Private Dicks: Men Exposed

Here is a funny background story about this documentary. Alan Abel is a legendary practical joker and hoaxster - some still remember him for his legendary "pants for pets" campaign c. 1960 that featured (then unknown) actor Buck Henry as the spokesman for the fictitious organization.

Anyway, apparently the producers of this documentary put out want ads seeking men with very small penises to be interviewed. Alan responded, claiming to have a two inch penis, and wore underwear when interviewed. Only after the documentary was finished and had aired did Alan confess his little joke, after a viewer of the show on HBO recognized him.

This was discussed in Internet newsgroups right after it came out, and oddly Jonah Falcon seemed really angry by it. (I see now there was a news article in the NY Daily News around March 19, 1999 discussing the whole thing, which Jonah included in a rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc posting on March 20, 1999)

Tom Rombouts, Los Angeles

I watched this by accident, I was just flipping through the channels. So, I thought that asking men about what they think about their penises, what they do with them, etc... is all dumb. I think that they should not put this on tv, because little kids can see men sitting in full frontal nudity at 11:00 at night. Maybe it should wait until 1:00 am?

It was okay, I guess, but they included the fraud (Alan Abel) way too much. The second half was really dull. The producers made the entire thing seem way too depressing -- I wish they'd have made it more open and fun, instead of so heavy-handed. And why didn't EVERYONE drop trou? It seemed weird some guys were nude and others weren't.

I saw this documentary last night on cable for the first time and I was a little surprised. They finally showed male frontal nudity. Guess what, the Earth didn't open up and swallow everyone. It's not such a taboo subject.

I also couldn't guess why there were some guys who were naked and some that were not. I didn't get that.

I think this was the first time in all of the 40 years, outside of a porno movie, I've seen mens dicks. I don't think there is anything wrong with the dick and the male body - I think their beautiful in there own way.

We need more shows such as this, because I'm really getting tired of turning on my television and seeing tits and t**t all the time.

I had a lot of fun being interviewed in the documentary -- and enjoyed being a total showoff (grin).

However, I was disappointed that the documentary was so slow-moving and, frankly, downbeat. It seemed too "tragic-seeking". A

A lot of people told me they wished they'd seen more of me, and I did have a lot of views about such topics as anti-circumcision. They also couldn't understand why "that old guy" (Bruce/Alan Abel) got so much time.

Ah, well. When you watch it, look out for me, and relax. It's just a documentary. :)