Shut the fuck up Ebert. I usually love and adore your words, but just shut the hell up.
I recently watched a movie called The
Girl Next Door and as usual I read his review right after, and he is just so offended by the idea of a young
girl doing porn that he allowed it to taint his entire opinion of the movie.
Look here buddy ... not every female that chooses to do porn or be a prostitute is being exploited. We
have brains sweetie ... we can actively choose to do things that society doesn't believe are morally
right ... for any number of reasons. We could ... A) not give a flying fuck what society believes, or B)
just live our lives to suit ourselves. Hey that's the same thing.
His ridiculous attitude just reminded me of my hatred and issues with people who seem to think that any
woman who doesn't stay 'good' is somehow so stupid or gullible, that she's allowed herself to be
exploited. A man who is a porn star is what? Awesome ... that's right. I don't see anyone
running around claiming that that fat slob Ron Jeremy is being exploited. No, they're saying damn, this ugly, fat, disgusting
looking guy gets all the pussy he wants and gets paid for it to boot. Where can I sign up?
He's made over 892 movies and there's one
site that refers to him as a superior being for god's sake. There was a movie about him called 'The Legend of Ron
Jeremy.' That's right, legend. And the same site that pats Ron on the back for being a
'superior being' has only thanks to give to Jenna Jameson, the biggest porn star in the world, who even though they credit her for making porn less of a social taboo and more acceptable for guys to indulge
in, they still say she's no real 'standout.'
Jesus.
Then there are the feminists who are on board the 'exploited female' train, who clearly don't see the
contradiction in their arguments. They protest the porn industry and are basically telling all the women
... the adult women, who have chosen this path that they're morons who can't see the forest for the
trees. That they can't make decisions for themselves simply because society doesn't deem it
tasteful.
This is a peeve I've wanted to write for a long, long time, but I just couldn't find the words. Thanks
Ebert, for pissing me off enough. You're a moron if you really stand by this review.
And really what's wrong with a lap dance? What's wrong with sex? What's wrong with the morals
of this fucking country where they treat sex like it's something so horrible that just the idea of it not being
between two sweet All American movie perfect kids who just love each other, that somehow it's tainted?
You Ebert praised all three American
Pie films, and this flick has less sex in it than any of those. Just because those are supposedly
'coming of age' flicks doesn't make this one any less poignant.
You're so biased against the movie that you talk about the girl and call her despicable, when in reality she
isn't. You claim that there were two sides to her and I certainly didn't see them. She played a
trick on the guy and made him run half way home naked, yes. But that doesn't make her vengeful or
disgusting, it just makes her playful because she comes back for him and he laughs it off.
So what really is your problem huh? That perhaps you got a little woody while watching or maybe the
flick hit too close to home? You got issues with sex Ebert? Well keep em to yourself.
The world doesn't agree with you ... at least I don't and in my small world that opinion is highly valued.
I can understand you taking issue with The Brown Bunny ... but shut the fuck up about Girl Next Door ... this movie was adorable, a lot
less sexual than most teen flicks and a lot sweeter than most of the movies you do recommend.
Maybe many people won't share my opinion on porn and prostitution, but if there's one thing I hate it's the idea
that anyone in a less than desirable situation aka a non societal sanctioned occupation, is somehow a victim of
whatever ... circumstances/other people/life ... and that they could not possibly have come to this decision on their
own.
Yes, it's true that many young girls get tricked into being in porn and turning to prostitution, or they have no
choice and are forced to do these things in order to survive. But there are some people out there who
look at these two careers with a healthy perspective and realize that getting paid to have sex, in either
occupation, does not need to be some self hating issue.
I'm sure the women at the Bunny
Ranch in Las Vegas, where prostitution is legal, would certainly agree with this perspective, and so would
most of the highly paid, popular porn actresses, like Ms Jameson.
They'll be the first to tell you that they simply don't care what society says. That they aren't victims,
simply women who chose an unorthodox means of providing income for themselves.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating girls becoming strippers or porn stars or hookers, I'm just saying
that it's wrong and wholly ignorant to assume ... to basically make a sweeping generalization ... that all women
in such fields are there either because they were forced/tricked/or starving and had no choice but to do
it. Because that's just not true and it's completely asinine to think so.
You're taking away women's power if this is what you believe of every woman in such situations. It
doesn't mean they have low self esteem or that they have daddy issues or some abusive history. A
majority of these women go into these occupations for very clear reasons that have nothing to do with a
traumatic past or troubled present.
I used to work at a strip club. Yes, one of my many jobs that sooner or later will be featured on this site
in a story ... like this. And the majority of the girls who worked there went there willingly and liked their
jobs. I used to give applications to the girls who came in wondering if they could be strippers
too. I won't lie and say they were all there cause they wanted to be, some of them were Russian chicks
or other foreign women who probably arrived here and ended up with that as the only means of getting some
fast cash, but a lot of them were college students. One of the nicest girls there, was a fashion student
and she worked there cause it paid well. Simple as that. She had other options, other jobs she
could have done, but to her it was no big deal. Working in fashion you don't have time to have body
complexes or be shy, and to her stripping was just naked dancing ... which is what it is.
There's a bar here in NY called Hogs and Heifers where the hot bartender chicks climb on top of the bar and
dance for their customers. Yes, it's for fun, but it's also to titillate. The only difference between
them and strippers is a pair of jeans and a leather vest.
You're still dancing and still trying to bring in customers with your hot writhing body. Naked or no, the
only thing that makes one okay and the other not, is the mind of the individual watching.
I think the problem here is that people have forgotten or just have no knowledge of the past and can't see
where the world went wrong. Prostitution is the oldest occupation in the world. How many times
have you guys heard that being said? Well it's true. Women have been doing it since the dawn
of time and in many places in the world it used to be just another job. When did it become taboo?
Donna J. Guy, is a professor of History, who has written many books about the culture of women worldwide
and she speaks frequently of prostitution and it's history. While she shows how it's linked to religious
beliefs, family survival and patriarchal authority, she also makes it clear that for many of these women,
prostitution was a means of establishing one's independence and controlling one's own sexuality.
Basically, of seizing one's power. And it's as true now as it was then, because like it or not, our
societies are still controlled by men. For whom we have to thank for the Madonna/whore
complex.
Now if I could realize and understand this from back when I was a teen, then why are so many people still
refusing to see this? I can understand feminists being against the pimps who control the women, but
prostitution as a whole? Aren't these the same feminists who advocate taking control of one's own
sexuality and doing what you want with it? So why protest the porn industry? Why talk like the
women doing these jobs are somehow just not smart enough to see that they're being used?
And in relation to the movie ... it wasn't advocating a life in the porn industry, the girl though young, had
decided that she was done with porn, that she was going to lead a regular life. But that doesn't mean
that she was forced or tricked into it just cause she was young. And the only reason she felt bad about
it wasn't because she'd actually done it, but because of the minds of the people she met and what they
thought of her because of it.
Of course they don't mind watching porn and dreaming of themselves having the hot chick and what not, but
it's a completely different situation when they meet the actress and their ridiculous morals start coming into
play. They get some ignorant perceived notion in their minds that porn actress automatically equals
whore or promiscuous slut, who's ready to get it on with pretty much everyone.
That's about as asinine as the thinking that a lawyer is just always willing to give out free legal advice to
whoever he meets. It's just not going to happen.
I don't know ... it just galls me how people and their morals and their ethics can just be so damn
ignorant. It's not the women who strip or do porn or are prostitutes that are the social deviants.
It's society, and those in it who think they have the right to judge them. Judge not less ye be judged
right? It's funny how I'm atheist, but I follow most of the dictates of the bible ... many more than some of
the so called Christians I know. Not because I have a 'just in case' fear of god or the after life or
whatever, but because they just make sense.
Don't judge people. Simple and to the point. Who am I to look down on anyone for the way they
live their life? I'm not perfect. And come on just think about it. We're all running around
having sex for free, while these women are getting paid big bucks to do the same thing. Half of you
don't even enjoy it but you do it anyway. Seems to me like we're the ones truly getting the
shaft.
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