Gentleman Handling review

Gentleman Handling review | Mr. Pink's Porn Reviews
MrPinks.com review date - 09/20/2012

Overview:
There has been a resurgence of late in porn that favors high-end production values and pseudo-eroticism over the instant gratification of extreme sexual acts performed in an animalistic and hyper-aggressive manner. A few relatively small sites operating first out of Australia then the Netherlands years ago decided to add their own unique brand of erotic imagery to the ceaselessly expanding world of online smut. I Feel Myself and Beautiful Agony put control in the hands of their "artists" (performers) and kept them framed in simple tight close-ups devoid of trickery or fanciful editing or outside intrusions. Left to their own devices, these artists (mostly women) set about revolutionizing online porn for the social media age and now, with Gentleman Handling, the boys are allowed to play. "What we've made here, really," goes the spiel, "is a lovely place to watch moving images of male masturbation." "Sounds good," comes the response from women and men excited by the prospect, "but what have you got to offer us?" For $19.95 a month, a Gentleman Handling membership provides you with access to the existing archive of multi-format videos, two new updates each week, and a commitment to remaining "honest, attentive, and reverent" that should ensure anyone already working up a mild sweat at these early stages of discovery will find themselves more than satisfied later on. Gentleman Handling is by no means a brand new idea, but it is a radically different take on what is often considered the most crude and unforgivable of private sexual activities.

Pros:
Gentleman Handling is clearly a labor of love and intellect. The crew, with a number of the same people behind I Feel Myself and Beautiful Agony, give everything a very polished and professional sheen while retaining a DIY aesthetic that appears somewhat hastily assembled, but authentically so. If Gentleman Handling was a food truck, it'd be one of the more expensive, pseudo-artisan ones with slick graphic design.

The scenes provided here for members' enjoyment are intimate renderings of what would, in the hands of others, be crude and simplistic. Stroking oneself for sexual gratification isn't inherently that interesting - not to most men, anyway - yet Gentleman Handling, with its subtle lighting, believable scenarios, and "artists" (European guys who look like they're usually the hippest fuckers in the room), makes it so.

Video quality is high here, with all most scenes delivered in 1280x720 pixel HD frames as well as smaller, more manageable formats; videos can, of course, be streamed. Artistically, there's a heavy experimental presence at Gentleman Handling: a goldfish superimposed over the beginnings of a boner, sparkling reflections from a body of water cut with images of a man beating it in front of a mirror while wearing a dainty slip… that sort of thing.

New scenes are added to Gentleman Handling every three or four days and, true to tour page promises, the site manages two updates per week. Also well worth a close look is the online forum section where Gentleman Handling members can go to discuss the site, the artists, or whatever else comes to mind.

Cons:
Currently holding a mere 22 scenes, Gentleman Handling is far from well established and there's not a whole lot to see here as a result. The twice-weekly update schedule is great and should have the site blossoming in a few short months, but a small content collection is a small content collection.

The featured masturbating "artists" are given profile pages, but they don't yield any remotely interesting factoids, tidbits, or morsels of personal information. Really, the only visible personalities here are those of the director, production assistant, and composer, who each link to at least one social networking site; the "artists", however, do not.

While I've no doubt the makers of Gentleman Handling have only the most noble intentions in their work, this genre (artistic hardcore erotica) is incredibly hard to (ahem) pull off without seeming a pretentious, pompous bore. Gentleman Handling straddles the line quite gingerly. A fish swims superimposed across the frame as a pants-less guy beats his meat to internet porn under the kitchen table. To quote Billy Childish, "art or arse"?

Conclusion:
Even though it stumbles a little here and there and doesn't quite yet hold the amount of content most would-be members will be seeking, Gentleman Handling is still a very promising, very original male masturbation site. Seemingly aimed equally at straight women and gay, bi, or curious men, the stroking here never gets too wild or ridiculous and instead takes a rather sedate and respectful view as the guys disrobe (barely) in their beds, bathrooms, workplaces, and wherever else the mood strikes to give the camera a full but unobtrusive view of their technique. The superimposition of various related and unrelated images can make the scenes seem closer to sex-focused video art and more than a little convinced of its own artistic and intellectual merit, but that's a given in any field of "erotica". I'd much rather this than a retread of the 80s Vaseline-lensed nonsense most "erotic art" sites fall back on and you, whether you're a woman or a man, straight or gay or anywhere else on that fluid grey scale, would do well to take heed. Gentleman Handling is a bold new step for male-centric porn and more evidence (if any were needed) that times are indeed changing.