On the Semiotics of PMVs

Apr 20, 2024

A guest post by The Carnal Scholar.

How do you know it’s time to cum when watching a PMV?

Take a moment to appreciate that you actually do know when it’s time to cum. If somehow you’re not sure about what I’m referring to, please stop reading immediately and go watch a good PMV . I humbly propose Dan balan X Pornstars - Chica Bomb by ClavicusPMV. It’s three and a half minutes. Don’t skip ahead! Assuming you watch attentively, you will notice the natural climax of the edit is at 2:54, right after Sofilie penetrates you with her beautiful blue eyes, as she’s eating another girl’s ass.

Sofilie in 'Dan Balan X Pornstars'

Immediately after, the edit descends into a choreographed chaos of fast cuts, alternating between hardcore fucking and the teasing dancer from the original Chica Bomb music video. You know it when you see it: This is the right moment to relinquish control, if you so choose, and experience orgasm.

A body language

The tricky part of talking about this is that, obviously, the question of “how do you know?” cannot be answered with words, and it’s better to not try.

pmv editing community forms a sense-making apparatus which isolates & distills shards of why our brains enjoy pornography & many are so strange as to defy simple description in filmic language

— gooncultist (@gooncultist) April 12, 2024

What is taking place here is a type of communication. The PMV artist collects the raw materials - sounds, and images of bodies - and gleans from them an as of yet unspoken message. It is his task then to assemble the materials into the final communication: the finished edit. The viewer watches it, reacts to it. The perfectly timed orgasm is an acknowledgement of the communication: message received.

Without ever speaking, but instead through creating and watching these edits, we reach out and touch each other, and ourselves.