Source: Adult Industry News
By: Miss Charlie Latour
“Pericium ex aliis facito tibi quod ex usu siet… Draw from others the lesson that may profit yourself.” What a wonderfully true statement written in 165 BC by Terence (Andria…The Lady of Andros).
My father, now deceased, was an accomplished Lutheran clergyman, a scholar of the ancient Greek and Latin languages and literature and a man so brilliant that he understood that common sense was a daily ritual. He taught me, urged me and begged me to use common sense in all that I do. “Pee Wee”, he use to say, “learn from others the lessons which will help you achieve your goals in life”.
I hope that young women contemplating entering the Adult Industry will learn from the experiences of Bianca Trump, so vividly chronicled in AINews. [http://ainews.com/story/2637/] This is not to say that you should not become an adult performer, but you should draw from others the lessons that may profit yourself. Once you begin to make adult videos, or put nude photos of yourself on the Internet, you must be ready to deal with the consequences, including public condemnation, media sensationalization and community ridicule.
I am fully committed to a woman (or man) making the choice to become an adult entertainer. It is her right, but there needs to be full disclosure and a level of maturity (which I have written about extensively). When you buy a house or car the seller must make full disclosure, when you have elective surgery the physician and hospital must disclose the risks you face, even when you take a job that exposes you to hazardous materials or situations the employer must, by federal law, completely disclose the hazards and the potential impact on the employees health and safety.
Why then, is it considered being a “stupid, blabbermouth, over-the-hill, never was, meddling, piece of shit” (a recent greeting from a well-known producer who was really ticked off at my piece on the Age of Innocence) when you tell a potential new adult actress about the risks involved. My e-mail has been ablaze since my last few articles. Some producers are so concerned that someone will use this girl or that girl before they use them that they will forget to tell these young ladies of the potential pitfalls. In interviewing women for roles in adult features I have been involved with on an executive level (producer and director) I spend as much time telling them about the pitfalls as I do telling them about the role. Many are rebellious young adults who reject my advice like they have rejected the advice of their parents, teachers, and friends.
You need to bore in on the potential pitfalls, but there are those producers who just tell them how beautiful they are and how much money they will make. In other words, they tell them what they want to hear. The producers become enablers for what may become a very difficult future. The problem is, when the young lady hits the problems, the producers and those who made money off them are long gone. So why is it so “unacceptable” to properly inform potential performers of the risks? Greed, arrogance, self-loathing… you name it, the reasons are as varied as the individual.
Some worthy efforts have been made by individuals and groups to help adult performers, but they have been under-funded and enjoy limited support from the Adult Industry, in general. The most visible is PAW (Protecting Adult Welfare), an organization formed by Bill Margold and others to provide some assistance to adult performers, including emergency assistance and counseling. The organization is primarily geared for the after-effects. In 1993 Bill Margold and Dutch Bishop wrote a small 40 page, self-published book called, “The Porn Stud Handbook” which attempts to answer many of the questions a prospective male porn performer has before they do their first production. AIM (Adult Industry Medical), currently run by porn legend Sharon Mitchell, provides HIV testing and some counseling on psychological and drug issues, but like PAW it is concurrent with the performers activities. The Adult Industry has not developed a full disclosure policy, nor do I believe they ever will. What remains are the lessons we learn from others.
Bianca Trump has been one of the biggest stars of the adult entertainment world. She is enticing, beautiful, intelligent and, without knowing it, providing the best lesson to all potential female performers. Her article in AINews follows her plight with her neighbors in her Florida neighborhood. I will not comment on the interaction, the motivations and what went wrong or right. That’s for you to decide. The part that provides the best lesson is the part where her neighbors discover that she is Bianca Trump, PORN STAR. The whole landscape changes. People who were your friends now distance themselves from you, your enemies now have a weapon to use against you and those left to settle the dispute find it politically difficult to support you without being tainted. I hope you read the article. It is very telling. I think the part where the neighbors start accusing her of having sex with the police to get them on her side is the most telling. Not only are you tainted because of what you have done, you are then assumed to have done things that may not be true. Once you have been branded a “porn star” everything you do is tainted and everyone who supports you is tainted.
Those who oppose you are more often than not, hypocrites. Many watch adult movies, buy provocative magazines, enjoy sexy ads and privately envy you, but they will use your career, even if it was 20 years ago, against you. This is a lesson all potential porn actresses MUST learn. It is very hard to avoid the topic for the rest of your life. I have not been able to avoid it, although I was prepared for it. I frequently get stopped in shopping malls and asked if I’m Charlie Latour. I say yes, smile and walk on. I have also been the subject of attack on this issue. I was involved in a lawsuit that others and I brought against a company for failure to pay an agreed up fee. This was in a field different from adult videos. During the trial the lawyer for the defense called our attorney and said that he had a copy of an adult movie I had made years ago (actually my first starring role in a major 35mm film..titled White Hot) and he would make sure that this video would get into the hands of the elementary school principal, the school board and the teachers where my son went to school unless I withdrew the suit. I was forced to choose between the major impact on my son (who was too young at the time to know mommy was a porn actress) and the hundreds of thousands of dollars owed to me. A grinding, horrible decision. Beautiful, talented Bianca has faced this scarlet letter, as many other adult performer have. The decision to become an adult performer will effect your life FOREVER! It is a scarlet letter.
So where is full disclosure? Where are the activists who so bravely defend the suckerfish, the western spotted owl and the mud turtle. Don’t the young men and women who are contemplating entering the arena of flesh peddling deserve full disclosure? Where is the United States Department of Labor? Hypocrites! All are a bunch of hypocrites! There are many in the Adult Industry who think like I do, but few speak up; feeling powerless to do anything and fearful for their careers.
Some brave souls counsel people considering a career in porn. They warn them of the consequences and the impact it will have on them for their remaining life. They tell them about the impact it might have on their family. These are the brave, good people of porn. They, like me, support the right of any legal adult to view and possess legal adult material. I actively support the men and women of porn and commend the brave spirits who weather indignation’s, blackballing and hostility for their commitment to the well being of their fellow human being.
Dr. Phil Berman is an unsung hero. A man who I love and admire, whose family I consider my own. You never heard of Phil, or the other volunteers at PAW and similar organizations? They, along with many of the honest producers and directors, are the good people who help to offset the leeches, bloodsuckers, and other parasites who prey on the vulnerability and immaturity of some and hide the full truth in the dark alleys of vanity and greed.
I am 100% pro-porn and I am 100% pro-full disclosure. Until the Adult Industry matures enough to provide this simple pre-employment disclosure we have to depend on the words of those who proceeded us by thousands of year….”Draw from others the lesson that may profit yourself”. While many have read the story of Bianca Trump, how many identified this lesson as one that may help in the future? I can only hope that many have. I was fortunate to have a loving parent point this out and I have made it a mission to pass the wisdom along.
What say you on this topic? Do you think we need full disclosure of the potential pitfalls of becoming an adult performer? Pro or Con, I welcome all. E-mail me at latour@ainews.com or latour@gateway.net . I never worked with Bianca Trump and I find that my loss. I understand that she is a very special lady. I did many years ago work with the legend Bionca, the powerful and beautiful woman who married Bruce Seven. For those fans that are interested in the video I did with Bionca I think it is now called Mulligan’s Island. It was first called Gillies Island, but the title changed. There were two in the series. A comic porn parody of Gilligan’s Island. It had a great cast including Bionca, Jake Steed, Jean ValJean, Rick Savage, Scott Irish, Tracy Adams, Scott Baker and me. A skilled cast, a very fun loving porn script (yes, folks this puppy had a script of hundreds of pages and a script girl to help us with lines… a real class production) and a magnificent director, Vince Benedetti. I played Mrs. Powell III (poor Thursty drown in this adaptation), Bionca played Maryann and Tracy the movie star. Scott Irish was Gilly, Rick the Captain and Scott Baker the Professor. Jake and Jean were the local natives on the island, along with a beautiful, ebony skinned actress whose name eludes me. I had torrid sex scenes with Bionca, Scott, Rick and my favorite scene, where the other castaways were tied up and I was convincing the natives of our friendly nature. Jake Steed from behind and Jean ValJean from below and a beautiful native woman kissing my nipples …ummmmmm, ummmmm. I do love adult movies, I love the art form and I love the performers. I just want to make sure that those who choose this profession are mature enough to make a clear decision and make that decision having full knowledge of what they can expect. Its called full disclosure.
Love to all! Keep writing, even if you disagree. Dialog is what is going to make this industry a better place for all! Oh yes, I sent the defense attorney in my case an autographed picture and a thank you note for helping to support the Adult Industry! The judge scolded the attorney; my son weathered the storm, is proud of his mother and makes her proud as he completes his college degree to become a preacher like his grandpa! Long live the Adult Industry and may it survive its’ own folly!
