A poignant, profoundly strange documentary about what it means to live a double life. For over 30 years, Karen and Barry Mason ran a gay porn bookstore in LA. They also produced hardcore gay pornography on the side. But Karen, who was devoutly religious, was ashamed of her lucrative career.
She did not tell her rabbi about it. Or her friends. Or her three kids. Even now, she’s squeamish about what went on. “Stop filming!” she yelps, as the camera scrolls down a list of films, including the intriguingly titled, “Damn You’re Hairy #2”.
The film’s director, by the way, is Karen and Barry’s daughter Rachel, who ferrets around her parents’ once forbidden kingdom with gusto. She’s clearly tickled by tales about “Vaseline Alley” and offers memorable clips of porn star Jeff Stryker (the Masons’ muse; whose bionically bouncy hair was surely his best feature).
She is fascinated, too, by the US goverment’s attitude to sex and censorship (poor Barry was stung by the FBI and almost ended up in jail). It’s her mother’s self-censorship, though, that Rachel wants to get to grips with.
Like Crumb and Capturing the Friedmans, Circus of Books delves into the sexual secrets of a suburban clan and offers one surprise after another. The ending is upbeat and, whatever your views on porn, will make you want to give Karen a really big hug.
Netflix from April 22
