I got the feeling that these men were just the stupid ones that agreed to allow a documentary film crew into their “business”. And even then, we only see what I can only guess is not the brains or money of the operation, but the sleaze who recruites and owns the house with the revolving door of women, and a cameraman. I think there’s a lot more operations like them around Miami who didn’t think it would be a good idea to open themselves up to scrutiny.
What I saw was a new group of starry eyed women hoping for money and fame, and not truly knowing what awaits them. Smiling and being nice to the guy who they believe can make that happen or toss them out. They are just like the women at the beginning of the film, and we know from the film that the smiles don’t last. And he is banking on it not lasting, because the business model they rely on is a never ending supply of new, young replacements.
How many hope to transition to more serious work, like Traci Lords, Sasha Grey, and (allegedly) Joan Crawford?
It seemed like Tiffany Thompson was getting modeling gigs.
Maybe we could set up a “rescue” charity, like they do with retired greyhounds
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So it’s a lot like graduate school?
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It’s hard enough to get people to read the thread before commenting, much less watch a movie. That said, I do want to see the movie, though I don’t have netflix so I might be POL. If I do see it somehow I wouldn’t mind seeing a thread for just people who have watched it.
Ah, there’s the problem.
Mmmm.
It’s a sensitive topic.
The lone ‘sex worker’ I’ve had close contact with; and not due to avoidance; came to realise she’d made a dreadful mistake, and despite doing everything possible to fix it, couldn’t. The porn industry, or micro-portion of it she found herself in, shot her through psychologically. She couldn’t fix it, she can’t. She simply sustained too much damage - her words, not mine. She’s now a psychologist, which she became as part of her efforts to repair, and cannot find any kind of calm or happiness.
The dreadful mistake - social stigma is a broad smear, it makes different careers difficult. But the dreadful mistake I’ve considered is this one - the psychological damage from abuse, mental and physical.
This girl fell in love, and was pulled into the industry. She was, and is, astonishingly beautiful. To her tormentor, she was simply a prize. But it took her ten years out of the industry to even get to that realisation, and she spent much of that time in fear, on the run. Latterly, she campaigns against porn, against any commercialisation of the imagery of women; and she breaks down at gas stations when she see magazines like GQ. She can’t function in our world.
For people who go in, stay happy, stay balanced and unaffected; no worries. But I really don’t know what percentage that is.
My kids? I wouldn’t wish this on them in a million years.
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It’s utterly hideous. New Zealand has a big Meth problem, mainly because we’re too far off the end of the heroin and cocaine supply chain to make them an economical high, but Meth can be cooked up locally.
Fortunately, I don’t have any direct personal experience of it (cider, glue and petrol were the cheap go-tos where I grew up). But I do have to look into more than my fair share of Meth Mouth in prematurely aged bodies while patching up other physical problems addiction causes … 
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Was this the “we’re not happy till you’re not happy” bunch? I recall a BBC crew covering them.
WHUUUUUT
In other drug related news, did you guys know that drug overdoses kill more people in the US than traffic accidents now?
I humbly suggest dealing with the drug problem (if even possible) might fix some of the other root problems that lead to … the stuff of this topic.
Yes, that too. It reminds me a bit of high school athletes who think they’re going to play basketball or football for a living… almost none of them are, but they’re hoping…
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“A dose of heroin is now cheaper than a six pack of good beer, said Ted Gatsas”
Rewind to the invasion of Afghanistan. What a success that was … for somebody.
And what happened between 2006 and 2009 on the road? Deaths collapsed!
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The same technology these folks worry can be used for people to be exploited by others can be used to makes ones own porn on ones own terms, wherever one may happen to be. There are exploitive creeps in every field of work, and porn is no different. I’d rather make my own media than prostitute myself to corporate culture any day.
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Google “Joan Crawford” “stag movie.” It’s still all rumors, but the stories went that she had also been arrested for prostitution.
Also heroin. I spent 33+ years in AZ and then moved to the east coast. What was meth where I’m from is heroin here.
I’d say meth is worse, but only by a slim margin and only because meth can produce some HEINOUSLY PARANOID AND VIOLENT tendencies out of people who are normally not at all violent when sober.
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As part of the mopping up crew, to be honest I’ve found that the problems that get to healthcare from heroin seem to be more from the side-effects of the shit it’s cut with; the results of the deprivation and crime that go with feeding an illegal habit; and overdoses from sudden availability of relatively pure drug (the drug:shit ratio changes with drug supply) —rather than problems with diamorphine (the generic name for therapeutic heroin) itself. Poverty plus heroin doesn’t end well, but I’ve known relatively affluent heroin users who remained perfectly functional; albeit while spending stupid money on their drug habit.
I’ve also prescribed and administered diamorphine, it’s a really good drug. Excellent analgesia and a nice euphoriant/calming effect that’s useful in terminal care. It’s a crying shame that the War on Drugs mean it isn’t more easily available for healthcare use.
Meth, on the other hand seems to be just a one way shortcut to physical ruin … 
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This. Without the stigma, sex work, in and of itself, isn’t significantly different than any other occupation in which somebody performs a service in return for money. In fact, the stigma is often the main cause of most of the problems associated with it - at least those problems not also found in other forms of work.
And when somebody bothers to actually ask, it’s interesting how many sex workers report feeling less exploited in their profession than they do in more reputable lines of work available to them.
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People are used and abused and objectified in every profession, why should porn be any different?
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Re 2006-2009: The economy collapsed, people drove less. People lost their jobs and stopped commuting to work. Recovery was slow so people got used to driving less and using public transport. The economy is still recovering so the effect persists.
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Great comment Marilove and Seki.
It would be like someone with few opportunities going into a field where their job is to kill people. But the difference is that killing people is not only okay, it is valued, praised and rewarded.
Then after your service with a agreed upon noble goal, you can join a contractor and kill for money.
Which one is more damaging to society and the psyche’s of the people involved?
“Support our troops!” or “Support our Porn stars!”
I also think the gender expectations are huge is this whole topic, the
different view of women killers, vs male killers.
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