Chapter 345: Karisha Washington, 28, Las Vegas...

“Son-Fuckers” not only didn’t win a single award, it wasn’t even nominated for the Oscars and the Golden Globe Awards.

But ... it cracked Google’s International Top Ten for Most-Searched 14 weeks in a row. In the United States it was ranked for 37 straight weeks.

And, in Las Vegas, the film swept the Adult Video News convention awards — winning AVNs for:

> Best Picture (“Son-Fuckers”)

> Best Actress (Cherry Anne Devereaux)

> Best New Starlet (Cherry Anne Devereaux)

> MILF Performer of the Year (Cherry Anne Devereaux)

> Best Supporting Actor (Christian Devereaux)

> Director of the Year (Karisha Washington)

> Best Cinematographer (Ray-Ray Fontenot)

> Producer of the Year (Darlene Pellerin)

There was some carping about the comparatively large budget that Karisha had to work with. But the negatives were mostly drowned out by fact that “Son-Fuckers” drew so much international attention to the adult-entertainment industry.

Cell-phone cameras, amateur performers, hookup apps, streaming — live and recorded — had decimated the once-dominant Porn Industry. Which had flourished for years in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. The Valley had once been ground zero for pornography production.

Now, school kids were shooting their own videos. Websites like Pornhub, which was in the Top-20 most-visited sites, put adult theaters and arcades out of business.

“Son-Fuckers” turned a mostly-positive spotlight back on the production side of the professional sex business.

Deep Throat, back in 1972, was one of the first porn films to feature a plot, character development, and relatively high production values. It drew mainstream audiences in what was considered the beginning of the Golden Age of Porn.

“Son-Fuckers” shattered all of the audience numbers for every film distributed in 2024. It was Number One in box-office receipts for 11 straight weeks. When it was streamed, over 80-million people logged in worldwide.

People Magazine’s cover story — America’s (Improbable) Sweetheart — featured a closeup of Charity Anne Devereaux’s beaming face.

Now “Son-Fuckers” didn’t start a tidal wave of incest, but the film did spark a national dialogue. It was studied in colleges — and not just in film schools. Philosophy, social studies, political science, theater, ethics. Debate teams from coast to coast.

Some support, splintered to be sure, actually came from the pulpits — particularly, and surprisingly, in the South. From the heart of the Bible Belt. Why? There was a fervent Christian Nationalism movement. They wanted Government out of the private sector — and that included censorship. But not abortion, of course.

Some philosophers — younger ones mostly — questioned the reason for anti-incest policies at all. “In the time of effective birth control, why shouldn’t a woman have agency over her own body? Why shouldn’t she be free to choose her own sexual partners?”

An interesting cadre of support for “Son-Fuckers” came from highbrow film critics. Their central thesis boiled down to “Art is Art.”

“Yes, “Son-Fuckers” is sexually explicit. But in the context of our contemporary culture, the film is a mirror to the present and compass to the future.”

Eulalie’s NYC PR firm had conducted seven focus groups — consumer panel-discussions — around the country. Dozens of slogans and themes were tested. That phrase — a mirror to the present and a compass to the future — played well.

As with politics, “Son-Fuckers” caused a city/country divide. It was more readily accepted, even praised, in urban areas. With the exception of the anti-government Christians, it was condemned — sight-unseen — in most of rural America.

Cable news shows lapped it up — finding ‘experts’ to debate both sides was easy. Almost everyone had an opinion — and it got noisy. On cable, there were loud arguments, interruptions, people talking over each other — the topic became Jerry Springer on steroids.

All of which was fine with Eulalie Guidry and Chase Windsor. The film was a cash cow. It also put sex, deviant sex, front and center in the national conversation.

But mostly, Eulalie concentrated on the financial windfall, and on Sausalito, Mississippi.

That insular little town was so proud of its distinctive status. Charity Devereaux would go on to be named Citizen of the Year. Christian Devereaux was a Big Man on Campus. Darlene coached both of them —- neither one got a big head. They accepted praise modestly, and were polite to one and all.

The other son-fuckers — in town and in the Cajun Bayous — were admired, congratulated, feted. They had not only been brave, but they’d been brave in that most public of arenas — the film and streaming venues.