Everyone has their own take on it. Personally, the male performer is just a stunt dick. As long as he's blowing out a hoes back, he can be Danny Devito for all I care.
I'm more into specific directors -- many of whom also work as performers -- because you know the type of women he prefers, the camera angles he uses, and what you'll generally see in a scene. Beyond that I don't pay attention to the male talent.
I feel you.... I mean, there's some woodmen who I regard as stunt dicks: Nathan Threat, for instance. Like, he's present enough to move the scene forward, but there's nothing outstanding about his performance. Some would put Byron Long in the same category, but I think he has some charisma. Charlie Mack is a guy who is generally regarded to be a star, but to me I don't think he brings any electricity to the scene or has much chemistry with the girls.
But I guess this aversion to "seeing" the male performer explains a lot why many niggas say they hate Wesley Pipes. Because he is a performer who DEMANDS to be noticed. He can't be ignored. Personally, I find his banter quite hilarious and entertaining... but regardless of what you think about his talking, he does fuck these chicks quite properly.
I don't give a shit who thinks it's gay to like male performers.... I'm too secure in my own heterosexuality to care about shit like that. And I really laugh at guys who get all hysterical at the idea of noticing or mentioning the male performer. THEY are the ones who look super-gay to me, like they're scared of awakening something they've buried deep inside themselves.
And the end result of that mentality is what you see among a lot of Gen Z niggas where they avoid b/g porn altogether... they say it's gay to watch b/g because there's a naked man in the scene. They'd rather look at g/g or solo girls using dildos on themselves so they don't have to see any male performer at all. And that's a big part of why black-on-black porn in general is dying. A lot of these young cats prefer to watch female solo content on Onlyfans.