Daily Inspiration Quote by Al Goldstein

Goldstein isn’t apologizing; he’s staking out territory. The blunt, ugly adjectives - “filthier,” “more disgusting” - are a preemptive strike against the polite lie that pornography must launder itself into “art” to deserve oxygen. By declaring “We make no effort to be artistic,” he strips away the alibi that mainstream culture often demands: if sex is going to appear in public, it has to wear a tasteful costume, speak in symbolism, and pretend it’s really about something else.

The intent is commercial and ideological at once. As a publisher, Goldstein is selling a product in a crowded, litigated marketplace; shock is branding. The line performs a kind of reverse sophistication: not the aspirational gloss of Playboy’s “classy” erotica, but the anti-bourgeois, anti-curatorial stance of Screw-era New York, where obscenity prosecutions and moral campaigns made “respectability” a tactical risk. If you’re going to be targeted anyway, you may as well refuse the court’s vocabulary.

The subtext is also a critique of cultural gatekeeping. “Artistic” here means “approved” - by judges, critics, advertisers, and anyone who wants to separate acceptable desire from unacceptable desire. Goldstein’s refusal says: we won’t beg to be tolerated; we’ll dare you to admit what you’re consuming. It’s a taunt aimed at hypocrisy, forcing the audience to confront the bargain they often want from porn: maximum stimulation with minimum moral discomfort.