The Decade In Porn: Joanna Angel Looks Back On 2000-2009

As the first decade of the 2000s draws to a close, Fleshbot's sitting down with adult industry influentials to learn how the business of pleasure has changed over the past ten years. Our next expert: Fleshbot Supreme Commandress Joanna Angel.

In addition to serving her Fleshbot consituents, Joanna's been running groundbreaking altporn site Burning Angel since she founded it with a few friends in 2002. We checked in with Joanna to see how the alt genre—and industry at large—have changed since she first stripped off for the web.

At left: A young(er), less tattooed, and introspective Joanna Angel.

Fleshbot: Adult entertainment in 2009 looks a whole lot different than it did in 1999. In your opinion, what's been the single biggest change this decade?
Joanna Angel: I wasn't in porn in 1999—I was in my first year of college and I knew nothing about the industry at the time. However, just in the years I have been in porn I have seen a lot of changes. There were probably more changes in porn this decade than there ever have been. I would say the biggest change is the image of the porn star. If you look at the porn stars who were popular in the 90's, and the ones who are popular now... it's a complete difference in looks, and personality. If you look at the more popular girls today—like Jenna Haze, Sasha Gray, Belladonna, Alexis Texas—they are all natural. They could walk down the street and blend in with the other hot girls on the street—they don't look like a different species of people who belong on a separate island. Not to say there aren't unnatural boobs in porn anymore—however, the image of the porn star has changed too. Porn stars in the 90's were completely untouchable. No one knew what their personalities were like at all.... it was almost like.... no one was supposed to. Now people really get to know the porn stars they look at through MySpace and Facebook and Twitter—even in the movies themselves, people include more interviews and behind the scenes than every before. In the 90's, the image of the porn star was a very mysterious thing—like they were trained to just look hot and fuck.

At left: "Burning Angel: The Movie," Burning Angel's first movie.

You started Burning Angel in 2002 with a couple of friends from college. How has the site changed since the early beginnings?
Jeeze. It has changed a lot! We went from being one website with about 5 photosets that were updated every 2 months or so (along with band interviews—those were always there)—to a network of 6 websites that get updated with photos daily, and videos weekly, along with message boards, blogs, and an entire community. It basically went from a weird hobby to a career. We're not just a porn site right now—we're a porn company. As much as we have changed though, the theme of the website has stayed the same and you can tell that I am still the same person that I always was....I'm just a little smarter now.

At left: "The Re-Penetrator," released in 2005.

Burning Angel is seen as one of the foremost examples of "altporn." Has the altporn scene evolved/changed much since it first began? What's been the biggest change?
I think altporn is still growing and it hasn't hit its peak, and it will still go through more evolving and changing. When BurningAngel first started, we just had photos on there. It wasn't until a few years later where we started adding video and became a hardcore porn company. The idea of altporn used to only be associated with pinup style photography with alternative models.... now I think "altporn" has actually... well.. become porn.

At left: "Porny Monster," released in 2006.

You're a prominent female director and business owner. Have things gotten easier for women in power in the adult industry? Harder? Or are they about the same?
I think that aspect has stayed the same. I honestly don't notice the hardships of being a woman business owner that often, because I just don't let it be a problem. I think girls have a lot of power in this industry and they always have, it's just up to them whether they chose to use this power to do anything constructive or not. In the recent times, more women have taken more control over their careers.... I think porn attracts less lazy people these days than it did before. In general, I just think people now treat this more as a business and less like a party—I think there was just too much money in porn in the 90's and no one ever had to think of a plan B. I don't think the girls had any idea that that money would ever disappear. These days people don't have that delusion anymore, and it has made everyone (girls included) work harder and smarter.

At left: Joanna Angel, hard at work.

The internet has obviously had a huge impact on the adult industry. What's been the best change the internet has brought to the adult marketplace? The worst?
Well, I am a product of the positive things the internet has done. If it wasn't for the internet, I wouldn't have been here at all. I was in college when I started my website. My roommate and I met in our school dining hall and brainstormed how to do this. We didn't even think about going to Los Angeles and trying to set up a meeting with Hustler or something. That was completely unfathomable. In the old days, the only way to make it into porn was if you found a way to team up with one of the big companies. The internet has made it possible for perverts across the world to make their own movies and have an easy way to get it out there. You don't need a fancy distribution deal anymore to call yourself a "pornographer". The downside is [that] it has become almost a little too easy to make a porn.... so everyone is making porn, and as a result, the market is saturated and there is just way too much of it out there. And of course.... dun dun dun (put some creepy music on)—the worst thing the internet has given way to is tube sites and torrent sites that just have endless amounts of free porn. I mean, that's cool for your average Joe out there looking to jerk off—but it's not great for the people trying to make a living off this. However, music and mainstream Hollywood has suffered from the same problem and I am sure it will be fixed one day soon.

At left: "Cum On My Tattoo 2," released in 2006.

Has anything changed about the performers who work in the industry? Is a different kind of talent attracted nowadays?
As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot more natural beauties in porn now than there ever were before. I also think that performance is a lot more important now than it ever was. The girls in the movies now really fuck their brains out... and I feel like some of the older pornos it looks like the girls are just lying there. I feel like the only qualification to do porn in the 90's was to be really really hot—and if you weren't hot, well you should go to your local plastic surgeon and fix whatever is slightly imperfect about yourself. These days, you need to be dirty and actually love having sex.... if you don't.... you will get less work. You can't really just survive on looks alone anymore.

At left: "POV Punx 2," released in 2008.

Has public perception about the adult industry changed much since 2000? Is adult entertainment more accepted, less accepted, or about the same?
I honestly think it's about the same. There is a lot more porn now—which has created more porn fans.... as well as more haters. I don't think there will every be a point in time where you can sit at a dinner table and have someone say "I'm a receptionist" and someone else say "I'm a porn star" and everyone will just act completely normal and act as if the two are equal. Porn will always be a little taboo and shocking.... if it wasn't... well it just wouldn't be any fun anymore now would it?

At left: "LA Pink," released in 2009.

Any thoughts on what the industry will look like at the end of the next decade?
That is a scary thing to think about but—hopefully—all the free porn on the internet will be regulated somehow and we can all get out of this hole that we're in. I have faith in my industry and I think everyone by the end of this decade will find a solution to the problem. I think everything will be a lot more community based, and while I don't think DVD's will completely die, I do think that there will not be nearly as many of them coming out. I think companies will start putting all their content online, and save their best stuff for DVD, so it's more of a collectors' item than anything else.

At left: Joanna Angel...hard at work.