I think he’s right. Sex often operates as a proxy for power. That fits with evolutionary psychology, Freud’s theories of sublimation, and real-world dynamics in dating and porn consumption. The observations about porn not necessarily reflecting a desire to act out violence, but instead a wish-fulfillment fantasy of power, also rings true—especially given the lack of correlation between extreme porn and actual increases in violent behavior.
The flip side—powerful men fantasizing about being powerless—is equally telling. It supports the idea that sexual fantasy often compensates for what someone lacks in real life. The part about royalty sneaking out in peasant clothes nails that paradox: we crave the experience we’re denied, whether that’s control or surrender.
The transgressive themes in porn aren’t just shock for its own sake—they’re symbolic expressions of deeper psychological imbalances around power. And the fact that the average man’s reality is so different from those fantasies—expensive, difficult, hoops to jump through—gives context for why the porn industry looks the way it does.
