Private Dicks: Men Exposed

Private Dicks: Men Exposed is a 1999 American HBO TV documentary on the human penis. The film was directed by Thom Powers and Meema Spadola who previously made HBO's 1996 Breasts: A Documentary, a similar documentary on the breast.[1][2]

Private Dicks: Men Exposed
Directed by
  • Thom Powers
  • Meema Spadola
Starring
Theme music composer
  • Stephan Crump
  • John M. Davis
  • John Mettam
  • Andrew Ramsey
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes1
Production
Producers
  • Jacqueline Glover
  • Sheila Nevins
  • Thom Powers
  • Ann Rose
  • Meema Spadola
Running time58 min
Release
Original networkHBO
Original release15 March 1999 (15 March 1999)

Plot

The 58-minute[3] documentary features 25 men[1] with age ranging from young to old, and who work in a variety of professions, some of whom are professional performers. A mix of heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual men, along with two transgender individuals, were interviewed. They were interviewed nude on a variety of topics related to their genitals and sexuality, including first sexual experience, frequency of masturbation, penis size, oral sex, libido, sexual performance, and sexually transmitted diseases.[3]

Hoax

One of the people featured in the documentary, a 57-year-old musician by the name of "Bruce", was featured heavily as having an extremely small member that he claimed was "the smallest in the world. One inch, erect."[4] "Bruce" was later revealed to be professional prankster Alan Abel.[4] HBO decided against removing Abel from the documentary and later versions of the documentary labeled him as a professional hoaxer.[5]

Reception

Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly described the film as "alternately funny and quite literally touching".[6] Eric Mink of New York Daily News calls the film "insightful" and "funny".[7]

Kam Williams reviewing the DVD in AALBC.com described the film as "excellent". He notes, "The directors were clever enough to contrast all this graphic present-day content intermittently with some tame file footage from stock Sexual Education films which probably passed as state-of-the-art instruction back in the Fifties." According to him, these interludes, which he labels as "antiseptic", "humorous", and "amusing", are "a welcome reminder of how far we've come from the days of learning about the birds and the bees in clinical presentations by a nervous nerd in a white lab coat standing in front of a blackboard with a pointer."[8] MaryAnn Johanson, writing in Flick Filosopher, asserts that it is the openness of the interviewees, not the nudity, which is significant.[9]

References
  1. Slade, Joseph W. (2001). Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide. 2. Greenwood Press. p. 410. ISBN 9780313315206.
  2. Trebay, Guy (October 1999). "There's just one thing you need to know about Jonah Falcon. 13.5 inches (and now you do)". Out. Here Publishing. 8 (4): 83–84. ISSN 1062-7928.
  3. "The Advocate". The Advocate : The National Gay & Lesbian Newsmagazine. Here Publishing: 81–82. 30 March 1999. ISSN 0001-8996.
  4. "Classic April Fools Jokes". Esquire. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  5. "SHORT STORY.(HBO leaves imposter Alan Abel in documentary 'Private Dicks: Men Exposed')". Playboy. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  6. Private Dicks: Men Exposed, Entertainment Weekly
  7. 'Men Exposed': Naked Truths Witty & Personal Hbo Special Reports From The Southern Front, New York Daily News
  8. Male Genitalia Uncovered, Literally and Figuratively, in Revealing Documentary AALBC.com
  9. Private Dicks: Men Exposed (review), Flick Filosopher
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