So Much Negativity
What’s the Deal?
(NOTE: I’m reading this quickly and want to make it clear that I’m singling out any site, forum or blog. There is good and bad everywhere. I would list any specific sites I was really trying to blast. I’d also list some good places to go, but where are my links yo?)
I’m not entirely sure where this is going to go so I hope that you bear with me. It just seems that there is a whole lot of negativity floating around this industry right now. That isn’t really a new phenomena of course. I can still remember the old newsgroup days when constant fights on RAME or ASM or even ACME were al the rage. If I could add up all the time I wasted on stupid flame wars over implants, condoms, boycotts and every other little thing I could probably write a dozen novels. It’s also the nature of the internet and especially the blogosphere to thrive on all things negative. I won’t pretend to be above some of that myself. I’ve spent enough time reading dirt and throwing gas on fires to know how easy it is to fall into that pattern.
Still, it’s not really me. Those of you who know me in person would, I hope say that I am not a negative person. (Except when it comes to sports. I’m always convinced my team is going to lose every time.) I try to approach life with a smile on my face and a belief in the better side of humanity. (With a cynical streak a mile wide I admit.) I try to deal with people fairly, honestly (As opposed to fairly honestly) and do what I can to make every encounter a positive one. I have tried very hard to make sure that my ‘online personality’ mirrors that as often as possible. Not that I’m above an angry rant now and then or that I don’t get myself into fights that I don’t want to be in. No one’s perfect, but I try.
This site has always been a reflection of that hope. Yes, there are rants and the occasional spats, but for the most part I strive to keep things positive, yet honest. Let’s face it, this is porn after all. There is PLENTY of bad stuff to report. There are bad people doing bad things to others in this business all the time. Is it all bad? No. Is it worse than other industries? Maybe. The point is that I try not to dwell on every horrible thing there is to report. This is kind of an odd thing to be typing since I have been accused over the years of bashing the industry and not towing the party line (Both politically and journalistically) often enough. I’m somewhat lucky in that this site has always been primarily about the project, not the people. It’s about how good a Jules Jordan movie is or how poorly lit some other flick is. It isn’t supposed to be the first place you go for news or gossip about porn. There have always been other sites that do that and many of them do it well. I do news and a bit of gossip (Though I always err on the side of caution and usually wait until gossip is old news before posting it) as well as a health dose of commentary, but mostly this is a review site.
I don’t have any interest in not reporting on the things going on in the business either. When there are bad things, we talk about them. When people have comments, I post them. I know I don’t have the easy to use comments like some other sites and I’m working on that, but comments are always welcome. I don’t generally censor except when people are being extraordinarily rude to someone other than myself. I know that negativity sells in this industry and on the web. Blasting people gets attention. Having blog comments that turn into flame wars equals traffic. There’s nothing wrong with that really. I don’t look down upon it or anything. I just don’t have much time for it. I want people to be able read the site and post here without worrying about getting blasted and spending hours battling back and forth. I’m also busy every day reviewing movies so I don’t have as much time as some other sites to follow some of the back and forth.
It isn’t just those making comments who thrive on the negative. Those people have been around since the newsgroup days. People who wait for any thread or post and then just blast it to shit out of it. You see those people on any board or blog in the world from porn to cooking. Nothing wrong with that. Porn has its super fans and it’s anti-fans. Those who think that any woman in the industry is a goddess who just needs to be loved and would never ever do anything wrong. And those who are fond of the word “whore” just for the sake of saying it. I don’t fall into either camp. There are some good people in this biz and some pretty horrible ones, but in the end they are people doing a job. We can respect that or we can blast them, but at the end of the day what does it all add up to?
How people spend their time is up to them. But there are entire sites devoted just to negative shit. (Porn and otherwise) Most sites aren’t all negative of course. (For example, I love the balance Cindi strives for on LukeIsBack.com) As I said, this isn’t a perfect industry and some bad stories are going to show up and some bad people are going to have their say. Sites that offer a voice to both sides are great. I have taken plenty of shit for my limited support of Shelly Lubben’s efforts (I applaud her for helping women who want out of porn get on their feet, but I could do without some of the misinformation and the constant attempts to shut down the industry.) That’s a whole long post all on its own.
I’ve never quite understood some of the blogs that do nothing but rip the industry, the women who perform in porn flicks, the people who watch than anything related to this crazy business. Why would anyone spend so much time writing negative shit, posting half-truths and outright lies and spreading hate? The obvious answer is money, but where the hell is there money in that? Traffic is money of course, but it takes time to write a good blog. It takes time to sift through stories and post them. It takes time and one has to be pretty dedicated to hating an industry to do that.
OK this came off the rails as I figured it would. It’ boils down to that moderate thing again. It always bites me in the ass. On the one hand you have an industry press that is dedicated primarily to protecting the idea that everything is perfectly fine. Porn is great, the industry is clean and wonderful and nothing bad ever happens. On the other hand we have activists, bloggers and blog commenters (Is that even a word?) who spend a whole lot of time attacking people in the industry without really much to back their play? There is probably a paranoid conspiracy rant in there somewhere, but I don’t think I could make the proper leap. At least not this long past lunch time.
So what was the point? I don’t know. What do you think?
