Porn Urban Legend

I investigated

Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash

“‘This is the porn capital of the universe, so to speak, here in the Valley,’ [Sgt. Stephen] Merrin said. ‘A lot of the producers and whatnot are out here.’”

-Los Angeles Times, “Neighbors’ Complaint Leads to Porn Arrests,” April 13th, 1996¹.

The San Fernando Valley’s unique relationship to sex work is ongoing—but it’s not new. In the last century, the tension between sex work and idealized white suburbia has played out over the enduring “slutty” Valley Girl stereotype, the early publicity strategy of Marilyn Monroe (a valley girl² herself), and, of course, the pornography boom in the 1990s. At times though, this dynamic has produced a local lore that, given all the factors involved, merits scrutiny.

Hot Girls Here

While conducting research for this newsletter, I came across an anecdote in the Los Angeles Times archives that seemed, at best, like an exaggeration: following the 1994 earthquake, a single film company allegedly purchased over 100 homes to use for porn production. I decided to fact-check if this was actually true. Here’s what I found out.

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