30.10 Why was hardcore gone so long from Atlanta? I know I saw a bunch of peep shows and theatres there several years ago, and Atlanta is full of titty bars.
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This article is from the Sex Movies FAQ, by director@gti.net (The Director) with numerous contributions by others.
30.10 Why was hardcore gone so long from Atlanta? I know I saw a bunch of peep shows and theatres there several years ago, and Atlanta is full of titty bars.
The reasons were many, and what I'm about to tell you is an over-
simplification, but it'll give you an idea.
In the 50's and through the early-70's, the Baptist Bookstore was
located just off Peachtree Street, just a little south of 14th
street, and maybe three miles south of the First Baptist Church of
Atlanta, the largest Baptist Church in the southeast.
But during the 60's, the hippie days, the 10th street/14th street
area became the hippie district - an area in which drug dealers
stood on street corners openly holding up bottles of illegal drugs
and baggies of marijuana. This area became known as "Tight
Squeeze", and was no longer an area that Mrs. Whitebread Middle
America was willing to visit. So the Baptist Bookstore pulled out
and moved to suburbia, just off the Atlanta Baptist College (now
known as Mercer University) campus.
Problem was that the Southern Baptist Convention owned the building
in which the Bookstore had been located. What to do? Put the
building up for sale, but meanwhile, lease the space back out. The
space was leased, but the Baptists discovered much to their horror
that their new tenant was an adult bookstore, replete with peep
shows (8mm loops), adult magazines, dildos, you name it. Their
first action was to try to void the lease, but to no avail. They
put up a plea for legislative/law enforcement action, but their
pleas went unheeded.
Then disaster struck. The local disc jockeys discovered the
Baptists' predicament, and began ridiculing the Baptists on the
air. "Praise the Lord, and pass the peepshow! Yuk, yuk, yuk."
That kind of stuff.
Baptists don't like being laughed at on a good day, and this was
not a good day. Now they had incentive. They formed a coalition
of several churches and denominations and went looking for a weak
spot in Atlanta's government. They found one.
They found one Henson McAuliffe, Fulton county solicitor. It's
worth pointing out that whereas the District attorney prosecutes
felonies, the solicitor prosecutes misdemeanors. Atlanta rests
primarily in Fulton County. Plus, Mr. McAuliffe had a past record
of some high-visibility porn busts, and best of all, Mr. McAuliffe
was a Baptist. So this coalition leaned on Mr. McAuliffe pretty
hard. As a coalition, they formed a sizable voting bloc, and they
could support either McAuliffe or his opponent come next election
time. McAuliffe did what any elected official fond of his sinecure
would do. He knuckled under.
What Henson had done before was to bust "I am Curious (Yellow)" and
"Oh, Calcutta" at assorted theatres in Atlanta. In his first raid,
the "I am Curious (Yellow)" raid, he even went so far as to have
cops run to the front of the theatre and photograph the audience,
so that "it could be determined whether known perverts were in the
audience".
But these were high-visibility busts. These theatres were large
theatres that had once played family fare. The press had been
invited along. There just wasn't press coverage in busting tookie
little mom-and-pop operations in a tiny little building that had
once been a convenience store. The Baptists informed Mr. McAuliffe
that THEY were watching, and Mr. McAuliffe did his job as dictated
by the Baptists in a very scientific manner.
Like I said, the reasons were varied. These adult bookstores
weren't confined to an "adult district". They were all over the
place, and as gaudy, garish, and tacky as you could ever imagine.
Take an average glass-fronted convenience store. On the inside of
the glass, paint "XXX Adult Movies, Books, Magazines, and
Novelties". Flank that with a stylized silhouette of a nude woman.
Then cover it with yellow paint, then put yellow chase lights on
the inside of the glass. Repeat this decor on a sign on top of a
large pole in the parking lot. Put these EVERYWHERE. Shotgun 'em
all over the midtown/intown area.
Then there was the matter of content. Something I personally saw
in two different bookstores: On a 8mm loop - "She's only 14, and
she's discovered her mother's toy box. Watch her try out all the
toys." The subject matter did appear to be a young girl
masturbating with assorted dildos.
And on another loop: "She's 12 years old, and she's fucking her
uncle for the first time. No tits, and no hair. See the blood
when he pops her cherry." The star here did in fact appear to be
a 12-year-old girl.
This wasn't under the counter, know the secret handshake stuff.
This was right out in the open.
Lastly was the organized crime connection. These places started
out as independent small businesses. But certain alleged organized
crime figures began buying them out. Mike Thevis was the porn
kingpin of the southeast, headquartered in Atlanta. His
competitors had a nasty habit of dying either of lead poisoning or
in gasoline-fueled fires. (Brad wrote a piece on Mike Thevis which
is on loan at the at the asm library.)
All the above incidental stuff had the net effect of reducing or
eliminating any sympathy for the operators involved. If anyone
opposed McAuliffe, they would be asked, "Do you support organized
crime? Do you support the sexual exploitation of children? Do you
want one of those garish yellow-fronted bookstores in YOUR
neighborhood?"
McAuliffe managed to build a case against every single adult
bookstore in Atlanta. Then he presented them with an option: Shut
down, and I'll drop all charges. That's just what they did.
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