William E. Jones said that the development of
The Fall of Communism as Seen in Gay Pornography was a "product of severe material constraints", as he was able to access Eastern European pornography made for Western audiences but could not travel to Eastern Europe to create a conventional documentary film. The film frames the rise of Eastern European gay pornography produced for Western (primarily American) audiences as symptomatic of the economic exploitation of the Eastern Bloc following the fall of communism. The film samples footage from gay pornographic films created between 1993 and 1998 in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Russia. It does not show explicit content, instead focusing on the faces of the young male performers. The documentary portrays the pornography of the era as cheaply produced, uncomfortable, and pervaded by "an atmosphere of coercion", noting that many performers participated in pornography out of desperation. The documentary notes that, at the time, Eastern European gay sex workers were paid one-tenth of the wage of Western sex workers, and that "the only thing young people had to sell was access to their bodies". The film's opening juxtaposes pornographic clips with scenes of Eastern European city streets, markets, and beggars, invoking
exoticism and
poverty porn. The second half of the film shows screen tests of the performers, drawing attention to their coercive conditions. One performer says that he is "doing it for the money". The film argues that the American audiences that these films were intended for were aroused by the idea that the performers were under duress and showing visible discomfort. == Reception ==