I got asked today, what I think is the biggest problem with the FSC, particularly as it applies to the new database.
I know Micahel will disagree because he essentially works with the FSC, Joanne at the FSC is his girlfriend so he isn’t exactly a disinterested party. I do respect his right to be wrong.
That said, the problem can be summed up in one word:
Credibility.
To wit, there isn’t any. The FSC has had a long string of failures, 2257, .XXX, it’s association with AIM (whether real or imagined) and one success it can point to in twenty years. That of keeping implied child pornography legal…..They have never been interested in anything to do with talent, until they saw money in it. Like it or not, that is the consensus and I would say it’s highly accurate.
Nothing wrong with making money, I’m all about capitalism, but simple first amendment law is out of their league, I’m not interested in entrusting them with performer health and safety, they simply haven’t proven any ability or responsibility to be entrusted with that.
But back to credibility, right when the FSC needed credibility THE MOST. Diane Duke releases a press release that clearly implies responsibility for taking down PWL when everyone in porn knew that they had nothing to do with it. that was a bone headed move on the part of Ms Duke. Truth is if the FSC wants to regain credibility they would immediately issue a retraction and clarification then fire Ms Duke on the spot. If you hold the FSC accountable then they have to become accountable or die like AIM did.
Now everyone knows that several members of the FSC were tight with AIM including the attorney, Jeffery Douglas, but if you ask the FSC why the AIM database is still up what do they do….blame the dead woman….Yup it’s all Sharon Mitchell’s fault (Sharon isn’t dead thats a figurative because she is out of the picture) easier to blame her than explain why Jeffery couldn’t get off his sorry ass and get it done.
So when the FSC is asking for your trust, you have every right, and even an obligation to your fellow performers to say….EARN IT FIRST!
10 Responses
Mike, with respect, you are either delusional or disingenuous in the extreme when you speak of “the consensus view.” Whose consensus — your readers? That’s a joke, Mike. It’s certainly not the consensus of the people who are actually involved in mainstream porn production.
Since you like playing the “emails I’ve received game” allow me to share a few I’ve received from actual adult industry players.
In no particular order:
“Hi Michael . . . I just wanted to say a quick word of thanks for your continuing effort to serve as a voice of reason out there in the adult blogosphere, and through your comments on Mike South’s blog, in particular.
And…. well, I think I’ll just leave it at that.
Sincerely,
One of those “morons” who continues to trust the people of/at the FSC”
Then there’s this one:
“Mike South has no credibility. Either he doesn’t understand the way this industry operates and what life has been like here for the last ten years, or he doesn’t want to. Someone ought to tell him that knocking everyone who’s more successful or more connected to the current players than he is makes him look like a dusty bitter old dinosaur.”
And this:
“I had to laugh over the whole condom thing because it appears he makes his living, at least in part, from bukkake videos. That would certainly shut down his business, but wait… he isn’t in LA. It doesn’t affect him. Why can’t he see that that matters?”
And this:
“What’s Mike going to do when PWL is a memory and his traffic starts to drop down again to it’s [sic] normal level?”
Or this:
“Awesome comment on South’s blog yesterday. It was a long one and it said so much and was absolutely spot-on about his chest thumping…. [S]ometimes periods of prolonged drama create expectation in a person such that the need for drama expresses itself in their creating it themselves…”
And I’m sure you’ll recall this comment from LukeIsBack which was also forwarded to me by email (I don’t know who wrote it originally, but it was re-sent to me by someone whose name we ALL know). By way of background: following the June 7, 2011 Cal-OSHA meeting, where scores of performers showed up, put on FSC sticker badges and vociferously supported FSC’s agenda, you REFUSED TO GIVE ANY CREDIT AT ALL to FSC. Instead, you wrote (quite ridiculously, actually):
“[H]ad I the mind to I could have gotten 200-300 or more performers in that meeting today, I could organize the talent, I have the know how and the political science education but if there is one thing I learned from porn…I’m not going to spend my own money to do it.”
Here is the reply from that thread that was resubmitted to me (in the context of your relentless carping criticism of FSC):
“It is my understanding that Mike South is an old man who lives with his mother in Georgia. His claim to fame is that, 25 years ago, he won an AVN amateur award. He can’t afford to attend industry events. He doesn’t do business of any significance with anyone in the industry. He can’t even get his phone calls answered by any of the people who actually know what’s going on. Basically, he’s a glorified groupie who has bullied his way into industry conversations.
“If even half of this is true, then I’m confused. Why don’t people call this guy on his bull-shit? Why doesn’t anybody challenge him, just once, to put his money where his mouth is? He claims that he can get 500 performers to assemble in one place at one time. PROVE IT. Name the cause. Select the event. Choose the time and place. Anything you want. You tell us when and where you will have 500 performers assembled and then DO IT. Why doesn’t anyone ever tell this guy to ‘PUT UP, OR SHUT UP!’”
Incidentally, in the same thread you also admitted, “The last show I attended was Internext Miami 2 years ago. The last adult expo show I attended was in 2007.”
And just yesterday, after I accused you of big-time confirmation bias in your selective reading of news as strictly damning to FSC, you actually wrote:
“HA! I KNEW IT!” in reference to FSC’s APHSS plane, writing it off as D.O.A.
That one’s classic, Mike.
I’ll spare you some of the more brutal messages I’ve received from industry members — again, these are people out here who actually deal with FSC, know board members of FSC, employ people in this industry, or who are employed in this industry — but make no mistake: the consensus is not as you claim, Mike. Your view is not an industry-wide consensus. It simply isn’t. It’s the opinion of those in the echo chamber of the Mike South porno bubble.
BTW, among the entities that, according to your definition, are not part of “the consensus view” — because they support FSC and APHSS — include HUSTLER, VIVID, WICKED, GIRLFRIENDS FILMS and any many more. But, hey, what do they know, right? Because you know better.
As you wrote, it all comes down to credibility, doesn’t it?
And finally, I take great offense at your statement (about me) that “he isn’t exactly a disinterested party.” I have never taken a cent from FDC or ANY trade organization or lobbying group. Not one cent. I make NO MONEY WHATSOEVER from the adult industry. Instead, I have spent thousands of dollars defending philosophical positions to which I subscribe. I also don’t take political positions in order to be popular with ANYONE. Is it so hard to believe that my actions and statements are made out of CONSCIENCE? Maybe that’s yet another concession of an uncomfortable reality you’re unable or unwilling to make. Or maybe you really think you’ve got the market cornered on righteousness.
Either way, it blows.
@Michael – Honest questions…
Considering Mike is a nobody, or at best, a has been, and everyone here simply dwells within the Mike South porno bubble, why on Gods green earth do you waste your valuable time posting these incredibly long comments trying to debate him and point out where he (and others) are wrong?
All previous nasty comments aside, I’d think an intelligent person like yourself, full of energy, and working towards the greater good, would spend his time elsewhere where it would be more productive, instead of hanging around a has-been and people who will probably never be. The two of you clearly have opposite opinions on pretty much everything, and one will never convince the other his point of view. It’s a Mexican standoff. So why bother?
Any why does everyone else (the real industry people) who says Mike doesn’t matter feel compelled to read his blog AND all the comments, then send emails to you to let you know just how insignificant Mike’s blog and thoughts really are?
Am I the only one who sees the flaw in basic logic here?
@DWB – People read tabloids like the National Enquirer, too, because they find it entertaining, not because they have embarked on a quest for truth.
People read a wide variety of material when they’re intetested in a subject. I used to subscribe to both National Review and The Nation back in the day.
I post here because Mike’s more intelligent and open-minded readers deserve a counterpoint to his take. As you can see from the notes I’ve received, some of them appreciate that.
Finally, I think many people visit this site for the same reason Mike, Steve Lick and others visit Gene Ross’ site.
Unless you’re claiming Mike and Steve just lied, and didn’t visit (and report on) Ross’ site…
@Michael – Fair enough.
remember back in the day when, if you were shooting movies for Russell, you were required, i mean advised to join and pay protection… i mean dues to the FSC? Course, it was easy. The FSC office was in his building and all you had to do was walk down the hall and fork over the cash or a check. ahh… the good old days.
I do remember those days, the same era when someone like the person behind PWL would have been found in a dumpster — maybe found…
But that was before Messrs Hirsch and Fishbein bragged about how this “multi-billion dollaar industry” was “going mainstream”, and close scrutiny was invited.
As you and I recall, Jimmy, but perhaps others reading this don’t, Russ had a very personal reason to support an organization which opposed porn obscenity cases and anti-porn legislation.
Michael– I did not mean to infer that Russ was using the FSC as some kind of shake-down hustle and pocketing any of those dues. (If that’s how my comment came off.) You’re right. He had very good reasons for being, what amounted to, their biggest supporter. I was simply noting that if you wanted Russ’s support, it sometimes meant supporting some other stuff too. (Whether you felt that ‘other stuff’ was something you needed to support or should or wanted to support or not.) It’s the way things worked. There were many kinds of “dues” you needed to pay back in the day. Generally, doing so wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as the end (making a good living) justified the means (paying those various “dues”) even if it wasn’t always something you truly wanted to do.
Absolutely, Jimmy — that’s exactly how I took it. I just wanted to emphasize another aspect of your point. Both of your comments were dead on the money.
Very well said, Mike. I keep telling people. You have a new system but the same people running it and the same producers accessing YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION. Didn’t PWL teach performers anything?? You may have shut down PWL but ALL the people who were behind ALL the stalking and defamation ARE STILL THERE!!
Another disgusting set of lies and distortions from the repugnant Desi Foxxx. Tell me, Desi, since you’re obviously “in the know”, what personal information is contained in the APHSS database? And who are these “same people” who are running it?