I am fully aware of the blasphemy of what I’m about to say on this very prominent blog literally and almost exclusively about gay porn and the guys who dip into and out of that world, buuuut: most mainstream porn doesn’t do anything special for me or my penis.
I find that so much of porn feels rote and familiar in a way that feels less comforting or recognizable than it does exhausting and dull. Really all that changes is the ever-rotating cast of dongs and holes that are featured (and then favorited and then frittered away the moment something new comes along). And that’s totally fine, if that’s your bag.
It’s not terribly different from the music business that way. You could easily compare so many one–hit–wonders of the pop world to the endless stream of guys who do one or two by-the-book scenes for a major studio, and then just sort of vanish or flame out on social media, never to be heard from again.
Which is what makes it so profoundly noticeable when someone decides to come after their work as an adult entertainer with seriousness, respect, and gusto. There is a very small pool of guys who appear to treat their work as work, and an even smaller pool of guys who do that and find success with mainstream content distributors (your Falcon Exclusives, your Cockyboys, and the like). These are guys who develop and maintain relationships with directors, producers, castmates, and other industry folks who, in turn, work with them because they’re great to work with. You’d be surprised at how much that factors into who gets cast in what, and who finds themselves relegated quickly to a “good luck with your OnlyFans!” and is never cast again.
Gabriel Cross is a horny lil english muffin.
One of my most favorite performers in this club is England’s Gabriel Cross. This guy doesn’t get near the credit he’s due for the decade’s worth of joyfulness, humor, and slutty English Rose charm he brings to virtually everything he touches.
I still think sometimes about the sort of nothing-special 50-minute one-off story Cross shot for Next Door Studios back in 2016, titled Dirty Step-Brother.
In the preposterously thin plot, Cross is Tom Faulk’s step brother from England (somehow – the logistics are never explained further), and he walks in on Faulk and his buddy River Elliott jackin it together on the living room couch.
Everything proceeds exactly as your porny imagination would predict, with their threesome being simultaneously sweet and implied-incest raunchy.
But it’s Cross – whose pompous and snarky introduction to the masturbating duo comes off as horny-but-scolding – that makes any of it worth watching or remembering. He has a presence and confident physicality that belies his age and stature, and a joyful enthusiasm that I believe to be impossible to fake convincingly.
Never mind that he’s actually doing some legitimate work to express emotion throughout, and relating and connecting to the men with whom he has been cast without real narrative context or plot. Never mind that he’s – dare I say this? – acting in porn. He’s convincing!
But his solo content lets Gabriel really shine, and his Just For Fans is a treasure trove of pairings that only someone who truly loved what he did would work to facilitate. If I had to make my case in court, all I would need to do is share this promo clip:
I love getting loaded 💦@thug4luvin85 👉🏻https://t.co/hP4hDJ5NAO pic.twitter.com/tGrmC6U4Eb
— Gabriel Cross (@GabrielCrossXXX) March 17, 2019
Cross wants to be here and he wants you to be here too (and he really wants Ricardo Prince to cum in him, baby!). You don’t realize how significant those two ideas are until they are lacking, and you’re watching two dudes aggressively fucking to conclusion while looking as though they’d rather be anywhere and doing anyone or anything else.
More than sick bodies, or huge uncircumcised dongs, or insatiable buttholes (all three of which Cross is masterfully in command), the enthusiasm to want to be connected to others and to show, share, and celebrate that connection is what wins my money every single time.
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Gabriel Cross is a rare breed of joy and shamelessness (the best possible kind of shamelessness – not the give-me-attention-all-the-time-for-doing-nothing / like-me-like-me-like-me shamelessness) that translates into and through his work. As a sex worker, he is a role model for sex positivity of which I don’t think we see enough in adult entertainment, and the gravity with which he approaches even the silliest projects 🤓should ensconce him as a mainstream mainstay. We need guys like Cross around and fuckin’ proud for as long as they’re ready to love it.
Tyler Dårlig Ulv is an Ontario-based blogger and professional companion. He has worked for Rentboy.com, Manhunt, and contributed to publications like Queerty and Thought Catalog. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram, or find out more about his work at his website and blog. Tyler lives full time in Toronto.
Agree! Gabriel is a little snack and he’s always present. His JFF is the only one I enjoy. Love his brit accent too.
I have to concur with what you and everyone else seems to be saying. Now, it could be that I watch a TON of porn and it’s just all become “blah” to me, but I think part of the problem is that scenes have become too long. Speaking for myself, I don’t need to see 20 minutes of dick sucking and then 10 minutes of ass-licking. I get the picture. Yes, real sex does last that long, but you don’t notice the time because you’re literally “in it.” But on film, the audience is detached from the action, so we notice every minute that passes. Plus, the formula is always the same (well, maybe 90% of the time) – kissing, bottom sucking top’s dick, top sucking bottom’s dick, top eating bottom’s ass, and then the fucking (usually some combination of doggy, the bottom sitting on the cock, and the missionary position).
Then you have the issue of the performers themselves. Now I understand that a scene takes hours to film, so it is really difficult to look sexy and “into it” for long periods of time. That’s probably why there’s such an appeal for “amateur” porn or “OnlyFans” or whatever the latest thing may be. The performers there can be shot continuously and there’s less of a concern over getting the “right” shot. Therefore, it’s a lot easier for the models to actually be themselves and have a hot time when the sex is “in the moment.”
To be honest, I don’t know if there is any one solution to the problem. The guys who are cast are beautiful to look at, there’s no question about it. Hopefully they all want to be there making movies. Those “gay 4 pay” ones really show through sometimes in their lack of intensity. Or maybe the reality is that it’s just difficult to be “in the moment” for 8 hours.
Should scene shoots be shortened? For the life of the chemistry of the sex, probably. Should the final cut of the scenes themselves be shortened? For the enjoyment of the masses, definitely. Is it the model pairings or the “gay 4 pay” issue that’s slowing everything down? That’s difficult to say. There are a lot of hot guys out there who are fire on screen but who also have done straight porn as well. Hmmmmm…..
In the end, I’d rather see 15 – 20 minutes of pure hot sexual depravity (with an extra 5 minutes of plot set up and resolve), than 40 minutes of drawn-out, laborious sex that loses its fizzle. Just one humble opinion from a porn lover.
Gabriel does nothing to me, however you have a valid point. I can count the guys I really like on one hand. It’s honestly irritating, I strongly believe that being successful in this era is extremely hard.
The demand for more content is having the opposite effect, studios are pressured to do more in a short amount of time and the quality is at an all time low. And yes, switching to bareback only is also doing nothing. If you think dropping the condoms only to listen to a vocal (and dare I add annoying and ignorant) part of a fanbase that has always hated latex just to collect a few coins, then hun you’re hella stupid. Next Door is as boring as ever, MEN is as insulting as ever and Falcon has been anonymous for years.
The real issue is that these dudes don’t like what they’re doing because their body language speaks a very clear message to me, fucking bare does not help that. The lack of body worship legit bothers the fuck outta me to the point I don’t watch anything even if there’s someone I may like, I think touching your partner and vice-versa is a way of telling that you’re here and he can count on you to feel safe, that and the sex is way too robotic and dull.
There’s really nothing worth watching, unless you’re into that incest and rape shit that’s been infesting porn for years then I can proudly say, fuck all of you.
You nailed it. Progress comes with setbacks. In the early days of Falcon, Titan, Colt and some of the others the goal was to portray men in a sensual, erotic and positive light as the mainstream society were depicting the lgbt community especially gay men negatively. As the lgbt community became more accepted by the mainstream the porn content became more and more shocking and degrading. Another example is the black community. In the late 80’s and 90’s there were countless positive portrayals of blacks on television, as blacks became more and more integrated into American society those positive portrayals slowly faded away only to be replaced with the tide of negative portrayals.
I have to agree with you both about Gabriel and about some of the robo performers we we in gay porn.