(continued)

They offered to cut you a deal.
Then they offer me a plea deal. I met with them at the beginning of March [2007]. They say, "Take a year and half." I said no. Then they call me up, and they say four months in prison and four months house arrest. And I turned that down. I'm going to tell you why I turned it down. I've always been a real strong person. I felt if I took this, I don't know if I could live with myself. I could live with going to prison. I thought, Martha Stewart went to prison. But I don't believe this stuff is obscene. I think we have a right to see it, to sell it, and I can't look at this stuff and say, "I sold out."

So you were indicted.
In July [2007], they indict me. This has all been very surreal. I'm a big Kafka fan. I always dreamed to be Josef K. [the central character of Kafka's The Trial, who wakes up one morning to find he is being prosecuted for an unknown crime]. And now I am. I'm rereading the book, and I see the similarities. In fact, the director's credit I use in all my films is Josef K. I am Josef K., the character. Now I get to play Josef K. I get to go to court and do all these things. This whole thing is art. Now I get my 15 minutes of fame.

Is that what you wanted?
That's not what I wanted. It's a stressful situation. Like the Kafka character, we tend to delude ourselves. Maybe I'm in the middle of a performance piece.

Your trial starts next month.
Part of me, I'm scared. It's a trial. I'm excited, actually. I'm going to take the stand and defend [these videos] as well. I'm not denying I sold [the videos]. I'm going talk about shock art. This kind of stuff I produce and sell, it has serious artistic value.

Do you think you'll be found guilty?
I think I'm either gonna get a not guilty or a mistrial or a hung jury. It's hard to find 12 unreasonable people in L.A. And the videos, they're not obscene. The way the law is, you have to prove three things. It will appeal to the prurient interest. That it will offend. That it has no serious, literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. I think the jury is going to realize there's scientific value. It's like Viagra. It's good for you to get turned on. It's an aid to turn you on. Obscenity is based on sex. Why should sex be exempt from the First Amendment? It's because of uptight people. The Klan is more offensive than what I do.

Have you ever appeared in your own movies?
My penis occasionally makes an appearance in these videos.

Are you turned on by your own work?
It doesn't do anything for me.

Are you in a relationship?
I have a girlfriend. She's Japanese.

Obscenity is based on sex. Why should sex be exempt from the First Amendment? What does she think of what you do?
She doesn't care. She was shocked this [the indictment] could even happen. I go to Amsterdam quite a bit. Dutch people are great. No matter how bad they think America is, the First Amendment is one thing they like. I tell them [about the indictment], and they say, "I thought you had freedom of speech?" Yeah, if you're a Nazi, but not if it's about sex. This fetish, this kind of stuff is more popular than you might think. I hear from doctors and lawyers. You think it's the child molesters in the back alley. I would say the more educated you are, the more open you are to different things. Creative things.

Some feminists would like to have your head, I'd imagine.
I'm probably exploiting women less than if they worked at Burger King. Have you ever worked at a fast food place? You get exploited a lot on earth. Everyone consents to do things. Everyone in [these videos] consents. To see it, to be in it.

Do you care what people think of you?
I really don't care what people think. I can't worry about that. As an artist, I can't worry about what you're going to think, what they're going to think, and hopefully, this has some substance.

Some people would say you're a monster.
So maybe I'm a monster.

Do you have any regrets now that you're looking at doing time?
The only thing I regret is not putting Bach in the background.

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