Emotional Pornography: A Contradiction In Terms

Emotional porn. Emotional pornography. This is a label given to romantic movies and romance novels.
Here's why such a label is problematic. We need to start with a clear and already established definition of pornography. Now, I'm fully aware that emotional romantic material is what appeals to women. I'm fully aware that such material can lead to pornography addiction.

 
As a scrupulous autistic person, seeing the words "emotional" and "porn" one after the other in reference to romantic movies and romance novels is a big problem for me.

 
As an autistic person, I tend to interpret things very literally.

 
And as a scrupulous person, seeing the phrase "emotional pornography," in reference to romance novels and romantic movies is likely to set off an episode of scruples within me. It's likely to have me overly worried that I've committed a sin by watching The Phantom of the Opera or reading Pride & Prejudice. Both of these classic love stories thrive on a myriad of emotions: Hate. Fear. Resentment. Love. And you don't want me to be overly worried about sinning by using fictional characters as things for my inordinate pleasure. Because I would never consciously use a fictional character for my own inordinate, selfish pleasure even though fictional characters exist for our pleasure and entertainment.

 
I do not expect my future husband to be a carbon copy of Raoul, the Phantom, Mr. Bingley, or Mr. Darcy.

When I picture Mr. Darcy in my mind, I picture Colin Firth because, in my humble opinion, Colin Firth has done the best portrayal of Mr. Darcy on the silver screen.

 
But when I say I want to find my real-life Mr. Darcy, a character played by Colin Firth is not what pops into my mind.

I do not expect my future husband to be perfect, nor do I expect him to satisfy my every need, emotional or otherwise. Only God can do that. But let's get to the heart of the issue: pornography is intrinsically evil. It has always been intrinsically evil. And it always will be.

 
Romantic movies and romance novels are not evil in and of themselves. They never have been. They never will be. That is why referring to them as "emotional pornography" is a bad idea.