Circus of Books

This documentary tells the story of a married couple who bought a gay porn store in West Hollywood in the 1970s. Their store was a meeting place for young gay men in the community. The bookstore sold porn magazines and movies on VHS. As their business grew, they began a mail order business, and later produced their own pornography.

The heart of the film is the flip side of the coin, when the couple’s son comes out as gay. Most of the workers in their store were young gay men. Now that they had a gay son, everything changed. The film shows the evolution of attitudes and opinions of the parents, and in an ironic twist, the demise of their business.

Now streaming on Netflix, two stars.