Was there any confirmation that it WAS Ethan? Besides the rampant speculation or dot connecting?
Found out about the controversy not too long ago and the scene has not only since become a favorite, I've noticed a bit of theme or pattern in a couple of similar scenes from that era of TIM, but they mostly stop after this one went viral (lol). It's hard to describe but these other scenes have a certain vibe to them, beyond the general sleeze of that era of TIM. Like there's a real dark, uneasy feel to them, like the guys behind it had a passion for spreading it around.
Only other studio that comes close to capturing that vibe is the studio behind sketchy sex, frat x, etc. It's very hit or miss tho and you can tell its fake and safe, not much real risk. But it plays at that space of just rampant, wantonly reckless barebacking no matter the consequences.
I wanna say the story commentary was a thing that max sohl did early on (I could totally be wrong here), always seemed to me like it was a personal interest or obsession of his, something he was trying to figure out.