Life Is Strange

[Danny]

You live your life and encounter people and events. You file them away.
Some of the people stick with you and you wonder what makes them what they are, why they do what they do when they are adults.... my daughter's friend who I watched grow up became a major porn star after high school, it really freaks me out because we use to have her over many times for dinner a real achiever, someone who swam competitivelty and was very smart. The father was CIA and the mother was a general in the army that was consulted by the defense dept. after 9/11

[Martha]

And who knows what was going on in that girl's home.

[Outtahere]

Or maybe the parents didn't know what was going on when they weren't home, or care.

[REWahoo]

Maybe there was a problem at home, but I think things like this sometimes happen no matter how good someone's parenting skills may be. I don't recall the details, but I remember a year or so ago seeing a TV program about a Mormon girl making it big in the porn business. Makes you nervous as a parent/grandparent.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

maybe it's just self-defense or perhaps there's something to it, but i tend to think that anyone who has a problem with me being gay probably is not all that comfortable with their own sexuality.

so while i might not be completely comfortable as a sexual exhibitionist, i reserve judgment in that regard.

Maybe she has a really good pension plan.

[Nords]

So this girl went on to a dream career out of high school with obscenely high income in a field with notoriously short careers, non-technical work based strictly on your physical skills & contacts, plenty of sex, drugs, rock&roll, and a wild lifestyle that most people can only fantasize about-- and you're casting aspersions on her?!?

What is she, an NBA star or a stockbroker? *A talk show host? Or (*gasp*) a telcom executive?

Oh, a porn star. *Whew, I thought it was something really bad.

I have a tough time believing that she was blackmailed or even coerced into the field. *She's certainly surrounded by a lot of watchdogs who'd be happy to help her exit the business (and write a best-selling exposé, so to speak). *It's certainly a tough business to succeed in, and it's probably not the kind of occupation that has a "Take Your Kids to Work Day", but it's apparently what she's chosen to do. *It's hard to judge without getting to know her.

I don't know if I'd be very excited about my daughter choosing a career field like that ("Hey, honey, look who's on this DVD!!") but I'd like to think that I've raised her with the potential & skills to figure out what type of work she loves and how to make money at it. *If that's her choice, then it's her choice. *At least she can claim to have a career that lets her screw around as much as she wants.

Neighbors of ours from Monterey had a 15-year-old daughter-- nice kid. *15 years later we saw her on HGTV's "Landscaper's Challenge" running her own landscaper's business. *We found her e-mail address on the Internet, she caught us up on her life, and her mom's still living at the same address. *It was nice to see.

So, Dan, I bet this young lady has a website. *Maybe even an e-mail address. *You should drop her a line...

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Oh, a porn star. Whew, I thought it was something really bad. I don't know if I'd be very excited about my daughter choosing a career field like that ("Hey, honey, look who's on this DVD!!")...

I think you not being "excited" about it would qualify as a world class understatement...

[Danny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo! Maybe there was a problem at home, but I think things like this sometimes happen no matter how good someone's parenting skills may be. I don't recall the details, but I remember a year or so ago seeing a TV program about a Mormon girl making it big in the porn business. Makes you nervous as a parent/grandparent.

They are Mormon....there were problems at home...Mom was caustic - thought all men were like Homer Simpson...brother did major vandalism to neighborhood school...

So, Dan, I bet this young lady has a website. Maybe even an e-mail address. You should drop her a line...
I don't know her professional name - Daughter and friends do - I haven't asked...

[Non sequitur]

Nords, I think you are absolutely correct in your thinking on this subject, except that it is wrong to assume that drugs are involved. That's my opinion.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo! I think you not being "excited" about it would qualify as a world class understatement...

Better that than politics, no? *I came up with over a dozen fields that, according to the media, seem to be worse than porn star. Pay a lot less, too.

When the military isn't busy breaking things & killing people, we pass the time by training each other. *I spent over half my career as a professional instructor, and I used to run one of the sites that trains people how to be military instructors. *I spent a career taking literally hundreds of inexperienced sailors and (even more dangerous) junior officers and turning them into steely-eyed killers of the deep. *

I also know how to build a robot that'll do whatever I tell it to. *But that's not nearly as challenging.

The first thing I learned as an instructor is that you can give your students a "license to thrill" but you can't control what they'll do with it. *The good news is that they're watching how you do your job and a lot of them decide to emulate you. *It gives me great pleasure to watch my former students succeeding. *I made a lot of chief petty officers, college graduates, & officers during my time and I take a lot of enjoyment out of reading about their accomplishments. *It's hard enough to get used to the fact that my "peers", with whom I used to imbibe frosty beverages and run wild in the streets, are today running warships & squadrons. *It astounds me that one day my protégés will be running the fleet. *In our house the quote is "Hey, look, honey, good ol' Sleazebag's a commodore now!" *You guys better pray that I knew what the heck I was doing with your tax dollars.

As an instructor parent the best you can do is set a good example, hand over a good toolbox, step back, and see what they build with it. *You have to develop independence and, even harder, be willing to live with the consequences. *Further meddling will not improve the situation and may actually drive the kid further down the road you wish they hadn't taken. *Who knows, they may surprise you with a better choice than you would have made. *If my kid decides to be a porn star, I'm pretty sure that she'll know how to make Jenna Jamison jealous of her accomplishments. *

And don't tell me that you never fantasized about a career swap with John Holmes...

[Outtahere]

I have a friend that worked in the porn business in CA, he worked as a lighting tech ... if you think drugs are not involved I have some swamp land in FLorida for sale.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Outtahere I have a friend that worked in the porn business in CA, he worked as a lighting tech ...

Having seen more than my share of "final product", I wouldn't brag about being a lighting tech in that industry.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

[OldAgePensioner]

In the area of Marina Del Rey, Manhattan Bch, and Redondo Bch, the bars, Bare Elegance, Jet Strip and Loading Zone provide 18 year old girls a six figure income. They travel a circuit and usually stop off at Van Nuys to make a film once in a while.

Damn good money. Now the drug issue is where it goes bad.

[newyorklady]

fyi- porn stars notoriously make very little money. they make a lot of money stripping though, or if they start their own website or porn related company they make a freaking killing. i would personally never do this, not because i am morally against it, but because it is very dangerous. there are a lot of weird men (and women) out there who are stalkers/psychos. besides, the stigma attached is too great.

i know a few strippers though i grew up in a wealthy area. one works at the best paid most prestigious strip club in new york, and she makes at least 100k a year, but it goes up her nose. she is gorgeous but not very bright, and fell into the wrong crowd. had father issues, etc. the other stripper is only pretty, worked at a b level strip club, but saved some money, got out and started a successful non-industry related business and is doing better than i am financially. so good for her, but from what i see, this is the exception. most of these women are troubled and are not smart financially, so when their looks are gone they are screwed. and from what i learned through these two women, most of these women have had family problems if not molested. but this is also true for any other profession- just not to the same extent. it is horrifying and shocking just how many people have been abused as children. neither of these women did porn, which i find to be worse. because it is on tape, forever, your future in-laws could see, etc. hard for you to break away and not be haunted by it.

and i think that you should contact this person, but not through her new career.... she might feel uncomfortable for an old friend who knows the real her to contact her in her new world. so if you can find her through old friends or family then go for it. just because she is in this career does not make her that different from anyone else. i bet it would be nice for her to meet up with someone like you who won't judge her because many do. the way i see it, it is dangerous for themselves but they could be lawyers defending killers or evil corporations, or some other "acceptable" profession which can actually do more harm than good.

[cube_rat]

Since this thread seemed to have veered off into porn stars/strippers are all drug addicts, I have to chime in. I know plenty of ladies who've worked in various areas of the sex industry and although drugs and alcohol have played a part in some of their lives, there are MANY who have exited out of the life clean with either a ton of cash (most specifically from escort work, exotic dancing or on-line porn work) or have sunk their earnings into real estate and other types of investments (yes, most file returns and pay taxes). Lets be careful to not lump all sex workers into one bucket. It's a lucrative business, and if play your cards right a lady can have her retirement set before the age of 40.

[newyorklady]

you are right, if you play your cards right you can be very financially successful in this profession. problem is most people don't play their cards right in ANY profession. i know many white collar professionals who make very good money who live beyond their means and do cocaine, etc. sorry to have gone into a rant before, you are right that it can be very lucrative. but there is a time limit on looks unfortunately so as long as the woman keeps this in mind and invests properly she will be set.

[Outtahere]

Trust me, my friend does not advertize his involvement in the porn lighting industry, he was trying to move up in the stage lighting business. In his early twenties he figured he'd give it a try, didn't work, now he's a succesful business person making a 6 figure salary.

As for the drugs and problems associated with that business, yep..there are some that make it out, some that make a crap load of money on it, but for the most part those are far and few between.

[haha]

Overall, there is a negative attitude toward porn stars being displayed here. But folks, without porn stars there would be no porn, and without porn, some of us at least would experience a loss.

Over the years I'd say I have gotten more pleasure out of the $$ I've spent of pornography than on, oh just for an example, legal and accounting fees. Or oil changes.

I have respect and appreciation for anyone who eases my path, and that includes good looking women who are willing to do it on camera.

BTW, there is a nightclub I sometimes go to where strippers come after their shifts. Most of these women are incredible dancers, and they love to cut lose. Talk about joie de vivre!


Ha