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Today's
Stories
December
10, 2004
Kathy
Kelly
From Haiti to Iraq: Burying Water
December
9, 2004
Greg
Moses
Ask Not Who Bankrolled Fallujah
Joshua
Frank
Cobb and the Ohio Recount: Vote Fraud as Fundraiser!
Ralph
Nader
An Open Letter to Bush: It's Time to
Disclose the Real Casualty Figures
Lee
Sustar
Bhopal: the Making of a Disaster
Tom
Barry
Restrictionist Resurgence
Mickey
Z.
Sander Hicks and the 9/11 Truth Movement
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush in the Bubble
Mark
Donham
Why are House Democrats Trying to
Deny Cynthia McKinney Seniority?
Gary
Corseri
On the Anniversary of John Lennon's Death, 2012
Paul
de Rooij
The Voices of Sharon's Little Helpers
December
8, 2004
Ralph
Nader
Will the Real Michael Moore Ever Re-Emerge?
Ann
Harrison
The Ohio Recount: Reluctant Officials
and Few Rules
Paul
Craig Roberts
War Crime
Dave
Lindorff
They've Got a Secret: Inside the $40 Billion Black Budget for
Spying
Patrick
Cockburn / Andrew Buncombe
CIA Warning on Iraq: Fallujah Did Not Break the Back of the Insurgency
Col.
Dan Smith
Rules of Engagement in Iraq
Emily
Alves / Michael Johnson
Paradise Lost: Corruption and Clientelism in Costa Rica
Richard
Oxman
The Dylan Bob Wouldn't Mention: Up With Dylan Thomas
Ron
Jacobs
In Fallujah, Freedom Isn't Free
December
7, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn
Running Battles in Baghdad
Behrooz
Ghamari
Lost Muslim Voices of Dissent
Dave
Lindorff
American Fantasies: Psst! Hey Buddy,
Did You Hear How Well the War's Going?
Joshua
Frank
Dean at the DNC?
Richard
Oxman
Down with Dylan: the Insufferable Interview
Ray
McGovern
All Mosquitoes, No Swamp
John
Chuckman
The Invasion of Hallifax: The Imperial Wizard Visits Canada
James
Petras
Latin America: the Empire Changes Gears
Website
of the Day
ToxMap: Who's Poisoning You
December
6, 2004
Paul
Craig Roberts
Paranoia and Pre-emption: Is the
Bush Administration Certifiable?
December
4 / 6, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
Politicize the CIA? You've Got to
be Kidding
Joe
Bageant
Dining with the Rhinos
Alan
Maass
Reporting from the Ground in Iraq: an Interview with Patrick
Cockburn
Brian
Cloughley
Democracy, Bush-style, in the Gulf
Laura
Carlsen
Latin America Shifts Left
Lenni
Brenner
Jefferson, Madison, Bush and Religion
Anna
Ioakimedes
Brazil's Haitian Mission: Doing God's Work or Washington's?
Uri
Avnery
Widow of Opportunity?
Fred
Gardner
Supreme Court Hears Medical Pot Case
Dave
Zirin
Steroids to Heaven
Jackie
Corr
Mining Camp Blues: the Red State Variation
Don
Fitz
Will Greens Abandon IRV?
Lucy
Herschel
"Art can be a Weapon of the Oppressed": an Interview
with Artist Anthony Papa
Richard
Oxman
No Angels in America: Bashing the Gay Play
Ron
Jacobs
Holiday Greeting Card
Poets'
Basement
Collins, Albert, LaMorticella
December
3, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Lie Then Escalate
Ben
Tripp
Fun With Boycotts: How to Shop in a
Time of Crisis
Joe
Allen
Murder in El Salvador: the Assassination of Teamster Organizer
Gilberto Soto
Matthew
B. Riley
Human Rights Court Fails Lori Berenson
Meir
Shalev
In the End, It is the Violin that Wins
Bob
Wing
The White Elephant in the Room: Race and Election 2004
Christopher
Brauchli
When McCain Bit His Tongue
Sasan
Fayazmanesh
The EU, the US, Israel and Iran
December
2, 2004
Tito
Tricot
No Justice in Chile: I'm a Torture
Survivor in a Country Where Torturers Still Run Free
Behzad
Yaghmaian
The Murder of Theo Van Gogh and Muslim Migration
Dr.
Susan Block
Lana and Me: Meetings with Remarkable Apes
Frank
/ Chowkwanyun
Liberalism and Its Bounds
Lee
Sustar
Standoff in Ukraine: the Bad v. the Corrupt
Patrick
Cockburn
Another Grim Record in Iraq
Mark
Engler
Seattle at Five
Michael
Donnelly
Something Stinks in South Bend: the Firing of Tyrone Willingham
Nate
Collins
The Bay Area Mall on an Ohlone Burial Grounds
Saul
Landau
The Assassination of Danilo Anderson
December
1, 2004
Phillip
Cryan
Associated with Whom? Rightist Bias
in Wire Coverage of Colombia
Dave
Zirin
What's the Matter with "Leon"?:
Budweiser's Racist Commercial
Ghali
Hassan
Iraq's Health Care Under the Occupation:
200 Children Die Every Day
Donna
J. Volatile
Beware Western Nations Threatening "Democracy"
Patrick
Cockburn
How Saddam Tried to Arm the Insurgency
Nick
Meo
Chemical War Over Afghanistan
Mike
Ferner
The Battle of Toledo
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
Shame and Determination on Global AIDS Day: 40 Million and Rising
Kathy
Kelly
Looking the Other Way: the Real Crimes
of the UN in Iraq
November
30, 2004
Jennifer
Van Bergen
The Veil of Secrecy
Toni
Nelson Herrera
Meeting Kurtz: When Art is a Crime
Paul
Craig Roberts
The Bush Delusions: Successful at Incompetence
Patrick
Cockburn
The Insurgency Strikes Back: There Are No Safe Havens in Iraq
Chuck
Munson
WTO Protests Five Years Later: Seattle Weekly Trashes Anti-Globalization
Movement
Adam
Williams
Citizenship Sold: Back to Business in Indiana
Gregory
Elich
A Dangerous Turn in the US Plans for
North Korea
Website
of the Day
Read Lynne Cheney's Lesbian Novel Online!
November
29, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Blowback in Ukraine: The Hand of
the CIA?
Omar
Barghouti
"The Pianist" of Palestine:
Roadblock Concerto at Gunpoint
Mike
Whitney
The US Media and Fallujah: How to
Market a Siege
Uri
Avnery
The Abu Mazen Style: "Give Me
Some Credit!"
Matt
Vidal
Globalization and Economic Inequality: a Look at the Numbers
Patrick
Cockburn
An Interview with Iraq's Foreign
Minister
Alan
Farago
Sex Change and Salvation: God, Girly Men and Endocrine Disrupters
Justin
Huggler
Bhopal 20 Years Later
Antony
Loewenstein
How Australia Reported Arafat's Death and Legacy
Gary
Leupp
Ukraine: Poll Results Aren't the Real
Issue
Website
of the Day
Mosul: Images from a Kill Zone
November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
November
26, 2004
Peter
Feng
Gavin Newsom: Man or Machine?
Greg
Moses
It's the White Vote, Stupid
Liaquat
Ali Khan
The Devil's Work: Bush's Minority Appointments
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should Be Banned from Canada: a Memo to the Ministry
of Immigration
Dave
Lindorff
Nation of Sheep, Turkey of an Election: Urkrainians Show the
Way
Gary
Corseri
When Black Friday Comes...
Paul
Craig Roberts
Whatever Happened to Conservatives?
Website
of the Day
Iraq Pipeline Watch
November
25, 2004
Willliam
Loren Katz
Giving Thanks to Whom?: "Thanks
to God We Sent 600 Heathen Souls to Hell Today"
Mitchel
Cohen
Why I Hate Thanksgiving
Mike
Ferner
An Uncommon Mom
November
24, 2004
Gila
Svirsky
License to Kill: the Example of Violence
is Set by the State
Winslow
T. Wheeler
The
Other Mess in Congress
Christopher
Brauchli
The Company He Keeps: the Syndicate of Tom Delay
Dave
Lindorff
Double Standards on Exit Polls: Hypocrisy Sans Irony
Ron
Jacobs
The Occupation of Iraq is the Root of t he Problem
Ken
Sengupta
Witnesses: War Crimes in Fallujah
Diana
Barahona
The Final Holocaust or Why I Voted for Ralph Nader
John
L. Hess
Safire the Shameless
Jason
Leopold
Did Harvard Hire (Another) War Criminal?
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Mark of McCain: the Senator Most Likely to Start a Nuclear
War
Map
of the Day
Now and Then: 2004 v. 1860
November
23, 2004
Forrest
Hylton
Bush and Uribe at the Beach
November
22, 2004
Dave
Zirin
Fight Night in the NBA: Selective Outrage
in Detroit
Paul
Craig Roberts
On to Iran: We Won't Get Fooled Again?
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should be Banned from Canada
Kathie
Helmkamp
Our Son: a Marine Who Won't Kill
Ken
Sengupta
The Triangle of Death: "This is Now the Most Dangerous Place
in Iraq"
Mike
Whitney
Greenspan's Hammer
Roger
Burbach
Why They Hate Bush in Chile
Website
of the Day
Fed Up with Government Lies and Corporate Spin?
November
20 / 21, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
The Poisoned Chalice
Todd
May
Religion, the Election and the Politics of Fear
Abbas
Ahmed Ibrahim
The Horrors of Fallujah: a First-Hand Account
Kevin
Zeese
Mishandling Nader
Landau
/ Hassen
After Arafat
Tom
Barry
The Vulcans Consolidate Power: The Rise of Stephen Hadley
Fred
Gardner
Pot Shots: Ask Dr. Todd
Justin
E.H. Smith
Triumph of the Will: the Sequel
Carl
Estabrook
Where We Are Now
Gary
Leupp
Imperial History-Making vs. Reality-Based Thought: a Dialogue
Dave
Lindorff
Apocalypse Soon
Jenna
Michelle Liut
Plans Colombia and Patriota: Wanton Wastes of Money, Manpower
and Lives
Mickey
Z.
The Granma Moses of Radical Writing: an Interview with William
Blum
Greg
Moses
The Same Old Struggle Against Imperial America
Sharon
Smith
Abortion Rights and the Election: What Now?
Ron
Jacobs
Sandwiches and Car Bombs
Ben
Tripp
Raising d'Etre: Finding Money in Hollywood These Days
Richard
Oxman
Basketbrawl Two Pointer: Iraq Rules!
Gilad
Atzmon
Politics and Jazz
Poets'
Basement
LaMorticella, Albert, Ford, & Anon.
Website
of the Day
Voice of the Forest
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
|
Weekend Edition
December 11 / 12, 2004
Porn Stars are People, Too
An
Interview with Christi Lake
By
LAURA NATHAN
"If sex is supposed to
be a bad thing, then why did God make it feel so good?"
Christi Lake asks as she puts on her mascara and gets ready for
work. If you didn't know Christi, her remark might sound like
the battle cry of the 1960's sexual revolution rather than the
adage of a 21st century woman. But for Christi, who is readying
herself for another day
at the office--that is, nude before a video camera, where
she will have sex with one or two other men or women--this maxim
cannot be repeated often enough.
Despite the prolific number
of people who use pornography--or as Christi prefers to call
it, "adult materials"--and the virtual disappearance
of cultural norms shunning the expression of female sexuality,
women who earn their living through sex continue to be stigmatized.
Subjected to a double standard that regards men who work in the
adult entertainment industry as "real men," women in
the industry are typically characterized as inferior, powerless,
and morally bankrupt--at least by outsiders.
Inside the industry, though,
the women tell another story. As Christi and her colleagues suggest
in Australian filmmaker Louisa Achille's documentary, The
Naked Feminist, just because women like sex and do it for
a living doesn't mean they're oppressed. It would also be shortsighted
to believe that these women were just getting paid to have sex,
or that men were directing their every move. In fact, many women,
including Christi, are executives, directors, actresses, mentors
to other women in the industry, and advocates for safe sex, public
health, and free speech. In the wake of the recent HIV outbreak
in the industry, many of these women have been promoting condom
use and safe sex, encouraging the temporary shutdown of film
studios, and calling for change in the industry.
Christi, meanwhile, has taken
a leave of absence from her work both in front of and behind
the camera. But when I spoke with her recently--over two months
after I first met Christi and her mom--her determination and
her commitment to her colleagues, her fans, and the right to
make and watch adult materials was as strong as ever.
Working
Girl
Why did you choose this
particular line of work?
Purely [out of] curiosity.
I was a connoisseur [of adult entertainment]. I had watched adult
videos for my own pleasure for a long time, but this became my
profession purely by accident It wasn't a chosen direction;
it just happened. I was a dancer; I went to a convention, went
to some photographers, went to New York and did a photo shoot,
and then after the photo shoot, I went to another convention
where I met the videographers, and they asked me to come out
and do a video for them. So it was really just a chain reaction,
not planned. To be honest with you, when [a colleague] and I
discussed how many videos we thought we'd do in a year, I thought,
"I don't know--8? 10? 15 at the most?"
It's 75.We were very new at
this and had no clue what we were getting into. Little did I
know.
So it wasn't a chosen [career
path]. It was destiny. I was destined to [be an adult entertainer].
Maybe somewhere down the line, someone watching one of my films
sees that I have safe sex with a condom, and next time she is
getting ready to have sex and her boyfriend wants to [have sex]
without using [a condom], she will say, "No, I saw that
film, and Christi used a condom."
Many of the women in The
Naked Feminist argue that one of the reasons adult film is so
empowering is that it enables creativity. Is it simply that you're
acting, or do you think there are other reasons why you consider
it to foster creativity?
Well, we love ripping off movie
titles from the mainstream and doing parodies. But we also feed
the mainstream in a lot of ways. [For instance], when you get
a really bad movie, and they're all talking about the pizza delivery
boy--back in the 1970s, almost every other scene was about the
pizza delivery boy--we play into mainstream parodies and make
fun of their movies.
[HBO's] Six Feet Under
is a classic example. When I got the script [for an episode of
Six Feet Under (Season Two)], I remember it said, "cheesy
porno music playing in the background, female star moans and
groans " They were making fun of bad adult films, and I
just kind of laughed. And when I did my read for them, I think
the reason I got the part was because I have been in these sorts
of films, I know what some of the cue words are When it said
"V.O."--voice over--"moans and groans," I
said, "Is this where you want me to do 'oh oh oh' [imitates
moaning sounds]?" And I started doing it really loudly
and was really funny, and they all laughed. They couldn't believe
I went to that next stage. That had to be the reason they hired
me for the part--because I made people laugh I realize they're
making fun of us, and it gives them something to laugh about,
and it was cool.
So [adult filmmaking] is art.
It might not be high art, obviously, but some of it can be very
creative I just met a friend who did some of the most beautifully
artistically done work with the foot fetish, pouring chocolate
over a woman's toes. And I [said], "You need to put this
on somewhere. You need to have people see this; this is beautiful."
It's so artistic because of the way it's done. You don't have
to appreciate a foot fetish to appreciate the eroticism of it.
So I think we have a very artistic way of doing things
Many people argue that pornography
is oppressive to women because it is used solely for men's pleasure.
What is your response to that criticism?
First off, I hate the word
"pornography." I prefer the term "adult entertainment"
because [people typically associate the term] "pornography"
[with] little kids being abused. They don't remember or think
that it's adult entertainment. They just think of child abuse.
So when people argue that adult
material is made for men, well, that's just not true. I was a
viewer myself before I got in the business. I meet more female
fans that say, "My boyfriend and I just had a great time.
We watched your movie--well, we sort of watched your movie, we
watched it for five minutes " It's not oppressive to us.
Women watch it all the time. I have a huge following of females,
so I don't believe that [adult entertainment is solely for men's
pleasure]. I've had women say, "Of course we enjoy watching
it. We like looking at the hot guys."
People use [adult materials]
to stimulate foreplay; they use it to spice up their sex lives.
Women watch it. They might watch different types of things--maybe--but
not necessarily all the time. Because of the internet and mail
order catalogues, there are at least as many women buying adult
materials as there are men [buying adult materials].
Many critics of pornography
deem your line of work as misogynistic, as degrading toward women,
and as targeted at securing pleasure solely for men's purposes.
As a woman in this industry who considers herself a feminist,
how do you respond to these charges? Where do you draw the line
between misogynistic and non-misogynistic pornography?
Christi: [If the entertainment is] degrading
toward the woman, [if it] manipulates [the women involved, then
I consider it misogynistic.
If you're in this industry,
you're told in advance how to approach this. You get an AIDS
test, you watch Porno 101, and it is in your hands to decide
whether you want to do this particular job or not. When the phone
rings and someone says, "I want you to work for me, and
I'm going to pay you this amount, and I want you to do this,
that, and the other," you have a right to say no at any
moment in that conversation. And I've said, "No, I don't
do that type of work."
[There's] a man I enjoy spending
time with--Max Hardcore. I have not ever worked for him as such,
but we're connected, we joke around. I support him insofar as
he has the right to free speech and the right to make whatever
he wants to make. Would I work for him? No. Why? Because I don't
enjoy the type of things he provides [for audiences]. He interviewed
me to work with him once; he showed me his films. He told me
exactly what he expected of me, and he told me he wanted me to
do "this, this, and this," and I looked at him and
said, "Oh, no. I don't think so. I don't think I can do
that. Let me sleep on this."
I left, went to my boyfriend,
who is wonderful, and called the guy the next day and said, "Thank
you for the job offer, but that's really not my thing, and I'm
not comfortable doing that." End of story. I've seen him
many times since then, and there's nothing different.
Unfortunately, people who are
in this business for the money often make bad choices and then
regret [making those choices] later on. And I feel bad for them,
but it's the same thing with someone going into a construction
business when s/he had a bad back already. Well, that's a bad
choice, and you made it, and you have to pay the price.
So [for me] it's not about
doing something for the money. Yes, I do this for a living, but
you have to draw the line somewhere in your value system. And
most of us do, we really do. We have to. [But] you always hear
the stories about "Well, that's not what I agreed to."
If something makes you uncomfortable, then you should have stopped
the film from going on and say, "Stop, that's not what we
agreed to," and walk away or back it up, and say, "This
is what we originally agreed to, and this is what I will do and
either we do this, or I stop."
I know girls who enjoy those
types of choking holds and all that other stuff. Those are the
types of girls who need to work for those types of people. But
if you're not doing it in your private life, you shouldn't be
doing it for your job. Period. That goes for everything. Unless
you've done it at home and enjoyed the hell out of it, don't
do it for the camera because it's not worth it.
Christi's mom: Nightline [did a] documentary following this
girl when she first started in the industry, and I was so upset
when I saw that. She was into drugs and violence. She was a very
extreme case. I had to call Christi and say, "This isn't
true, is it? This is horrible!" It really scared me.
Why do you think those sorts
of negative characterizations of women in the adult entertainment
industry are more prominent than positive representations of
women like yourself, Christi?
Because that's what people
think it is. You have a right to your opinion, and your opinion
is somewhat valid. You're right. That's one perspective, but
there's another perspective, and that's that they want ratings.
[Adult entertainer] Jena Jamison has done some wonderful things
[helping out with the current HIV crisis in the industry and
doing fundraisers], and to me, her work is a true Hollywood story.
But you don't see her on Nightline.
You saw the other girl on Nightline
because that's what the news people want to talk about. Who wants
to see a happy porn star? It's like a car accident. [No one wants
to pay] attention to the traffic; [they'd rather stare at the
wreckage].
I've been asked to do many
news interviews but I say, "Unless you can tell me what
the questions are going to be in advance and what your tone is
going to be for story, I'm not doing it." Because if it's
going to be a negative piece, I've been burned too many times
I've done interviews where I was told this was going to be a
positive thing or a mostly positive thing, and it came out negative
with very little positive, and I was furious.
Once the guy actually called
me to forewarn me that he'd screwed up and that he'd had no choice
but to make it this way, and I was like, "Well, I'll see
it; I'll watch it tonight." I got phone calls from other
girls who had seen it [complaining about the story and its characterization
of our industry], and I was so angry and called his machine and
filled it up twice. I told him, "I'm never trusting the
news media again because of what you've done to me. You've betrayed
me and my friends. How can you do this?! You blatantly lied."
So I think that the media tells
people the bad stories [about the pornography industry] because
that's what they want to hear, that's how they think it is. And
by [misrepresenting the pornography industry], their poor little
children will be safe at home watching cartoons [rather than
watching pornography or watching the news features about the
positive aspects of this industry] even though most cartoons
are more violent than anything I've ever seen.
Porn stars
are people, too, you know ...
How do your parents feel
about your line of work?
You know, maybe it's not the
first thing they ever wanted me to do in life--they'll tell you.
Mom?
Christi's mom: [shakes her
head] No.
Christi: But as my dad said when I told my
parents what I do for a living, "Why would we be upset about
you doing something that we actually watch ourselves?"
And I'm safe. I have a head
on my shoulders. I don't do drugs. I don't drink alcohol in dangerous
amounts. I teach a positive thing. I teach people how to be safe.
I help people enhance their pleasure.
And I stand up for what I think
is a fundamental right for everybody. It's like the [controversial]
Mel Gibson movie, [The Passion of the Christ], that just
came out I'm not into religion in any way, shape, or form, but
I know the story. I went to see the movie the opening weekend--not
to support the Christian bandwagon but to support Mel Gibson
as an artist and to say, "You have every right, whatever
your audience thinks, whatever you believe, to put this out there."
And that's why I went. I always support other people's [right]
to make art [even though] I might not like it. I watched [The
Passion of the Christ with my hands partially covering my
eyes], covering the violence and reading the words, and I sat
through it. I did see most of it; there were just certain points
where I couldn't watch the violence, where I couldn't take any
more. But that's okay. He had the right to make and distribute
that film.
Tell me
a little bit about your boyfriend's feelings about your career.
From The Naked Feminist, I got the impression that he's perfectly
fine with your job.
Yep. When we met, he owned
a magazine, and he was interviewing me for his magazine a few
years back--five or six years ago. I was already in a relationship,
but [that relationship] was on its way out. We had our differences
of opinions in terms of the way I wanted to see my career go,
and as strong-minded as I am, I decided it was time to go my
own way. And it worked out for the best; I'm confident of that.
My ex-boyfriend and I are actually now friends and talk as colleagues
in the business.
We're not best friends, but
we're colleagues in the business.
But then I kept running into [my current boyfriend] at charity
events so we started dating. And then the magazine wasn't doing
so great, and we were getting more serious. So then I asked him
to work for me, taught him how to run the [video] camera. He
already did photography for his magazine, so I taught him how
to do the videography part, and he became partners with me.
He was already in the business
when he met me, so there were no surprises. I wasn't trying to
say, "by the way, this is what I do." He already knew,
and he accepted it. He looks at me kind of like my mom [does].
I'm an actress. Whatever my job entails is just part of what
I do. When the camera stops and the paycheck comes, I go home
to him, and he knows that.
One of the
things that struck me about The Naked Feminist was that all of
the women all of the adult entertainers interviewed
in the documentary seem to be very close. Tell me a little bit
about your relationship with the other women in the industry.
I'm not sure if I told Janie
Hamilton that I was interviewing with Louisa [Achille, director
of The Naked Feminist], or if it was the other way around.
I don't remember which way it happened. But either way, because
we are friends, [we all ended up being interviewed for The
Naked Feminist].
Jane Hamilton is a director
I've worked for many, many times, and I highly respect Candide
Royalle for her initiative, business savvy, and enthusiasm. I
mean, [these women] laid the path for my future and so I know
all of them very, very well, as people who respect our industry.
And we've taught other girls.
Whenever a new girl comes into the industry and is going through
the dilemmas of "Do I want to do this? Do I not want to
do this," I'll be the first one to take her aside and say,
"Look, this is forever. If you have any doubts, walk out
of this room right now. Don't do it. Don't ever regret your decision
to be in this industry because the minute you have a regret,
the vultures will tear you up and spit you out." And I'm
honest about that because it's just like Howard Stern--if he
has a guest on his show, and he can find a weakness, he will
tear [that person] apart. Our industry is very similar to that
There's good and bad in everything that you do, but you find
the one the one with more good, the one that works for you.
At my first photo shoot, I
met Nina Hartley. I sat and talked to her for a couple of hours.
[I said], "Well, I'm thinking about it; I don't know. I'm
just going to do some photos today and see." And she gave
me her wisdom of who I should see if I ever did decide to go
further and do films: "If you ever go to California, you're
going to need this, you're going to need a test." She informed
me of all of the things I would need in advance. So I'm now like
the heir apparent to Nina Hartley and I guess someday [they'll]
need to find an heir apparent to me. [Laughs]
So she taught me all of that,
and now I make it a point to [mentor] other new women [entering
the industry].
The Naked
Feminist
Tell me a little bit about
why you agreed to be interviewed for The Naked Feminist.
Actually, I've been interviewed
for a lot of documentaries that have not seen the light of day,
and I'm pretty sure that they were all for personal consumption,
to say "look what I got someone to do," or whatever
the case may be. Basically a huge waste of my time.
So when Louisa said she wanted
to interview me, I asked, "Well, okay, what is it that you
want to accomplish with this?" after [Louisa and I had
spoken] for awhile, I said, "I'd be happy to take some time
to interview with you." I met her and found that to be an
interesting, wonderful experience in and of itself. We became
good friends. It wasn't about the documentary anymore. It was
more about creating the friendship to me. And that's why I'm
here [in Austin at the South-by-Southwest Film Festival]. I normally
require a fee for me to do appearances like this, but I told
Louisa, "If there's anything I can do for you, to help you
promote your movie," I would even e-mail her suggestions
because I wanted to help her get [The Naked Feminist]
out there And that was when I hadn't seen the movie yet completed
So now she's made this wonderful, interesting documentary that
I want the world to see for her.
Making The Naked Feminist
was a bit of a family affair for you. Your mother is also interviewed
in the film. Did she want to be?
Oh, no, I didn't offer my mother
up as a sacrificial lamb. [Louisa Achille, the director,] asked
if I would ask my mother if she was willing to be interviewed.
[My mom has] done radio stuff with me [in the past] when I've
[been] interviewed on the radio, so I said, "Well, I'll
ask her." So I asked her if she was [willing to be] interviewed
on camera. It took her about 40 seconds to think about it, then
she said, "Well, sure, we're going to be in town anyway."
Were you nervous about what
they were going to ask you?
Christi's mom: Well, somewhat. But it wasn't exactly
the first time I'd done something like this. When she got the
award a few years ago, and she had my husband and I come up on
stage with her to receive her award with her.
Christi: [Laughs] Yeah, it was a very proud
moment. Every year the Free Speech Coalition presents an award
to someone in the [adult entertainment] industry who has set
a positive [example], an activist who has done good work to promote
the positive face of adult entertainment.
Four years ago I was the recipient
of [the award], and I asked my parents to come out and be there
for me. But when it came time to receive my award, I looked at
my mom and said, "Mom, do you want to come onstage with
my to get this award because you're the one who taught me right
from wrong and who I am and what I've become today?"
And she said, "I don't
know, ask your father." So I said, "Dad, do you and
Mom want to come onstage with me when I [receive] my award?"
And my dad said, "Hell, yeah!" He'd already had a couple
of drinks, and he did the Rocky thing [and put our arms up in
the air to demonstrate victory]
What is it that you would
like viewers to take from seeing The Naked Feminist?
The United States was created
due to a lack of tolerance. And then we come over here, and we've
started becoming more stringent now we're back where we started.
These days there isn't really
a single definition of what it means to be a feminist. There
just isn't; it's an individual interpretation of what feminism
means. It's the same thing with religion and anything else. But
you have to tolerate the other person, [whether that person]
is a lesbian, is gay, or whatever. If someone is straight as
an arrow and has five kids, they aren't any better than a lesbian.
They just have different lifestyles, and we have to tolerate
each other's differences as such.
So when everyone walks in to
see this movie, they're going to have a set mindset. They'll
have their values and opinions. I want them to leave with a broader
sense of tolerance and acceptance of other people for who and
what they are no matter who and what they are. I hope viewers
will be enlightened and more tolerant after seeing The Naked
Feminist.
Christi's Website: http://www.christilake.com/
Laura Nathan writes for In
The Fray, where this interview originally appeared. She can
be reached at: laura.nathan@gmail.com
Weekend Edition
Features for November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
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