The Philippines has a tumultuous history of producing erotic cinema. Despite its commercial success as a platform and artifact of popular culture, VMX films (and Filipino softcore films in general) are critically underexamined in the context of Philippine Cinema studies. In an unpublished study of 14 randomly selected VMX films, Jag Garcia identified recurring themes, structural patterns, and depictions of sexual behaviors within these films, categorizing them as Typical, Autoerotic, and Atypical; the study then proposes a framework that outlines the core conventions of a typical VMX film. To validate this framework, a speculative screenplay was developed and assessed against its parameters, focusing primarily on the distribution and nature of sexual content, the representation and diversity of sexual behaviors, and the agency afforded to female characters within the narrative. The screenplay serves as both a case study and proof of concept, demonstrating the framework’s functionality as a guide for future screenplays for the VMX platform and beyond. With its growing and evolving presence in society and popular culture, this article contributes to the understanding of, and academic discourse in, Filipino adult cinema. Additionally, it challenges the form’s social and cultural stigmas by locating softcore narratives as a legitimate subject for scholarly inquiry, broadening exploration and discussion on gender, representation, and the sociocultural impact of erotic media on Filipino audiences.

Authors:
Jag Garcia, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Philippines

About the Presenter(s)
Jag Garcia is a Senior Faculty and Assistant Professor at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in Manila where he was the Founder and Former Chairperson of the Digital Filmmaking Program. He is an award-winning filmmaker and avid scuba diver.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaggarcia

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jag-Garcia

Additional website of interest
https://dls-csb.academia.edu/jaggarcia

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