Welcome to The Darkroom Review, the section of the blog where we talk about the things we’ve seen at the places where you can’t see much. Today, we feature our local darkroom, a venue that is quite bright because it is the biggest XXX cinema in the Netherlands: Erotheek Schiedam.
While gay life in Rotterdam has been in intensive care since corona, with saunas and cruising bars closing around the city, the neighboring town of Schiedam -where the headquarters of El Corruptor are located- has mastered the art of giving a hint of gay to things that are officially not gay. Bars with rainbow flags and photos of the royals that are not gay bars; casual clothing stores where you can buy pumps and harnesses, and cinemas where the clientele is straight, until they are not anymore.
Part cinema, part large sex shop, the cruising area of Erotheek is located in the basement. After paying the 15 euros entrance fee, a staircase descends to a lounge area with a velvet round sofa in front of two doors. The entrance to the cinema is the door under the stairs, and the person at the register buzzes people in. Once inside, the place is divided between the cinemas and the cabins. To the left, the first room is the gay cinema, with chunky faux leather chairs that make a loud noise every time someone sits. Behind the chairs, there is a dark corridor with holes in the walls, a cabin with gay porn, and the lockers. On the other side is the hetero cinema -with the same chairs- and an adjacent room with a screen, three chairs, and an Andrew’s cross that, as is often the case in this type of establishment, serves more decorative than functional purposes. One particular feature of Erotheek is a foam platform in front of the big screens, which allows those willing to lie down to put on a show for everybody. Going back to the entrance, there is another corridor of private cabins with locks, each showing either straight or gay porn, some without the faux leather chairs.
In general, Ertotheek’s facilities are well-maintained and easy to navigate. It is dated, which gives a very particular atmosphere. Although lube or condoms are not provided, tissues and trash cans are readily available. However, there is only one toilet, and it is not only located outside the cruising area but also locked. Customers must ask for the key at the cash desk, which requires people to go upstairs, altering the cruising experience. There are numerous signs warning customers not to pee in the trash buckets, which may be the reason behind the key policy. Still, considering that toilets are a basic service in a venue where people gather to have sex, we can only find locking a toilet patronising.
The customer base is largely senior, to the extent that it makes you contemplate the possibility of reaching 75 years old and still horny. Is this my future? Yet, there is one feature that makes Erotheeks special. By not defining itself as a gay or hetero cinema, it attracts a broad range of characters that otherwise would not visit the place if it were aiming for the traditional gay cruising customer. This makes it one of the most inclusive places we have visited in the Netherlands, beyond those spaces that promote themselves as inclusive but have a rather homogenous crowd. Examples of things we have seen in Erotheek include: actual grandpas; crossdressers; lost straight couples who thought it was a swingers club; muscular guys looking for other muscular guys; a group of friends wearing biking leotards who go together to the XXX cinema after cycling some kilometers; filipinos; temporary workers from the harbour; straight men who locked themselves in a cabin and later came out fully dressed as a women; Polish workers; approachable young guys; guys with canes; mean gays; and a specturm of horny men who enjoy sex regarding gender. Still, seniors are the core patrons
Keeping in mind that the venue is also a large sex shop selling clothes, Erotheek might be one of the few places in the south of the Netherlands where customers can get, change, and fuck in a sexy outfit in a single day. As a remaining cruising place, located in a city with a diverse immigrant population, and a door policy that welcomes most, if not all, people, it should not come as a surprise that Erotheek is capable of bringing together dissimilar customers, a fact that the administration has yet to come to terms with. Like it or not, they are providing a service for an audience with a very clear need, and the least they can do is to make their customers’ experience comfortable. Looking at other stores in Schiedam, we are sure their main source of revenue is not the sex toys.
Embrace: those who have always wanted to crossdress outside home, and those ready to include “when I fucked someone else’s grandpa…“ to their stock of anecdotes.
Release: collagen chasers and those new to cruising antics.
Explore: action is slow, but the sound of the faux leather chairs guides you to it.
