No Escape

This story popped up in my Facebook feed a couple of weeks ago. Ever since, I've been trying to think of how to articulate my feelings on it. Because it elicits some mixed ones from me.

I guess I can see why you might find it funny, as it is one of those stories that sounds almost like it must be fabricated because it's so absurd. But going deeper, this is part of a larger change in our world. It has become increasingly difficult to hide things. You can thank the Internet for that.

I'm sure 1972 Mark Suben didn't give a lot of thought to the potential future ramifications of appearing in adult films. And really, even if he did, he couldn't have foreseen this future. At the time, you could reasonably have expected films of that nature to play for a time in their venues and then disappear, never to resurface. Times have changed, and all sorts of cinematic flotsam has been deemed worthy of rescue. That includes at least some of the films that featured Mark Suben.

I don't have the objections to pornography that some people do, though my feelings on it are complex and not easily explained. I do think the stigma that is attached to every single person involved in that industry by parts of society is hypocritical and wrongheaded. But the fact remains that the stigma still exists. And it's now so simple to dig up someone's past and judge them.

This is what galls me. People seek out these opportunities to try to tear people down and make themselves feel better about their own sad lives. That's what happened to Mark Suben. Then he compounded the problem by initially lying about it. If he gets into trouble over this matter, it should be for the lying and not the adult films. Even then, it's totally understandable. That was 40 years ago, and certainly not something he was planning on addressing.

I have known people who have worked in various adult businesses. Some are beautiful, wonderful people; some are not. That's based on who they are, not what they have done or even still do. I think it's really time we grow up as human beings and acknowledge the fact that these people don't deserve to be scorned for the rest of their lives based solely on what they have done for a living. Let's instead treat people with respect. I know, it's tough, but we can do it.

Here are some other thoughts on this subject. Please note there may be some NSFW content at that link.