Well Said, Jenna

Looks like the problem with Mary Carey's political career isn't that she's a porn star*---it's that she's the wrong porn star. Here is Jenna Jameson, thrice a cover girl for High Times, laying out her policy preferences on medical marijuana and drugs in general:

America's drug policy is oppressive. Prohibition didn't work for alcohol and it won't work now. We have to justify a war on people. And that's what it is. It's absolutely psychotic…As soon as we introduced medicinal marijuana to my grandmother [who was suffering from throat cancer], she started to gain weight. It should be legal for medical users. When people are violently ill like that, marijuana makes them feel better. It allows them to eat. Unfortunately, the government hates to back down or admit they're wrong.

Story at AVN; link via Fleshbot (disclaimer: links not office-friendly).

*Is Mary Carey really a "star"? I don't have the expertise to judge, but as David Cross points out in one of his stand-up routines, pornography does seem to be the only industry in which being a star consists of doing---let's leave it unsaid---in front of a crappy 8mm camera on a tripod.

Comments

[bubba]

A casual observer would not confuse the two. However, Jenna's primary differentiator seems to be a good makeup person. Her professional enthusiasm is not uncommon.

[ChicagoTom]

As someone who has seen many Jenna and Marey Carey movies, I must repectfully disagree with bubba here. Jenna is a much better "performer" than Ms Carey, and a much more enthusiastic particpant.
Even in the porn world there are Tom Hankses and then there are Treat Williamses.

[Dirty Young Man]

All the good porn these days is shot on DV, not 8mm.

[Luke Thomas]

That Ms. Jameson is a woman who follows principle.

Not only does she believe in the rights of individuals, but also categorically refuses to do anal on camera.

Cheers for the first of those, jeers for the second.

[mk]

Daniel,
Is the question whether Marey CArey is a "star" or whether or not porn stars in general count as stars?
The answer to the latter is defintely a yes, especially where Jenna is concerned. She even had her own action figure out recently. One that, oddly enough, was considerably closer to represnting a feasible female form that does Barbie.

Hell, I think she should go for the LP party presidential ticket. I'd vote for her.

[mk]

Damn. excuse the spelling mistakes. I got a sticky keyboard.
And no, it's not what you think..

[Dan Koffler]

mk, my (half-serious) question is, What does it take for a porn performer to be a star? I don't doubt that they can be stars (though I'm not sure if there are any aside from Jenna Jameson).

Anyway, I'm with you. Vote Jenna!

[kwais]

The problem with Jenna's movies is that she only bones one dude per movie. When the whole reason you get a movie is to see her getting porked, and in many movies she only does this once.

I know it isn't relevant to the whole marijuanna thing, but since you brought up Jenna.

Oh BTW watch the outtakes on a Marey Carey movie, they are funny. She does not seem like the sharpest rock in the desert.

[Muggs]

Hey, hey, hey.

Don't knock Treat Williams. He may do the occasional D-movie, but he's still a damn good actor.

More like "there are Tom Hankses and then there are Steven Seagals."

[mediageek]

You know, I've never found Jenna to be all that terribly attractive, but the more I've seen her interviewed, the more I've come to respect her for being well spoken and possessing of a keen business sense.

There's an article about her in the most recent issue of Forbes, and it's really quite interesting.

[MP]

BTW, of all places, there was an informative article about Jenna in Forbes recently. Check it out here.

And kwais, the Forbes article talks about why she only "bones one dude per movie".

[Ira Weatheral]

Ron Jeremy is definately a star. He's been on Chapelle, Howard Stern, and even had a write up in the NY Observer.

[mk]

kwais,
Did you catch Ms. Carey on the Daily Show? She seems like the one who has been hitting the bong too much, not Jenna.

I guess I would judge whether or not a porn star is officially a "Break-out" star on whether they have shown up on Best Week Ever. If I remember correctly, this would make Tara Patrick a "star"

[bubba]

Janine might qualify, aided by her marriage to a famous guy on a motorcycle.

Mary Carey shows her intellectual rigor on a recent Daily Show interview. Fabulous.

Perhaps Linda Lovelace counts. Certainly as a celebrity.

Paris Hilton? Vanessa Williams if we're allowing magazines.

[NaG]

And I was just thinking that the one thing libertarians really needed to get credibility on the marijuana issue was a porn star spokeswoman.

For crying out loud, people.

[mk]

Good point NaG, but I don't think anyone is really suggesting that we nominate Jenna, at least I wasn't.

Anyway, that raises the question, who would lend us some credibility on this issue? Very few people would be willing to touch it, I think.

[ChicagoTom]

Muggs,

I was originally going to use Gary Busey instead of Treat Williams, but I assumed a knock on Busey would ruffle some feathers.

How about Bruce Campbell instead of Treat Williams??? Better ??

[Kevin B. O'Reilly]

There are a few reasons for the terminology "porn star." You can't use "porn actor" because, let's face it, very little acting worth the name is occurring on screen. "Porn performer" is really the most accurate term, but is kind of mechanical and unsexy-sounding. "Porn star," on the other hand avoids the grandiosity of "actor" and the coldness of "performer," while adding some allure and pretension for the aspiring starlet.

[MP]

Bruce Campbell would kick your ass.

[rich]

Porn is just like Hollywood - there's a few partiular people who are very big draws, a bunch of other people who show up regulary, and a hoarde of wanna-bes that take bit parts in the dream of being discovered.

Jenna is unquestionably in the first bracket, Mary is arguably somewhere between the first and the second, depending on who you ask. She certainly has her own hardcore fans (no pun intended) though they aren't as legion as Jenna's by half. But Jenna and Mary have very different appeals; Jenna is the perfect plastic lover, giving very staged performances, and frequently comes off as the unattainable bitchgoddess whose very unapproachability makes her desirable. Mary is a much more down-to-earth, free spirited, happy go lucky type. This is reflected in their choice of contract companies: Wicked for Jenna, producer of high-gloss mainstream porn; Kick Ass for Mary, a niche producer specialzing in surgery-free stars - Jenna wouldn't even be able to get an interview there, though for what they pay I don't see why she'd want to.

Jenna advocates for serious political causes; Mary runs for governer in a media cirucs basically as a publicity stunt. Jenna gets her home shown in Architectual Digest; Mary does pranky stunts on Playboy TV's Totally Busted.

Still, with all that said, I've seen both of them perform live at strip clubs, and found Mary to be charming, approachable, happy and genuinely glad to be there, warts and all; Jenna, on the other hand, was cold, distant, cynical about making money and connecting with the fans only and exactly insofar as was necessary to keep her star shining.

Take from that what you will. I don't think it's fair to compare them, really, because their approaches and goals are clearly very different.

[zevatron]

On the Daily Show Mary Carey seemed, er, less than articulate. I wonder if she provided Rove with the same sort of "exclusive" she gave Colbert.

[Brett]

Damn, rich. This thread was made for you. 😉

[NaG]

And we wonder how libertarians got pegged as the "porn and pot" crowd.

[rich]

what can I say? I dated a girl in the third category and have been fascinated with the politics of the industry ever since.

[mk]

NaG,
I thought we were "Property-rights extremists" and "gun nuts".
Not that those things are mutually exclusive.

[Todd Fletcher]

Wow, some of you guys sure know a lot about porn.

[David]

You can't use "porn actor" because, let's face it, very little acting worth the name is occurring on screen.

Kevin,

Any woman able to pretend she's aroused by Ron Jeremy is a pretty fine actress indeed.

[Mo]

Am I the only person who would find an episode of Inside the Actor's Studio featuring Ron Jeremy to be fascinating? How the hell does a man that ugly threaten the Wilt Chamberlin record?

Kick Ass for Mary, a niche producer specialzing in surgery-free stars
Did Mary get an exception to this rule? Kinda like older hockey players that are allowed to wear helmets without the face guard?

[biologist]

can Woody Harrelson lend some credibility on MJ legalization?

[rich]

She claims she's had no surgery. I can't claim any specific knowledge on that, but there's no question that Jenna has - even if you haven't been up close and personal, comparing current and "classic" images of her (all available from Suze Randall's paysite if you can't find them for free) is evidence enough of that.

[Steve]

When you see the "classic" Jenna Jameson movies, you understand what all the fuss is/was about. Her looks & her performance were much better. Or so I've heard.

[Too embarrassed to use my usua]

There are a few reasons for the terminology "porn star." You can't use "porn actor" because, let's face it, very little acting worth the name is occurring on screen. "Porn performer" is really the most accurate term, but is kind of mechanical and unsexy-sounding. "Porn star," on the other hand avoids the grandiosity of "actor" and the coldness of "performer," while adding some allure and pretension for the aspiring starlet.

I've noticed that a lot of specialized purveyors of bondage flicks refer to their restrained female protagonists as simply "models," rather than as actresses, etc. For whatever that's worth.

[Ken Shultz]

"Can Woody Harrelson lend some credibility on MJ legalization?"

...or, better yet, does anyone care how Ron Jeremy feels about gay marriage?

If you thought driver's license crack-pottery made Badnarik a tough sell, you should explain yourself before publicly welcoming Jenna Jamison to the chorus. ...I suspect, that is, that more Soccer Moms might listen to our song if fewer professional super sluts were known to sing it.

[Luca Brasi]

genuinely glad to be there, warts and all

I don't know if I would want a porn star with warts to be grinding on me.

[Pat]

I know David Cross talked about Porn Stars, but I think it was Bill Hick who actually had the Porn "Star" bit.

*nit-pick off

[Dan Koffler]

Pat, it comes in the middle of a bit about his visit to the Computer Electronics Show on (I think) "The Pride is Back." The second floor of CES is apparently all porn, and Cross goes off on a tangent about the aetiology of porn stardom, which in his example involves a dark room, an 8mm camer, a woman, and a horse.

[Dirk Diggler]

What does it take for a porn performer to be a star?

Why don't you ask me that in my dressing room later?

[smacky]

How about Bruce Campbell instead of Treat Williams??? Better ??

Much better. Bruce Campbell is farking awesome! They should put him in porn.

[Jennifer]

It's a pity Carl Sagan is dead. He would have been a respectable proponent for medical marijuana, and legalization in general.

[kmw]

NaG sez:

And we wonder how libertarians got pegged as the "porn and pot" crowd.

There are more porn buyers in the US than voters in both the Republican AND Democrat parties. What the fuck is your point? It isn't a marginal issue, relegated to any one political sphere.

[Eric the .5b]

Jennifer, I'd agree on Sagan, except that I don't think he was eager to discuss the subject while alive.

[Jennifer]

Eric-
I don't know how fond Sagan was of discussing his habits, but anyone who read his books could have figured out that he had a more-than-academic interest in the subject.

[Ken Shultz]

"There are more porn buyers in the US than voters in both the Republican AND Democrat parties."

...and yet most of those porn buying Republicans and Democrats, the ones who know anything about us at all, still seem to think we're the party of porn and pot.

Just because people buy smut doesn't mean they find the political observations of porn stars compelling. It's my understanding, after all, that the South has more strip clubs per capita than the rest of the country--that doesn't mean the locals are sympathetic to libertarian causes.

[kmw]

Ken, for one thing porn doesn't seem to be high on the libertarian check list. For another, no one political party can claim exclusive ownership. It's like candy... everybody loves porn.

[Franklin Harris]

"How about Bruce Campbell instead of Treat Williams??? Better ??"

No, that's not better, you primitive screwhead!

*reaches for boomstick*

[s.a.m.]

And we wonder how libertarians got pegged as the "porn and pot" crowd.

Because other parties can't handle the truth and choose to keep their consumption in the closet. I'll take the porn and pot label over hypocrit anyday because when its time to meet your maker, all you have to show for is your integrity.

[Swede]

Amen to that s.a.m.! Plus, the whole "libertarians are just for pot/porn" theme is an ever present critique because, frankly, a lot of people can't understand property law or don't find the economic concept of low tax rates and how that benefits society interesting. Now, pot and porn, now that's interestng and not very hard to understand! For us Libertarians, pot/porn are just two relatively small examples of where government has egregiously overreached. For the statists, it is all that they need to know about us.

[mediageek]

Just because people buy smut doesn't mean they find the political observations of porn stars compelling.

Like it or not, guilt is a very powerful thing. Sure, practically everyone has indulged in porn at one time or another, but that doesn't mean they're going to publically defend their right to own it.

The same goes for any "vice" be it smokes, pot, booze, guns, excessively violent video games, etc.

Heck, I dated a girl for a short time who smoked pot on a daily basis. Despite her usage and belief that the WoD's was wrong, she said she would continue to vote Republican. How likely do you think she would be to publically speak up about legalizing pot?

America's hypocritical and much lauded puritan streak keeps most people in line, and the few willing to speak up for such freedoms are roundly shouted down as anti-social weirdos.

🙁

[Jim Walsh]

I do have a cause, though, it is obscenity. I'm for it! (laughter) Thank you. Unfortunately, the civil liberties types who are fighting this issue have to fight it, owing to the nature of the laws, as a matter of freedom of speech and stifling of free expression and so on. But we know what's really involved: dirty books are fun! That's all there is to it. But you can't get up in a court and say that, I suppose. It's simply a matter of freedom of pleasure, a right which is not guaranteed by the Constitution, unfortunately. Anyway, since people seem to be marching for their causes these days, I have here a march for mine. It's called:

Smut!
Give me smut and nothing but!
A dirty novel I can't shut
If it's uncut
and unsubt-le.

I've never quibbled
If it was ribald.
I would devour
Where others merely nibbled.
As the judge remarked the day that he acquitted my Aunt Hortense,
"To be smut
It must be ut-
Terly without redeeming social importance."

Por-
Nographic pictures I adore.
Indecent magazines galore,
I like them more
If they're hard core.

Bring on the obscene movies, murals, postcards, neckties, samplers, stained
glass windows, tattoos, anything!
More, more, I'm still not satisfied!

Stories of tortures
Used by debauchers
Lurid, licentious and vile,
Make me smile.
Novels that pander
To my taste for candor
Give me a pleasure sublime.
Let's face it I love slime!

Old books can be indecent books,
Though recent books are bolder.
For filth, I'm glad to say,
Is in the mind of the beholder.
When correctly viewed,
Everything is lewd.
I could tell you things about Peter Pan
And the Wizard of Oz - there's a dirty old man!

I thrill
To any book like Fanny Hill,
And I suppose I always will
If it is swill
And really fil-thy.

Who needs a hobby like tennis or philately?
I've got a hobby: rereading Lady Chatterley.
But now they're trying to take it all away from us unless
We take a stand, and hand in hand we fight for freedom of the press.
In other words: Smut! I love it.
Ah, the adventures of a slut.
Oh, I'm a market they can't glut.
I don't know what
Compares with smut.
Hip, hip, hooray!
Let's hear it for the Supreme Court!
Don't let them take it away!

-Tom Lehrer