The porn industry is in the midst of crisis.
In July, I wrote about the downfall of Playboy and the disgustingness of Penthouse. People were upset that we even mentioned Playboy or Penthouse on the site.
We’ve written about it in the past. A lot of guys like porn, even good guys. But despite the ubiquity of the medium, an HIV scare in the industry barely makes the news.
In case you haven’t heard, here’s what happened:
The multibillion-dollar porn industry located in the San Fernando valley of southern California has been thrown into crisis after one of its performers tested positive for HIV.
The discovery was made at the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, AIM, a clinic that carries out mandatory testing for about 1,200 porn actors in the valley every month. The clinic has refused to reveal the gender of the performer or which studio he or she worked for, but it has started to track down all other actors known to have been exposed and is now quarantining them until they can also be tested.
Two major studios have temporarily suspended filming: Vivid Entertainment, which is probably the largest porn-production company in the world, and Wicked Pictures.
Get the jokes out now.
As things go in the porn industry, if one guy gets infected, anyone is vulnerable. Everyone is sexually connected in one way or another. This is, literally, a full-blown HIV crisis. And now it’s come out that the infected actor is gay-to-straight. Yet it’s not all over the news.
As Bill Simmons tweeted last night:
Can you imagine if the sports industry had to shut down indefinitely because of one person? I’m pretty sure this would lead SportsCenter.
He might be a sports writer, but he’s spot-on. The shutdown of an entire multibillion-dollar industry should be headline news, but since it’s porn—a dirty, taboo subject—it’s not. While it’s a personal choice to get involved with porn, this is the actors’ livelihood. And if an HIV infection is an occupational hazard, shouldn’t this be something we’re talking about?
Whether you’re for, against, or indifferent to porn, the fact is that it still exists. Porn as a concept—vicariously enjoyed pleasure—is not the issue. Plenty of porn exists that promotes healthier sexuality—and humane business practices. But the unfortunate state of the industry—its exploitative nature, its lax safety regulations (mandatory testing and condom use can’t legally coexist?)—is very much at fault.
By watching it, the truth is that we’re condoning an industry that’s fundamentally fucked-up. And, worse, by ignoring it (or being afraid to talk about it), we’re admitting that what’s happened is fine, expected, unremarkable—or worse, deserved. As if the actors and actresses, having entered the world of adult entertainment, surrendered their rights to safety.
There is no moral conflict with talking about porn. When I wrote about the financial and fundamental failure of Playboy, people were upset. When Tom Matlack got us syndicated in Penthouse, readers were outraged. They weren’t mad at Playboy or Penthouse, they were mad at us for having a conversation about porn.
But the further the porn industry gets from the public conversation, the easier it is to ignore a very preventable outbreak of life-threatening diseases. Whether we need to fix the porn industry or try to put an end to it (highly unlikely), we need to talk about it. And that’s just not happening.
Ryan, you are correct that there is coverage but not nearly as much as a few months ago when a porn actor murdered someone. The LA times retweeted the same story about six times. It was picked up by most every major news outlet and my twitter feed was filled with #pornstar hashtags. I saw this article mentioned on my feed only twice. I tend to think that perhaps it’s not discussed because people like to keep porn as fantasy and the reality – that people can get HIV or AIDS – isn’t something people want to mix with their… Read more »
@Alisun: Unfortunately your wild and demeaning assumptions about millions of people in Middle America push your argument into goofy territory. How do you know that everyone between the coasts hates porn? Where did you come up with the idea that seeing this on the news would elicit a damning reaction? Are all those people REALLY illiterate now? Is there something in the water? Did Google make it? Ignoring this matter won’t make it better. It’ll just give the porn industry a big whopping Get Out of Jail Free card and perpetuate unsafe standards. So what if people react negative to… Read more »
@Brennon: They are demeaning comments yes, but some truth just is. I did not say everyone hates porn… my argument didn’t even go in that direction. I said they believe that porn is SINFUL. Fuck, they love porn. Why do you think that Republican representative just got caught on viewing porn on the floor of the House recently? He couldn’t find a place in his house to watch that his wife wouldn’t find. Oh, they love porn. They just would never admit to it. It’s a guilt thing… that whole Jesus judging you for eternity fire and brimstone, etc. Yes,… Read more »
Great quote from Jezebel:
“Say what you will about pornography, objectification and exploitation, the growing legitimization of the pornography industry—which led to much more government- and self-regulation—also led to a significant decrease in the kind of exploitation described by those performers as well as increased opportunities for women to participate in the higher-earning aspects of the production.”
tl;dr: It’s an industry that already controls the world and is the driving force behind internet itself. It can take care of it’s own.
*sigh* You’ve got it backwards, and you don’t even realize. Listen, it’s ok. You probably had a well adjusted childhood in a liberal town with open minded parents, so of course you would think that discussion leads to improvement. Everywhere else in America (that’s Middle America to those of us in the entertainment industry) this type of “discussion” would only lead to the kind of bible thumping, late night tv trash talking, Tea-Party-Up-In-Arms screaming “discourse” that does nothing but bring bad attention to the porn industry, where there was already plenty. Announce this all over prime time news, and you’ll… Read more »
I’m not saying that’s it’s being completely ignored by the mainstream media. Everyone has the same story, just a cursory report on the problem. No one’s highlighting how big of a problem this actually is.
It’s a life-threatening disease epidemic that’s crushing a huge industry. If it was anything other than porn, this story would be everywhere.
I get what you’re saying, but a Google News search of “HIV porn industry” currently brings up 991 articles. Granted, it’s not as widely covered as the Chilean miners, but I think it’s getting attention, even in the mainstream media (CNN, LA Times, etc).
Excellant it’s about time we take our heads out of the sand in this day and age for something like this to occur is inexusable! Way to bring it front and center.