PROFOUNDLY EROTIC: Sexy Movies That Changed History
Review by Jason Quinn
Back in 1987 a guy from Texas wrote a book called JOE BOB GOES TO THE DRIVE-IN where
he created a yahoo film critic who covered B movies that would most often been
seen on the drive-in circuit. The book was a mixture of fictional characters
and reviews with satiric social commentary thrown in every so often. And Stephen
King introduced it no less, so we know it’s got to be worth checking out.
John Bloom managed to cover movies that no one else was touching in the mainstream
review field. He channeled his (somewhat goofy) humor and critical opinions
through a redneck beer drinkin’ gearhead named “Joe Bob Briggs”. Many readers
don’t even realize anymore that “Joe Bob Briggs” is the creation and John Bloom
is the actual reviewer.
PROFOUNDLY EROTIC:
Sexy Movies That Changed History
By Joe Bob Briggs
Universe Publishing
304 pages
This is no longer the case however. Joe Bob Briggs is not the same character sprung upon the public in ’87. For all intents and purposes, John Bloom has
become Joe Bob Briggs and his most recent books, PROFOUNDLY DISTURBING: SHOCKING MOVIES THAT CHANGED HISTORY (Universe Publishing, 2003) and its companion PROFOUNDLY EROTIC: SEXY MOVIES THAT CHANGED HISTORY, show the type of job he can do handling
film commentary.
PROFOUNDLY EROTIC examines ten “sexy” movies while managing to put them in historical
context. The introduction begins with “for more than a century movies have
taught us how to kiss, touch, make love, have sex and carry on the war between
the genders”. It then goes on to admit “most of the movies in this book are
not obvious choices for eroticism, although I hope that in my description of
their social contexts it will be obvious they they were included”. It’s also
important to mention that Briggs acknowledges that four films from PROFOUNDLY
DISTURBING ought to have been included in this volume instead; those would
be MOM & DAD, AND GOD CREATED WOMAN, DEEP THROAT and ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE
SS.
The amount of information attached to films such as THE SHEIK, SHE DONE HIM WRONG,
KITTEN WITH A WHIP, I AM CURIOUS (YELLOW), and LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR is almost
staggering. Briggs manages to cover everything from production to distribution
for each of his selected films. And even though he provides plenty of information
about each, there’s a change in tone toward the end of the collection which
might indicate a certain level of… I don’t know, “intimacy”? It almost sounds
as if he’s more familiar with the last four movies than the preceding six.
I’m not sure that Briggs succeeded when demonstrating why each of the ten movies
changed history, but he’s done a helluva job with his research -you get more
than you could ever possibly want of 9 ½ WEEKS. And although there are five
less films covered than PROFOUNDLY DISTURBING, each chapter is significantly
longer which gives PROFOUNDLY EROTIC an extra fifty pages of detail.
The challenge of a work like this is whether or not you feel like seeing the
movies Briggs has been writing about. Even if you’re familiar with these, the
detailed descriptions of the film and cast histories will relate a few things
of which most readers are probably unfamiliar.
PROFOUNDLY EROTIC is a worthy addition to anyone’s bookshelf.
It’s made to sit next to PROFOUNDLY DISTURBING and provides enough information
to inspire even
the most casual erotic film enthusiast. Joe Bob’s Website can be found at www.joebobbriggs.com. 
Hardcover, $24.95 from JoeBobBriggs.com, Autographed
Paperback $15.72 @ Amazon
