I just did an interview with Rael Levinsohn:
Human beings revel in beauty, sensual and erotic pleasures, many would argue that is what makes life worth living. The media and popular culture and the adult film industry exists to bring entertainment/pleasure to its viewers, that is a reality. If Judaism would be able to “photoshop” the world, would all these things be removed? What is our vision for the rest of mankind in regard to these matters?
Beauty has much less significance to Judaism than holiness. As the old saw goes, to the Greeks, the beautiful was holy, to the Jews, the holy was beautiful.
Beauty is like all the other pleasures of this world, fine in their place but never a reason to disregard God’s instructions.. You can’t trample on the Torah to indulge in your natural desires.
Torah has little to say about the importance of aesthetic beauty except as a vehicle to God. We should beautify our mitzvos.
Do you think religion, Orthodox Judaism in particular has unrealistic/cruel/stifling expectations in regards to pleasure and sexuality?
I think religion in general and Orthodox Judaism in particular are very realistic about beauty.They know that men in particular will give up everything to attain a beautiful woman. Beauty is powerful and like the desire for power or fame or pleasure, the desire for beauty must be constrained. Unconstrained pursuit of any of these things will ruin your life. This seems to be the theme of most movies and TV shows I watch. People pursue some temporal end like beauty or power to absurd ends.
What do you think G-d thinks of people who perform in the adult film industry? Do you feel pornography has any redeeming qualities, is there a place for it in existence?
Every religion in the world condemns porn. Judaism is no different in that regard. Any redeeming quality in porn is dwarfed by its damaging qualities. I think God hates people who deliberately and needlessly damage society and destroy the family unit. Some such people are pornographers, others are respected Hollywood types, others are bloggers and talk show hosts and lawyers and politicians.
Every civilization depends upon stigmatizing sexual expression outside of monogamous heterosexual marriage. Do away with this stigmatizing and men will increasingly act naturally (pursuing their lusts and not sticking around their spouse and kids).
