Porn is a strange business. There's a constant stream of nubile young women...but only five, maybe six guys working at any time in the industry. The women get used up quickly, and they're replaced with new ones. But the guys...they stay the same. In fact, the uglier the guys are, the better. It makes sense. The viewer is led to believe that if these guys, as hideous as they are, can get chicks, maybe there's hope for them. And that's where Ron Jeremy comes in.
In porn (straight porn, anyway), the male acts as a surrogate for the viewer. And that's why most shots are from the male perspective. If they could pull it off, you wouldn't even see the man at all. I truly believe this. So a man like Ron Jeremy, whether he is physically attractive or not, is the everyman. He is where the viewer wants to be. For all intents and purposes, he is the viewer.
I don't want to get too analytical on this, it's not rocket science, nor to laud Ron Jeremy as the second coming of Sir Laurence Olivier. Hell, no...he's just a fat, hairy Jewish guy with a huge schlong. Nothing wrong with that. But he has taken the lemons life gave him...or possibly bananas, in this case, and made quite an impressive banana-ish lemonade punch. No other porn star has made such a mark, had such a successful transition into the so-called "mainstream".
Besides the over 1900 porn titles he's credited with, he's appeared in 14 music videos, was on the Surreal Life reality series, was a special consultant on the films 9 1/2 Weeks and Boogie Nights, has appeared or starred in more than 20 "legitimate" movies, appeared in an advertisement for PETA, and had his autobiography published in 2007 by Harper-Collins.
He even appeared on Nash Bridges. Come on, how many porn stars can claim that?!?
But my greatest Ron Jeremy memory is this. Years ago, when I was in a video store innocently looking for family-oriented Disney titles, I stumbled upon a secret "back room" wherein they kept those kind of movies. One title lept out at me from the shelf (not literally, it just kinda sat there but I noticed it). It was a 4-hour compliation, with Ron Jeremy in every scene. It was titled Hump-a-Mania. The copy on the back played up his super-star status, saying "He's fat! He's horny! He's hairy! He's the HUMPSTER!"
No other actor in the world could successfully be marketed this way. It is a testament to his pure charm and charisma. I love Ron Jeremy. I think he's a living testament to how far a man can get in life on sheer personality. And a ten-inch penis.
Some day, Ron Jeremy will die...and the world will be a worse place for it. And if you think I'm just trying to be ironic, then you don't know me.
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