Sometimes I wonder if we're witnessing the gentrification of the peepshow parlour. At least in Montreal, it seems this is no longer a dirty venue exclusive to old pervies seeking some instant gratification with visual entertainment...
I used to work in the Plateau, a trendy neighbourhood in Montreal, where peepshow parlours seem to have existed forever. The streets are always crowded there, even in the wee hours of the night, and people stroll at ease and pass by the sleazy venues like if they were GAP stores. Funny that I worked at two different places on the Plateau, and on both ocassions, I had a peepshow parlour only about half a block away. So, in my comings and goings, I usually spotted people going in and out of the parlours, and interestingly enough, most looked like regular people, they looked respectable, and by no means sleazy or weird. I could also spot college students visiting the venues, and not just guys, but girls too. And of course, the ubiquitous tourists trying to explore the red-light district that Montreal is so famous for.
Once, I needed some change for parking, and instead of risking getting a ticket for going farther, I ventured into the parlour to get the coins. The place looked clean, and nobody seemed to notice that I was a female, and unaccompanied for that matter. There was no security in sight and the girl in the booth greeted me with a friendly smile and pointed me to the change machine. Hmm, I thought, this is not exactly what I had in mind.
One day, I get an interesting offer... This friend of mine wants to celebrate his birthday in style, so he tells me that he'd really like to take me to a peepshow parlour. I know I shouldn't get surprised anymore with the ideas people that people come up with; in fact, I'm always elated to hear what people have truly in their heads, and I find it estimulating to be provoked in a civil way. At the same time, it's interesting to see how you find different attitudes in different parts of the world. There's even "scientific" research about peepshow parlours in California, where the hypothesis is that neighbourhoods surrounding this type of establishments experience a decline in property values, and increases crime rates, especially of the sex-related type. Frankly, these days, you can prove anything you want by choosing the right methodology, variables and data; and I say this because a property in the Plateau is basically considered prime real estate, not only for business, but for higher income households as well.
Now, contrast that with attitudes in Barcelona... there you can actually have live peepshows with booths surrounding a stage where female and male sex workers perform intercourse live. Unfortunately, I've never even been in Barcelona, but as I understand it, the booths include paper towel dispensers for the convenience of patrons. Now, that's what I would call civility. I imagine this like going to the washroom in an airplane where you have those little signs urging you to clean up the area as a courtesy to the next person.
So, to continue with my little story, my friend tells me that he's been visiting those places for as long as he can remember. He asured me that they were very clean, and that you can go into a small room, which usually has two TVs, one on top of the other. The bottom one, plays a choice of movies, and the top one gives you a preview for other movies, so that you may change in case you find something more interesting. In terms of privacy, my friend asured me that he's never had a problem, other than the ocassional knock on the door from another man who probably wanted some action. "Not for me," he said. I was extremely intrigued to say the least, and although things got derailed with this date for the usual reasons of schedule and work, I'm still hoping that I may have the chance to visit one of those places sometime, in good company, of course.
An just in case you wonder, now there are even organized guided tours with a focus on Montreal's peep show parlours. Gentrification it is...
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