This was actually more interesting than The Girl Next Door, but the quality varied a bit more. The most interesting people were some of the much older ones - Randy West, and this guy, Richard Pacheco. Most of the stories are nothing unusual, mostly they get tired of the job, and want to carve out a normal life. Many of them have some difficulty accomplishing that, because of the barriers that society puts up. We see the people who blame the industry for their life, and other people who have accepted the work they did, and have overcome it.
Randy West is actually very impressive. He's kept himself in shape, he golfs a whole lot, does charity tournaments, and only seems a little like he regrets the inability to have a normal relationship. He doesn't complain about this, just seems a little wistful. He does complain that he can't give to charity like other people do, that he has to do this kind of participation, because organizations will refuse his money.
There are two people who come across badly, and one of them is Shelley Lubben. She describes being led into a terrible existence of prostitution, drugs, all kinds of bad stuff. The problem is that she doesn't seem to recognize that maybe her family life, prior to that, was the problem. She describes her father kicking her out of the house, and this immediately leading to her problems. It's hard to say how much of this is an issue of how her story was edited, but something feels like it's missing in her story.
The other one who really seems out of place is Crissy Moran, whom I had never heard of. It seems like she's just taken on the role of being a Christian activist, but I get the impression that she still hasn't found herself. Eventually, she's going to find something else, and cast off her identity, and claim that she was never really herself. I don't mind this, but it's a little frustrating to see people deny who they are.
Richard Pacheco is charming, and left the industry in 1984. He has a healthy attitude about his past work, he's been able to work doing things he likes, and he has a very bright daughter.
I suppose I should also talk about Asia, since I have an incidental connection to her. She took piano lessons from my mother, so she knew me when I was a baby. She also knew both of my brothers. I'm aware of her presence on Facebook whenever one of them comments on a status of hers. She comes across well, and I admire her approach. She doesn't enthusiastically embrace her career, she doesn't reject it, and she seems to have been smart enough to know what she should expect, and the pitfalls associated with it.
Strangely, the one that I feel sorriest for is Houston, but not because of anything terrible in her career or her post-career life. It's that she has these injected lips, and they stand out. Without those, she wouldn't have half as many problems with being recognized.
No comments:
Post a Comment