Rise of internet porn forces last porn cinema in Paris to close its doors

The rise of internet porn over the past couple of decades has made adult entertainment accessible for people across generations and age groups. While effects of internet porn on people’s sex lives are widely debated, it was always bound to come as bad news for other ways of bringing porn to viewers.

Once a thriving venue catering to porn viewers, the last surviving porn cinema in Paris has finally closed its doors. The owner of the cinema decided to shut shop when sales declined to a third of what they used to be two decades back.

The Beverly Cinema had been showing vintage erotic films to customers since 1960. Its owner Maurice Laroche told Le Parisien that while they sold as many as 1600 tickets a week, they were happy to be able to sell 600 a week now.

There used to be 110 porn cinemas across France with 20 in Paris alone till 1980 and even The National Film Center had 44 screens devoted to X-rated movies. But Laroche blames the rise of internet porn for taking away all the customers.

He recalls how people aged 18 to 100 visited his cinema and a couple’s night meant the establishment would become a space for reproduction. He says now even a 10-year-old kid can watch porn.

He also mentioned an incident from 15 years back when a couple introduced him to their child who they said was conceived at his cinema.