2h Mp eee ase

 

 

Ame

 

So you wanna be a star?

Jonathan Vansaten and “Peeping” Tom Laws (briefly) consider a career in the

exciting world of porn

either of us knew what to
expect as we walked down
Commercial Street towards

Hastings, but we were hoping for the
best: a blowjob at least, or a full-blown
lay. We weren't sure if we would get a
tryout on the ol’ casting couch, but we
were optimistic about the possibilities
that lay before us in the pornography
industry.” ~

When Tom and I saw the ad in the
paper looking for porno actors, we
turned to each other and went, “No
way!” We excitedly called the listed
phone number and quickly made an
appointment. We werent sure if we were
going to do an interview for the OP or
just going to get laid, so we brought
both a voice recorder and condoms.
And, of course, our crazy imaginations,
which were quickly going into
hyperdrive.

Tom.and | eventually reached our
destination, Hastings and Commercial,
and found:the nondescript building on
cheap-junky-whore road. We climbed
the filthy stairs and rang the doorbell.
The door buzzed open and we walked
into a stark barren office where an
unhealthy, balding, middle-aged man
was sitting behind a desk and wiping the
sweat from his brow. The man, Richard,
asked us to sit, and our interview began.

“It’s not as easy at it looks,” Richard
began. “There are a lot of men that
cannot handle this type of work.”

Tom and I looked about the office
hoping that we could go on the set and

» maybe see some naked women but it

wasnt about to be. Richard pulled out a
half-inch thick binder of forms that he
wanted us to fill out. These included
medical tests and waivers allowing the
company to reproduce our image in
advertising. As we looked through the
forms, Richard began to explain what we
would have to do.

“Basically, the shooting will take
about eight hours a day, but for those
eight hours you'll probably be shooting
for about 40 minutes. The rest of the
time you'll be sitting around, so bring a
book. Don’t bring a porno book and go
whacking off because you won't be much
good to me after that. You'll get $50 per
cumshot. But you won't do me much
good if you cum inside of her, I want it
{on the] outside. Coming
inside of her won't sell
videos,”

It was about then that we
realized the studio next to us
was in the middle of filming.
Tom wanted to take a look,
but Richard refused and told
us that they were a different
company with which he
shared studio space. He also
told us that he had a portfolio of about
80 girls, some of them UBC students.
Then he proceeded to tell us a story that
wilted my already-growing erection.

“Sometimes we get [addicts] in here
high on drugs. This one girl bled all over
the sheets from the track marks in her
arms.” As an afterthought he mused, “I
just haven't had a chance to wash those
sheets yet.”

Realizing that being a porno star
wasnt going to be as glamorous as we
thought, we stopped playing with the
application forms. :

“It’s a lot of work,’ Richard continued.
“You need to be able to keep it up. You
need to be able to perform in front of a
lot of people. There-will be the camera
men, the lighting men, the fluffers [the
girls that keep the male actors hard before
the shoot], the make up artists and me. If
you can't stay hard you're out of here, I’ll
send you out the door. I have a business
to run and I’m paying these people by the
hour, and if you can't perform then youre
costing me money.”

Suddenly, having glorious sex with a
gorgeous woman didn’t seem so
appealing, especially when Richard told
us that we'd be waiting in line for the
bloke in front of us to finish up. With
production on a tight budget, the
woman has to bang as many men in a
day as she can, especially when she’s
being paid a minimum of $150 an hour.
It sounded as if there would barely be

“Sometimes we get [addicts] in here
high on drugs. This one gir! bled all
over the sheets from the track marks
in her arms. I just haven't had a
chance to wash those sheets yet."

enough time to wipe the cum off her
face before-another guy was ready to
have a go.

“When I was filming in Europe,”
Richard’said, “I met a lot of guys who
were into children and animals.
Animals I would never do because the
shots only work out part of the time.
It’s not worth the aggravation, although
there is a big market for it. I don’t go
near children either—that’s just sick—
but I will argue for using girls about 16
or so.”

Through the hour-long interview we
learned that he had just been chased
out of Victoria and was setting up shop
in Vancouver; he needed actors right
away. The conversation gradually
deteriorated to Richard questioning
Tom on how to use his cordless speaker
phone, as callers had been constantly
interrupting our interview. He finally
got it working and what we heard was
surprising. First of all, most of the
callers were male, and most of them
were not right in the head. One man

You've come a long way, baby!

Women’s athletics have moved from
hoop skirts to Swoopes, but the playin
field still isn’t level

 

Women’ rugby is on the rise

Lou-Rene Legge Photo

Hamish Knox

 

nce upon atime the guards on
a women’s basketball team
werent allowed to cross the

centre line. This rule was in place
because it was believed that women,
unlike men, couldn't handle running up
and down the court for an entire game.

And until 12 years ago, many
believed that women couldn't play
rugby because the many tackles to
the mid-section would hurt their
reproductive systems. No one ever
thought to consider what happens to
men when they get hit in their own
‘sensitive area.’

Truly equal opportunities in sport
aren't yet a reality for women. The
way things are going, however,
women athletes will soon enjoy the
same opportunities as their male
counterparts.

In 1975, the National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) passed
Title IX, which mandates equal
facilities and money for men’s and
women’s sports at the college and
university level. This revolutionary
bill has changed both the way that
women athletes are looked upon and
the importance that administrators
place on women’s athletics.

For example, the University of
Tennessee women’s basketball team

said that he was on a construc-
tion site and couldn't make it
for an interview until six
o'clock and that he hoped .
that it was okay to be dirty.
Another sounded like he was
stoned on drugs and wanted
to bang right away. Richard
just brushed these calls aside
and said that it was part of
doing business, weeding
out the losers to find the
next stud monkey.

We left the interview
with a bad taste in our
mouths. Walking down the
street, Tom and I probed
the inevitable question: To
do, or not to do.

“So Tom, do you want
to be a porno star?” I
asked.

“No fucking way!”

Neither did I. The job
seemed fun in theory,
banging lots of chicks
and getting paid for it,
but the reality was a bit
gruesome.

Tom continued,
“Who wants to wait
in line to hump a
chick? That’s gross.
Besides, for only fifty
bucks a cumshot,
there’s no way I'll be
able to pay off my
student loan. What
a gyp!”

Our interview
only ended up
being for the OP,
but I’m sure Tom
and I will get
lucky one day, and
becum huge porn
stars.

couldn’t draw 8,000 fans to its games
in 1988. Today, they are averaging
13,335 fans per game, a better
turnout than four of the NBA’s
franchises.

On the other hand, Douglas College
women’s games usually draw only 15
to 20 fans, not including the DC
men’s team and the opposing men’s
team. The men’s games, however,

“Two years ago when we started our
women's [rugby] team, it was easy to
take pictures. Now it's hard to keep up,

they've improved so much." _

—Athletic director Lou-Rene Legge

easily draw twice that amount, again,
not including the two women’s teams.
Pity the fans who show up just for the
men’s games, because they miss some
great sports action.

Women’s basketball used to be one
of the lowest priorities when it came
to allocating equipment, facilities and
media coverage. Today women no
longer get hand-me-down uniforms
and play with basketballs that have all
the grip worn off. Nike, Reebok and
other shoe companies are giving shoe
deals to female professional athletes.

 
 
   
     
 
   
   
  
   
 
 
 
 
  

Now young female athletes don’t have
to buy Air Jordans or Air Pennys; they
can buy Air Swoopes (named after
WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes) or shoes
named after other female athletes such
as Dawn Stately and Rebecca Lobo.
And instead of having to look across
the Atlantic for pro basketball
employment, young women can now
choose between two professional
leagues in the US.

Women’s rugby is
also on the rise; it’s
currently one of the
most popular women’
sports, with leagues
and teams popping u
every season.

Athletic director
Lou-Rene Legge says,
“Two years ago when
we started our women’s [rugby] team,
it was easy to take pictures. Now it’s
hard to keep up, they’ve improved so
much. We also have two teams and
more women begging to play.” Club
teams have already sprung up in
England, giving women another outle
for playing sports professionally.

Now that the sporting world has
generally moved past the sexist
theories of weakness and susceptibilit
to injury that plagued women’s

continued on page 3

 

2 February 18, 1998 The Other Press — Sexuality Supplement