Listening to: Me and Michael by MGMT
My writing of this post began when last month I posted Log 14 (Journaling My Way Through the Pandemic) on my Instagram stories. A friend of mine saw this [photo below]:
… and he asked, “Can you send me the link to this porn?” And I did. Then another asked to send the link to him too. And I did. And finally, the third who asked commented that the film was actually technically good [for a porn video]. That’s my consolation: I don’t go into the habit of sharing porn clips even to friends, close though we are. At least— at least!— I sent a clip that’s sensual and beautiful. But this made me ponder: Can I critique porn the way I can critique a film film— like in a Roger Ebert kind of way?
Please note: there will be no links to porn in this blog post— or on any other posts I will publish for that matter. You’ll just have to search it on your own :)
Once, I had a teacher who is also a nun. In class, she said what’s most detrimental about porn is that its viewers would regard something as sacred as sex as animalistic, lustful and greedy activities. With the greatest respect to a Sister but animalistic— carnal, instinctive, physical— is sacred. I believe it to be so. And in ways big and small, lust and greed are notions that may be associated with sacredness as well. But that’s too deep a topic; let a philosopher connect that.
I’ll add that her comment was positively reeking with heteronormativity. I conjecture that my nun-teacher thought porn was obscene because of physical roughness and profanity tendencies. But an abundance of sensual, “soft”, porn does exist. Just a couple of examples are works of pornography director Noel Alejandro and the sweetest OnlyFans pornstar Tyler Wu. Today, I’m going to attempt critiquing Videoboys.com’s The Big Ride with casts Justin LeBeau and Jett Black.
What’s hard about critiquing porn, I discovered, is that credits (save the actors) are rarely shared. We do not watch porn to appreciate those who have produced and directed them; we watch for the sex. However, I did find some incomplete descriptions of the actors and the film itself on the website iafd_dot_com. A fun fact I’ve read is that Justin “gave the most enthusiastic vote” in nominating Jett to be his partner for the short film. Who wouldn’t?
The Models: Justin LeBeau & Jett Black
It was crush as first sight when I first saw Justin LeBeau. And Jett Black… I wanted to be him (or maybe just have his beautiful hair). LeBeau did identify himself as straight. His first time having sex with a man was after a house party, at “four o’clock in the morning,” he confessed in one video. I believe he went into porn not to gain a long career (which he could have, I think), but to earn just enough and eventually leave.Black was once a dancer who performed for Danish royalty. The ballet institute he was with, Black alleges, kicked him out upon discovery of his porn sideline. Both have worked for CockyBoys and Videoboys.com, having been mostly active during the early 2010s. I believe both of them stopped doing porn in 2013.
Below is the only [non-pornographic] clip I could find about Justin (with 7-year-old comments):
Jett does have a YouTube account however his last post was 9 years ago. The last tweet he posted was in 2013. The clip below is a 2013 news uploaded just this year by the LGBT Canada in The Media.
The Big Ride
In the opening scene, a beautiful stranger tries to catch a ride to Montreal. A car finally pulls over. Here we see the first headshots of the angelic faces: Justin, the lone traveler, and Jett, the welcome help.
In French, the hitchhiker asks, “Hey hi. I’m going to Montreal, where are you heading?” To which the driver responds, “Yeah. Sure. I mean, I’m passing by anyway.”
Though short, the dialogue in the car provides the watchers ample information, and meaningful conjectures, about their lives, class and wealth. Jett begins by asking an obvious question to strike up a conversation: “So, you’re going to Montreal?”
“Yep,” Justin says courteously.
“Yeah?” Jett responds, and both giggle unnecessarily. As though both were aware of the value of ritualistic pleasantries.
“Do you live there?” Jett asks.
Justin then replies the first interesting truth about this story: “I don’t live anywhere for the moment. Just live, day by day, you know?”
In his interviews, manner of speaking, attitude and style, Justin always gave off a kind, hippie/hipster, traveler vibe. It shows in The Big Ride. With the way he dresses, one can tell immediately that here was a young man who chooses comfort more than trend. He exhibits a skateboarder look, loose and airy. In this clip, he’s wearing a roomy, striped tank top (displaying those beautiful arms) with navy green slacks and a slash a the back of the knee. His hair is gloriously wavy, tousled and unkempt.
In contrast, Jett exemplifies the rich-boy vibe. His austere and chiseled face matches perfectly with his crisp, casual suit. Monochrome and simple yet sophisticated clothing, always a technique of the rich to blend in. And yet, make it still appear they are of a different class. Beautiful hairstyle, sleek and pushed back.
“Do you have a place to stay?” Jett asks Justin.
“Not for the night, no.”
“My parents are not at home, if you want to stay.”
“Very sweet of you,” Justin laughs.
We generally don’t view porn for the performers’ acting skills. Pornstars, unlike acting stars, also get labeled as “performers” or more recently, “models.” I will say that porn or not, the casting period is most crucial to check if the performers certainly have the chemistry. But mainly, We seek their charisma. We judge and fantasize about their bodies, skills at sex, and of course, how much their performances can inspire lust in us.
Justin’s body fits his personality. Carefree, laid back and a bit bored, his physique, though tight (mostly because of youth), is not because he goes to the gym but due to casual outdoor activities and an active life. I believe in his case, it’s skateboarding. Jett’s physique, on the other hand, is achieved. His perfectly toned muscles are a product of rigorous training (we can presume from dance). In short, perfect casting.
There’s actual flirting in The Big Ride I appreciate. In his home, Jett welcomes Justin by offering what he has: “Make yourself at home. Do whatever you need to do. Like, rake through the fridge. Have fun.” When Jett offers him a choice between the sleeping on the couch or at his room, Justin asks confidently, “Can I stay with you? for the night?”
“Yeah. We can figure that out.”
“Yeah? Make fun?”
“Yeah,” Jett laughs, “we can make some fun. Sure.”
“Yeah? Come here.”
Jett and Justin begin to make out. It’s luscious and intimate. I begin to think they’ve been fated lovers all along. Or it’s the sort of no-holds-barred freedom a person can only get with a stranger. The intimacy intensifies thanks to the close up and their sizzling chemistry: the loving eye contact, the nose rubbing, the teasing of the tongue. The film is also the perfect blend of close-up and long shot. The director put value in their bodily performances as much as their facial expressions. Credits to the POVs as well. We see the sex done on both perspectives: how Justin sees it and how Jett sees it.
What a great choice too that they decided to film in daylight. Beautiful pale taupe/ beige furniture bathed in light, not vividly heavy in any way, give the film an airy, casual feel. The quintessence of Afternoon delight.
I know one trick in porn is when actors perform the sex in a slant, angled way. They often do not go full sideways so the actual insertion of the penis and thrust are viewable. These two models achieve this and then some.
I would have thought that, with the tone the film was giving off, they would stay vanilla. It was a surprise to see that after they made love doggy style, the film cuts to present Jett’s head on the floor and legs in the air, V-shaped. Is that an advanced form of the Launch Pad? Glorious! And on and on they went.
A great strength of this film is not just the lust it provides the viewers but also the evident lust Justin and Jett receive and take from each other. They’re into each other. So apparent on their faces, no faking. Justin is mostly stoic but princely with the way he looks at and takes care of Jett. He’s eager to perform to the best of his abilities while keeping firm eye contact. Jett is joyous, displaying all sorts of euphoria.
After a fantastic session, they both lock the deed with a last, loving kiss. Jett gives a cute and great ending line: “You can definitely stay in my room tonight.” And he pulls Justin away from the screen.
I’ve watched the Big Ride sporadically for close to a decade now. The lust from this film is long gone for me. And I only watch it for their amazing chemistry and the fantast. It’s the kind of life I might never have. Always coming back because this is the best performance of both Justin Lebeau and Jett Black in their short but sweet porn career. At one point, a couple of years ago, I DM’d pornstar Jake Bass (who collaborated with Justin before) and asked if he had news about Justin, who still remains my crush to this day. He didn’t reply, of course. But it felt good to ask. I really hope them well and wish all the best for them both.
Personally, as a writer of fiction, I like The Big Ride immensely because I like imagining what comes after. I imagine Justin staying for a few days more, seeing the city with Jett. I imagine them kissing. And furiously making love as many times as they could. I imagine them exchanging numbers, Jett offering him his place should he pass by Montreal again. Jett maybe receiving photos by telegram of Justin on one of his adventures. They finally reach a disconnect. They drift apart. 40 years later, they both have different lives. But always look back on those days and wonder what could have been.
Thank you for reading.
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