No, I would not.
But if your religion said it was acceptable, you’d not think lowly of them?
Old me gets where you’re coming from.
Current me would like to clarify a couple of things.
So, as long as its porn that features genuinely loving couples and is not made with a profit motive, you’re fine with it?
Would you then think less of a couple you know (the Joneses, of course) who told you they were planning to make a tasteful yet explicit, non-profit, educational sex video?
Absolutely not. Want to make a porn? Go for it. What business is it of mine?
I’m not interested in porn myself, but I don’t care that other people are (with consenting adults, no one getting hurt or exploited, etc.). Most people I know are corporate nerds like myself or global health professionals - I would be astounded if I heard any of them had made or intended to make porn. Would I respect them less? Tough question. I would still respect their intelligence or good work, that sort of thing. But I think it would change my perception of their potential, because fair or not, I would likely think that their priorities/values/goals in life were probably different than what I had formerly thought they were, and I would see involvement with development of porn to likely be inconsistent with those former assumptions. Not that I couldn’t ever get over it, but it would give me pause.
“Eh.” — The Voice of My Generation
My deep-in-my-gut feeling is an overwhelming and profound “Eh” unless they want to show me, which I’d consider a pretty major relationship milestone and a serious act of trust.
“Eh” is powerful. “Eh” isn’t vehement resistance, which is for the old guard, striving desperately to maintain a status quo; “Eh” isn’t vehement acceptance, which is for the first wave, striving just as desperately to change that status quo; “Eh” is simple bland acceptance, which implies a total lack of emotional comprehension of why anyone would oppose the idea in question. “Eh” is the stopping point: Once mass “Eh” has been achieved, the old guard can do nothing but rant, rail, and die.
Interracial marriage is “Eh.” Gay marriage is “Eh.” Trans acceptance is quickly achieving “Eh” as well.
PSXer might as well be a Martian.
A porn?
“Well, I mean you gotta say you made porn or you made a porno. You don’t say “made a porn,” it hits the ear wrong.”
-Lois Griffin
I’m sure lots of nice people do porn, but a lot of my objection to having a relationship romantically or socially has to do with the fact that the type of person who would do that doesn’t have a lot in common with me. The whole center of attention thing, and that’s in common with legitimate actors. Doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate the existence of people taking their clothes off. And if I learn that a friend or acquaintance who I don’t want to see naked has done such, the thought of accidentally stumbling upon them terrifies me.
I would indeed respect somebody less to find out that they were in porn or any type of prostitution.
I wouldn’t insult them, or lecture them, or try to convert them, and if they are just an acquaintance I wouldn’t care all that much but in terms of simple respect, yes they would lose a lot of mine. And if it was a girlfriend, it would probably be a deal breaker.
It comes down to your idea of respect.
No, I wouldn’t respect them less.
As a matter of fact I have friends who have taken part in porn shoots. They were my friends before, they are my friends afterwards, and they have not lost my respect.
They, as persons, are much more than “the individual who fucked/was fucked while being filmed”. They have hobbies, likes, dislikes, a sense of humor, more than a touch of nerdiness, a life… In short, they are humans, like any other homo sapiens, with good points, bad points, and (as Derleth so succinctly expressed it) “Eh” points. To me, the fact that they have taken part in pornos is an “Eh”.
Also, for the record, none of them has issues with drugs or their mental health. Of course I know that a number of people who do porn have that kind of issues – but as far as I can see, my friends (and they are friends, not mere acquaintances) do not. If anything they have a very healthy outlook on life.
So… Count me in the camp of “no, I would not respect them less, at all”.
It would depend on a lot of factors. I don’t like the porn industry in general as it is wracked with drug abuse and a lot of shady characters I want nothing to do with. I know young people can make bad decisions and I doubt I would hold it against them. I do know several recovering drug addicts who are very nice people with some history in porn.
I guess I would watch them closely but keep an open mind. I played scrabble a few times with Tracy Lords and she was a lovely woman in all respects. I had no idea who she was until a few years later.So many gray areas: is this person someone I work with where I’ll see them at their cubicle daily? Do I have lunch with them sometimes, maybe with other office people? Is this person a friend outside of work?
Someone who I might have shared pictures of family, family news, personal history with? This person is of the gender that I’d be paying attention to when watching porn?
If I’m this person’s friend, I might be expected to see and support their work so (and this is really picky) is it porn with any style whatsoever? Nothing in it glorifies human trafficing, prostitution, rape, or death right?
As an example, I couldn’t respect someone doing “pimp-with-camcorder” porn.
[spoiler] NSFW
“You like deez 'undred dollah bills, yes? You do deez, tuition paid, yes? Bills paid, yes? Car… paid…? Your papa, 'e don’t watch deez movies corr-rrrekt? Den… Suck Dee Dee-ich…! Suck Dee Dee-ich…!” [/spoiler]
Also, Ren and Stimpy porn is such a deal breaker…
whoosh
I’m an annoyingly judgemental guy, but, having a consensual activity for money (or in the case of the comic strip, for kicks?) I’m 100% cool with that.
Tall people who sit straight in cinemas, however, deserve nothing but derision.
I can’t imagine caring. I imagine most everyone I know are having sex. Big whoop.
Most porn actresses these days are 18 and 19 year old kids looking for a ticket out of their hometown. They work for a few months and then move on with their lives.
I’m not going to blame anyone for being young and short sighted. Teenage brains are often not even structurally capable of thinking through the long term consequences of something like this.
That leave what? Desperate drug addicts sucked into a lifecycle, but porn isn’t really the key factor there. Then there are successful entrepreneurs. More power to them. And finally people who just really like sex and have an exhibitionist side. I have no reason to look down on that.
That comic made me a bit leery too, but only because they summed up the husband’s reaction to the idea as “That would be super hot!” Obviously they’re cutting out the ancillary discussion that the author would be having with him for brevity, but it’s still not particularly great to send the message “This issue which results in deep and complicated soul-searching about you and your reputation is of no consideration to your spouse.”
On the other hand, this specific scenario is what I might call a niche problem area.
And as to the original question? Well, a tiny bit in this case, but not in the general case. Also, OP, a suggestion; have you considered going out and reading the blogs of some porn stars? I think if you do that, and get to know some of their quirks and personality traits, it’s a lot easier to see them as the exact same kind of people as the author.
Ok, I’d like to amend my earlier statement to include this. If only because I also did some stupid things at that age I’d like not to be judged by for the rest of my life.
Well why would they be even tell me about it? Do they want to be marque stars?
And if by chance my wife and I came across it and watched it, I wouldnt do anything to bring attention to them.
I would lose the same respect for them that i would lose for anyone making an obviously bad decision that would irredeemably change their life for the worse. Like it or not being in porn will make you a pariah to a very large segment of the population, it will severely limit most future employment or romantic options. If you do porn there is a 99% chance that the rest of your life will be utter shit, anyone voluntarily making that choice (not out of desperation) should lose your respect.
To answer your question, no, the Joneses to not want to be marque stars.
The Joneses want to
For folks like you!
Why are they telling you this? Lord knows. Perhaps they value your advice. Perhaps they’re doing preemptive market surveying. Perhaps you walked into their confessional by mistake.
What I’m trying to get you to consider is, if you, who have watched some type of porn yourself, found that one of your acquaintances was making or thinking of making such porn, would you think any less of them. And if so, why?
It’s the question I’ve been asking myself this whole time.
Take it as an exercise in re-evaluating your moral principles.
The way you put it, somebody doing porn in a place as prudish as what you describe, that would be practically a revolutionary act. That would make me* gain* respect for them. That’s like coming out in the fifties or declaring yourself atheist on Saudi Arabia or something.
You know, I’m not playing anymore with you. Go argue with someone else. Many people have responded to this thread. Why do you care so much about my response?
And if you dont care about people doing porn, why do you care what I or anyone else thinks about it?