises in general, there are factors that lead to minor variations in a particular male, such as the level of arousal, time of day, ambient temperature, anxiety level, physical activity, and frequency of sexual activity. Compared to other primates, including large examples such as the gorilla, the human penis is thickest, both in absolute terms and relative to the rest of the body. Most human penis growth occurs in two stages: the first between infancy and the age of five; and then between about one year after the onset of puberty and, at the latest, approximately 17 years of age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonah Falcon</span> American actor and television presenter (born 1970)

Jonah Adam Cardeli Falcon is an American actor and television presenter. He came to international attention in 1999 because of his claim that he has the largest penis in the world, which he claims is 13.5 inches (34 cm) long when erect; Falcon has not authorized or permitted independent verification of this figure. In the years since Falcon's original fame, more credible contenders for the unofficial title of 'world's largest penis' have emerged such as Matt Barr and Roberto Cabrera.

The Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) is an annual film festival founded in 1999 and held on Cape Cod in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The festival presents American and international narrative features, documentaries and short films for five days in June of each year.

Long Dong Silver is a British retired porn star known for his large penis. He was born in 1960 in London, England, as Daniel Arthur Mead. His stage name is a reference to the fictional Treasure Island character Long John Silver.

Lisa F. Jackson is an American documentary filmmaker, known most recently for her films, The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo (2007) and Sex Crimes Unit (2011), which aired on HBO in 2008 and 2011. Her work has earned awards including two Emmy awards and a Jury Prize from the Sundance Film Festival. She has screened her work and lectured at the Columbia University School of Journalism, Brandeis, Purdue, NYU, Yale, Notre Dame and Harvard University and was a visiting professor of documentary film at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Ziering</span> American filmmaker

Amy Ziering is an American film producer and director. Mostly known for her work in documentary films, she is a regular collaborator of director Kirby Dick; they co-directed 2002's Derrida and 2020's On the Record, with Ziering also producing several of Dick's films.

<i>On the Record</i> (film) 2020 documentary film

On the Record is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering. It centers on allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Executive producer Oprah Winfrey publicly withdrew from the film shortly before it was released, citing "creative differences", severing a production deal with Apple TV+. The film premiered at Sundance on January 25, 2020, and was acquired by HBO Max, which released it digitally on May 27, 2020.

Johanson analysis, developed by film critic MaryAnn Johanson, provides a method to evaluate the representation of women and girls in fiction. The analysis evaluates media on criteria that include the basic representation of women, female agency, power and authority, the male gaze, and issues of gender and sexuality. Johanson's 2015 study, funded by a Kickstarter campaign, compiled statistics for every film released in 2015, and all those nominated for Oscars in 2014 or 2015. She also drew conclusions about movie profitability when women are represented well.

<i>Titans</i> season 3 2021 season of American TV series

The third season of the American superhero streaming television series Titans premiered on HBO Max on August 12, 2021, and concluded on October 21, consisting of 13 episodes. It was executive produced by Akiva Goldsman, Geoff Johns, Greg Walker, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Richard Hatem, with Walker serving as showrunner for the third consecutive season. Developed by Goldsman, Johns, and Berlanti, the series is based on the DC Comics team Teen Titans. Brenton Thwaites, Anna Diop, Teagan Croft, Ryan Potter, Conor Leslie, Curran Walters, Joshua Orpin, Minka Kelly, and Alan Ritchson return to the main cast from the previous season, joined by season 2 guest star Damaris Lewis and series newcomers Savannah Welch and Vincent Kartheiser. The season also introduces Jay Lycurgo, who would join the main cast the following season. It is the final season to feature longtime cast members Leslie, Kelly, and Ritchson, the final to feature Lewis, and the only to feature Welch and Kartheiser.

<i>London Hughes: To Catch a D*ck</i> Stand-up routine

London Hughes: To Catch a D*ck is a stand-up routine by the British comedian London Hughes. Largely about sex, Hughes recounts stories about her mother and grandmother having children at a young age, her career as an adult chat host and then a children's presenter, and her sexual experiences.

References

  1. 1 2 Slade, Joseph W. (2001). Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide. Vol. 2. Greenwood Press. p. 410. ISBN   9780313315206.
  2. Trebay, Guy (October 1999). "There's just one thing you need to know about Jonah Falcon. 13.5 inches (and now you do)". Out. 8 (4). Here Publishing: 83–84. ISSN   1062-7928.
  3. 1 2 "The Advocate". The Advocate: The National Gay & Lesbian Newsmagazine. Here Publishing: 81–82. March 30, 1999. ISSN   0001-8996.
  4. 1 2 "Classic April Fools Jokes". Esquire. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  5. "SHORT STORY.(HBO leaves imposter Alan Abel in documentary 'Private Dicks: Men Exposed')". Playboy . Archived from the original on July 10, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  6. Private Dicks: Men Exposed, Entertainment Weekly
  7. 'Men Exposed': Naked Truths Witty & Personal Hbo Special Reports From The Southern Front, New York Daily News
  8. Male Genitalia Uncovered, Literally and Figuratively, in Revealing Documentary AALBC.com
  9. Private Dicks: Men Exposed (review), Flick Filosopher