Lasse Braun, rape scenarios, and Swedish censorship: a case study of two 8-mm porn films featuring rape. Issue 1 (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Larsson, Mariah
• Is Part Of: Porn studies. Volume 4:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 23
• Page End: 34
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: 8-mm pornography -- Lasse Braun -- rape -- violence -- censorship -- Sweden; Pornography -- Periodicals; Pornography -- Law and legislation -- Periodicals; Pornography in popular culture -- Periodicals; Pornography -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Pornography -- History -- Periodicals; 363.4705
• DOI: 10.1080/23268743.2016.1240949
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2326-8743

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article examines rape scenarios in two pornographic 8-mm films by Lasse Braun: White Fantasies / Black Power (1969) and Cerimony (1971). Furthermore, it begins an exploration of Lasse Braun, an important figure in late-1960s and early-1970s pornography. Finally, because both films were censored by the Swedish National Board of Film Censors, the article considers their specific national-historical contexts including the legal situation for pornography in Sweden and the shifting discourses on rape in the 1970s, to open up a discussion of whether the elimination of violence in pornographic representations actually makes them less misogynist. The censorship decisions clearly echoed anxieties about race and gender provoked by these two films. A closer look at the films reveals a knowing approach, not only to sexual fantasies, but also to contemporary political and aesthetic movements.