I do not often read this board, so my apologies if my attempts to search for this topic coming up recently failed.  I recall seeing a discussion in May about Steven Soderbergh's upcoming film "The Girlfriend Experience."  Apparently, the film recently began production and will be released next year, with pornstar Sasha Grey in the starring role.

So...what do you all think?

I'm torn.  On the one hand, I often daydream about being a filmmaker, and the hobby would be great subject for a film, without the trite romance of "Pretty Woman."  But I don't trust Soderbergh to do it right.

More importantly, as the Gov. Spitzer and Sen. Craig scandals have shown, it is probably best for sexual subcultures to stay out of the light.  People on the straight and narrowminded don't really want to know what we do, and it is probably best to keep it that way.  I was with a wonderful young provider just yesterday and I mentioned the film to her.  She gasped and said "they can't do that to us!"  I tend to agree.  

I predict a lot of sturm und drang around here when the film is released.  News outlets, paricularly tabloid shows such as Inside Edition, may rehash the stories they ran in the wake of the Spitzer scandal.  If they decide to add new content, they may want try to reach out over TER to interview providers and hobbyists.

Then again, this film is being produced by Dallas Mavericks team owner Mark Cuban.  He has backed some really cool little films but the mainstream press has ignored them.  Hopefully there will be little promotion and therefore little press attention.

Makes me wonder if Cubes has a profile on here!

AVN story:  http://www.avn.com/performer/articles/32868.html

previous discussion:  http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?BoardID=12&SortBy=DateCreated%20desc&Search=soderbergh&SearchType=1&DayFrom=300&DayTo=0&ViewAll=1&MessageID=258132&frmSearch=1

There have been over 1/2 million reviews posted on TER.  Read the discussion groups: members are business men, lawyers, physicians, professors, trades people, skilled working people, etc.  The woman who are involved seem to be bright responsible people.  Many have children and other professions.  Sooner or later, the whole group of us, not to mention all the other people who live a minority (majority?) life style could stand up and refuse to have to sneak around and hide from the law.  Gay people began by standing up for themselves in New York in the 1960s (black people started sooner though their problem was not frowned upon behavior but the lack of good judgment to be born black.)Include all the B & D people, hobbyists, transsexuals and their fans, group sex people, etc and the other side is populated by George Bush. One of these days, we are going to have to refuse to put up with things as they are.

At best, the gals are naive waifs led astray by unscrupulous pimps; at worst, they are junkies and sex crazed low lifes, as are the Johns.

The only sympathetic treatment I can recall was in the old TV show about Vietnam, China Beach, and that was only a minor part of the show.

I hope the movie stays in the can.

As long as this country is controlled by religion-Remember,In God We Trust (all others pay cash LOL), this is an area that will not gain any support for legalizing, kind of like Marijuana.  Although somewhat more accepted today, gay people still face the same problems they did before, with the exception of a few areas.  Sadly, our society is not one that condones the oldest profession around.  Can you just imagine a presidential debate that includes legalizing the profession?  Now that would be worth watching!!!

For anyone who knows porn, Sasha Grey, while being seriously hot and having one of the most amazing backsides I have ever seen in my life, is a notorious ham...she over acts probably more than any actress in porn today.  Almost every scene with her (and again, I think she is majorly hot) is full of fake noise and dirty talk from the moment the clothes come off. Compared to SG, a porn star like Sunny Lane or Ava Rose would be Meryl Streep level.

Oh, and I think Meryl Streep is hot, too.

As for the other issues...

If anyone could make a good mainstream movie about this, Soderbergh could.  The guy is underrated in spite of all the acclaim he has received.  Guy is a funkin' genius:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Soderbergh

Past that, I agree with Fish, Hollywood has never had any interest in telling the "real" story of this business.  Who in this country wants to see reality, ya know?

I also agree with Dr. Joe that at some point society needs to grow up some, but the difference between that and the gay issue is that it was their entire lifestyle they were fighting for, and this is not as clear as that, given as most of the guys on here are married.

While many say that we shouldn't shine a light on things, I disagree.  If LE really wanted to, they could find a way to mess this all up very easily for us.  Additionally, the only way that will ever change if if people are willing to stand up for what they believe in.  Keeping it in the shadows is short sighted, as it will never change anything.

-- Modified on 10/16/2008 9:30:57 PM