March 25, 2012 11:29am
Margold on XRCO
Source: Letters to the Editor
by: William Margold
Cinema Seen by William Margold: Who is Miles Long?
[Miles Long is pictured to your right. -Ed.]
While I don’t claim to be the "ultimate know-it-all" when it comes to the history of the Adult Entertainment Industry’s film and video creativity that is currently celebrating its 40th mainstream popularity anniversary (commencing with the releases of Deep Throat and Behind the Green Door in 1972), which just happens to coincide with my literal (physical) entrance into XXX (although I had been writing for adult publications since the fall of 1971), I must admit that I was shocked when a director that I had absolutely never heard of was nominated for induction into the XRCO's (X-Rated Critics Organization) Hall of Fame (Class of 2012).
Coinciding with the date of this issue [of Cinema Seen in the LA Xpress], ...Miles Long’s induction [whoever he is] will be taking place on Thursday, April 12 at the Highlands on top on the Kodak Center in Hollywood. And unless I can pull someone special to him out of my hat… I will most likely be performing the induction, since I am one of the organization’s (www.XRCO.com) founding members (way back in 1985), and have been handling the Hall of Fame inductions (as well as X's Necrology) for the last few years.
And although the last decade and a half of XRCO Hall of Fame inductees has included a few clinkers, clunkers, and clankers, and even a ridiculously branded "Outlaw" among them, at least I can say that I’ve known who all the undeserving were, whether I wanted to admit to that fact…or not!
But for me to have never even heard of a fellow who has apparently been in XXX since 1999, must strongly suggest to you that the person who is picking the XRCO's Hall of Famers needs to be replaced, and in turn, the leadership of the organization itself is in serious need of a restructuring as well as an immediate return to its birth place: The West Coast.
I can justify all of this self-deprecating contentiousness by admitting to a huge moment of weakness when my bestest pal of all-time, the incomparable Jim Holliday (one of the other of the XRCO’s co-founders) grew tired of the organization in early 2004, and told me to turn it over to someone that I trusted.
Acting with what I thought was great wisdom, I handed over (but in reality, only thought that I was simply lending) the day-to-day duties of the XRCO to a fellow known as "Dirty" Bob, a guy who is mired in the mundane (and muddled-headed) mid-west. And since I figured that I was going to be given it back upon request, I also figured that he couldn’t damage its reputation too much over the time that that it would take me to regroup.
But then Holliday died at the end of 2004, and the years began to spin by as if the calendar pages were caught up in a tornado. And I watched in horror as the XRCO Hall of Fame (my primary area of concern) began to become uncomfortably weighed down with modified sub-sections, and names not fit to spit shine the shoes of previous inductees, were ladled at such a hellacious rate, that it began to resemble Adult Video News' overstuffed and genuinely lame HOF.
And when I expressed my concern, and tried to stir up a little controversy by offering some more deserving names, I was warned by "The 'Dirty' One" (as he likes to be called, and whose theme song needs to be removed from www.XRCO.com as soon as possible because it drastically denigrates the site (which is also a haphazard looking embarrassment), something about being the only one left in the business who still likes me. Guess that he hasn't listened to my phone message: "I prefer my honest enemies over my dishonest friends…"
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