There seems to be a new development in the soft-core pornography industry. Perhaps, porn producers (like John Quin), writers and directors have realized that if the softcore pornography is to have any hope of competing with hardcore pornography, then the former must be more entertaining than anything produced in previous years. As a result, we have softcore porn films that are very different and far more interesting than anything seen in the 1980s or 1990s.
One example of this new wave of softcore films was Co-ed Confidential which successfully combined comedy with pornography, with the result that you had genuine laughs between each sex scene. Another recent example was the under-appreciated series Forbidden Science. Forbidden Science, in many respects, is the most ambitious softcore series I have ever seen. In the beginning, it seems to be a series about Stephanie White (played by the beautiful Vanessa Broze) who is murdered by her husband and then returned to life as a clone, renamed Julia White, by the corporation 4ever -- and that is not all. She seems to have been one of the leaders in the company and possesses information, relating to new memory chip technology, that makes her uniquely valuable to 4ever.
But just when we figured that out, new sub-plots and more mysteries appear in the series. It is almost as though we reach the point where we think we know everything and then suddenly there is a new development, a new complication. A mysterious explosion that cannot be traced. A strange liaison with an android. Unexpected murders. The fact that we are not quite sure what to make of Collin Sommers (played with surprising effectiveness by Levi Freeman), who may or may not be leading the company; who appears as some sort of charismatic and overly confident corporate hero in the beginning, but then turns out to be far more complicated than we originally thought.
With a plot like this, some may wonder why the series did not get a higher rating. The reason is that many of the sex scenes get in the way of the plot. The characters sometimes have sex at the most unlikely moments. For example, there is a scene where a kidnapper is pointing a gun at Julia White and orders her to find out what her former professor knows. Instead of helping them, Julia has virtual sex with her former professor and tells them nothing, which is something that probably would never happen in a kidnapping situation. On other occasions, a particular episode becomes so cluttered with sex scenes that we end up waiting impatiently for them to end so that we can get back to the story. To be sure, softcore pornography is all about sex; that's its raison d'etre. But with a plot as interesting as the one in Forbidden Science, excessive sexploitation spoils things.
Lastly, most of the performances are not as strong as they should be. Some of the episodes sound a bit too soapish to be taken seriously, especially those by the female cast. Levi Freeman is really the best thing in this series and without him it probably would not have held up as well as it did. The other women, however, are for the most part pretty faces.
In short, Forbidden Science is hugely ambitious and has tremendous potential, but ultimately it falls short of achieving greatness because it lacks (with some exceptions) a cast to convey this complex material, but also because it cannot quite balance sex with its fascinating science fiction premise.
One example of this new wave of softcore films was Co-ed Confidential which successfully combined comedy with pornography, with the result that you had genuine laughs between each sex scene. Another recent example was the under-appreciated series Forbidden Science. Forbidden Science, in many respects, is the most ambitious softcore series I have ever seen. In the beginning, it seems to be a series about Stephanie White (played by the beautiful Vanessa Broze) who is murdered by her husband and then returned to life as a clone, renamed Julia White, by the corporation 4ever -- and that is not all. She seems to have been one of the leaders in the company and possesses information, relating to new memory chip technology, that makes her uniquely valuable to 4ever.
But just when we figured that out, new sub-plots and more mysteries appear in the series. It is almost as though we reach the point where we think we know everything and then suddenly there is a new development, a new complication. A mysterious explosion that cannot be traced. A strange liaison with an android. Unexpected murders. The fact that we are not quite sure what to make of Collin Sommers (played with surprising effectiveness by Levi Freeman), who may or may not be leading the company; who appears as some sort of charismatic and overly confident corporate hero in the beginning, but then turns out to be far more complicated than we originally thought.
With a plot like this, some may wonder why the series did not get a higher rating. The reason is that many of the sex scenes get in the way of the plot. The characters sometimes have sex at the most unlikely moments. For example, there is a scene where a kidnapper is pointing a gun at Julia White and orders her to find out what her former professor knows. Instead of helping them, Julia has virtual sex with her former professor and tells them nothing, which is something that probably would never happen in a kidnapping situation. On other occasions, a particular episode becomes so cluttered with sex scenes that we end up waiting impatiently for them to end so that we can get back to the story. To be sure, softcore pornography is all about sex; that's its raison d'etre. But with a plot as interesting as the one in Forbidden Science, excessive sexploitation spoils things.
Lastly, most of the performances are not as strong as they should be. Some of the episodes sound a bit too soapish to be taken seriously, especially those by the female cast. Levi Freeman is really the best thing in this series and without him it probably would not have held up as well as it did. The other women, however, are for the most part pretty faces.
In short, Forbidden Science is hugely ambitious and has tremendous potential, but ultimately it falls short of achieving greatness because it lacks (with some exceptions) a cast to convey this complex material, but also because it cannot quite balance sex with its fascinating science fiction premise.
