CSI last night...

[t_dot]

i usually stick to sitcoms and survior on thursday nights. maybe a little er, but that's it. anyway, everything was a rerun last night so i tuned into CSI. i don't watch it that much, but when i do it's usually pretty interesting. one of the plots centred around finding a snuff movie and trying to find out who made it and arrest them and all that kind of stuff. basically the plot of the movie 8mmm, but i digress.

i'm posting this because i was quite desturbed by what i saw. and i'm not talking about the bloody flash backs. at one point in the show the two female cops were on the 'net' checking some supposed data base of all the porn stars and the results of their HIV tests. as they scrolled down this huge list of porn stars (no real names) it appeared that around 15 - 20 % of them supposedly tested positive for the HIV virus.

please correct me if i'm mistaken, but as far as i know the porn industry has no such epidemic. surely we would have heard about it by now if it did.

anyway, my point is although i support the need for some artistic licence to move a plot along, isn't it a little irrisponsible for a show praised for it's realism and scientific facts to make a contention like this? maybe i'm being too sensative, but it's almost bigotry against the sex industry. it reminds me of the scare tactics and bull sh*t after school specials they showed when i was in high school.

i don't know why it just pissed me off.

 

[Teddybear]

the database exists...it is put together by a group of industry professionals called AIM, and has been available since 1998 when a fairly large number of current stars were outed as testing positive for HIV...in part, that's what spurred the condoms only movie blitz that has ensued. here is a quote from an online magazine called "the data lounge"...

"Adult Industry Medical regularly updates its list of condom-only or condom-optional companies and performers, and major porn producers generally honor the health group's quarantine list. Performers who have worked with HIV-positive actors must test HIV "not detected" before their names are removed from the temporary quarantine list. "

out of curiousity, why would you assume that the industry would actually market the fact that they had HIV positive actors performing in films? unless you've been f@#$ing a lot of pornstars lately, it shouldn't be a big issue...

 

[gramage]

art with an agenda, why does that suprise you? I saw this episode a few months back and I knew the second the porn was involved it was going to show it as evil. that is what network television does, it reinforced stereotypes that make watching their shows safe, no fear of being forced to reevaluate your views. it also is easier to write in black and white then it is is in shades of grey, and network TV deadlines are the kinds that kill ingenuity and tough honesty, they only stay true to life on the scientific data, sociology is always going to err on the side of the status quo.

 

[t_dot]

out of curiousity, why would you assume that the industry would actually market the fact that they had HIV positive actors performing in films? unless you've been f@#$ing a lot of pornstars lately, it shouldn't be a big issue...

i wasn't assuming the adult industry would publicize it. what i meant was if something was so wide spread, i.e. a large percenage of performers testing positive, someone outside the industry would hear about it. and that's the kind of thing that journalists, tabloids, etc. are always looking for. so i just think we would have heard of it, that's all.

as i've never had the pleasure of sleeping with a porn star, i was more curious than concerned. but your comments about a large number of stars testing positive has made me more of both. can you name some names?

 

[LateComer]

I checked out http://aim-med.org/

Here's what I found: Porn stars are tested every 30 days. If they test positive they cannot work. A number of porn stars tested positive in 1998 (don't know how many) but only one has tested postive since 1999.

The following article sums it up nicely. (The 7 positive test results mentioned in the article were not for anyone working in the industry)

http://aim-med.org/USAToday1.html

 

[drlove]

I remember reading an article a few years ago about a prominent male porn star who became infected with HIV. Other than that, I haven't heard much about it.

 

[LateComer]

I remember reading an article a few years ago about a prominent male porn star who became infected with HIV. Other than that, I haven't heard much about it.

The AIM site mentioned that Tony Montana had tested positive.