May 14, 2010

  • Pornstars Going Mainstream - Fat Chance!

    [Going Mainstream starlets]

    Later this month, a new reality TV show is scheduled to premiere called Going Mainstream.  As the name suggests, the show tracks the trials and tribulations of the starlets as they attempt to make the very difficult transition from XXX porn into mainstream media. Four Asian girls are featured -- Evelyn Lin, Beti Hana, Asia Zo & Lucky Starr. Eight other (non-Asian) starlets are also involved. The show is being produced by Murphy Boyz Entertainment and Carpe Diem Productions.  It appears that the show is in an early proof of concept stage where a pilot or a few episodes are filmed so it can be shopped around to networks who might be interested in airing it.

    I don't like being a "Negative Nelly" or "Fun Sucker", and the last thing I want to do is quash anyone's dreams, but personally I have a very serious doubts that porn stars have the ability to "go mainstream." 

    It's fine to say "I'm going mainstream" but the words alone mean nothing without the actual work to back it up. From what I can tell, over the last forty years Hollywood has never permitted porn stars to cross over and I see very little evidence that is changing. The idea is given a lot of lip service from time to time, but there are precious few examples of porn stars who have been featured in mainstream productions and their resumes are generally unimpressive.  In June of 2001, Time Magazine ran a story called "Porn Goes Mainstream."  Oh really?  Ten years on, where are all these crossover stars? 

    I can think of only one current porn star who truly has a shot of any mainstream success and her name is Sasha Grey, who I blogged about last time.  Sasha caught an extremely big break when she came to the attention of director Steven Soderbergh and subsequently was cast in The Girlfriend Experience.  However, one should note that she was cast as a escort, which certainly was not much of a stretch for her.  A more important point is that 99.9% of girls who perform hardcore sex on camera are never going to experience this kind of miracle.

    Basically, the adult industry is not and never will be a stepping stone into mainstream TV and movies! To think so is delusional and setting yourself up for major disappointment. In some respects, a show like Going Mainstream is a cruel joke on starlets as it gives them false hope.  The producers of the show capitalize on the titillation and cheap thrills generated by the starlets' sordid past while dangling an impossible dream in front of their noses the entire time.  In the promotional clip I see how eager the girls are to cross over and become "legitimate" and I find it sad.  They would be much better off coming to terms with their choice to be a porn star and truly being OK with it, regardless of what other people think.  After all, "loving yourself is the greatest love of all."  I predict the only ones who will profit in the long run from the show are the producers, who are exploiting the porn stars in a way porn directors never could.  All the girls are doing is exposing themselves in a new way and on a much wider basis than ever before to a generally unsympathetic audience and solidifying their identities as porn stars.  This is opposite of their goal. 

    The elegant sounding Narrator in the promotional clip to Going Mainstream states: "From hardcore XXX porn to an Academy Award? Well, it's never been done before. But who knows? This is Hollywood anything can happen."  What a crock. The truth is, the road to Hollywood is paved with broken dreams, and there's no room on the bus for porn stars.

    -- Snowman

    P.S. -- For much more information and spirited discussion about Going Mainstream, see this thread on my discussion forum.  Also, all four of the Asian girls featured on the show currently or in the past participated on the Asian Porno Hotties board.  Here are links to the main "Pipeline" threads related to the Asian starlets:  Evelyn Lin, Lucky Starr, Beti Hana, Asia Zo.  Adults only and NSFW!