Today's entry ends the Chloe dialogues. Thank you, Chloe, for regaling us with your stories! - Kyle
Any final thoughts on being involved in the film making process? Has it been a positive experience so far? Any negatives? What do you hope audiences will "take away" with them from viewing the final film?
As a lifelong fan of film and self-taught cinephile, having a movie made about Chloe's exploits, is an absolute dream come true. I've always been a hit at dinner parties, regaling often-shocked guests with stories about clients and their particular peccadilloes, but to see myself and my experiences onscreen gives them a validity that I didn't even know that I craved until I saw it. Carlos, the screenwriter worked so diligently with me to create the tenderness I knew this particular client's story needed. He is an amazing talent. Paul, the actor who plays me, is the true star of the movie. The subtle nuances with his voice, the softness of his gestures, and his fearless ability to find the humanity in his paralyzed client had me in tears more than once. In fact, it was a bit creepy he was so dead-on with his interpretation of me and the scene. We'll be seeing more of him, no doubt. And I can't even begin to imagine this story in anyone else's hands but yours. You are one of the most sensitive people I know. In fact, you'd make a great manwhore. If the film thing doesn't work out, please give me a call... Seriously, I hope that people who see one of Chloe's (er, my) sessions will begin to question what sex is and how they define it for themselves. I want to broaden people's notions of what's attractive and what's not. To open people up to the beauty in everyone. And, finally, to see that the essence of true bliss lies in non-judgement.
Chloe
Were you involved in the recent campaign to decriminalize sex-work in San Francisco? Were you disappointed in the out-come of that vote?
I wasn't directly involved with Proposition K on last November's ballot, but I definitely did my own song and dance on it's behalf with my inner circle, including friends, family, and clients. It lost 43% to 51%, but it was interesting to see how close it actually was and how people felt about the issue.
Sadly, sex-work is often conflated with human trafficking in order to scare typically-liberal people into thinking that they're personally contributing to the sexual slavery of Third World women by greedy traffickers if they approve of letting people do with their bodies what they choose in the comfort of their own homes.
But the irony of the situation is that with cultural acceptance of a once-thought "sin" is that it loses it's sensual, "dirty" electricity once it becomes more mainstream; thereby bringing down my prices to remain competitive and subsequently killing my business. Just like I know many pot growers here in California who rue the day when pot becomes legal because they're going to lose A LOT of money.
A great article from the recent issue (Spring 2009) of JUMP CUT:
"Real Sex: the aesthetics and economics of art-house porn" by Jon LewisI think it does an amazing job laying out the history of films that investigate sexuality and their marginalization by "mainstream" media. Also, reveals yet again the hypocrisy of the MPAA ratings board that lets "anything go" w/ torture porn movies like the psychotic SAW franchise, but is scared shitless of frank, adult films that deal with the very social, and frankly "normal", contours of our lives as sexual human beings.
This is what we are up against, folks. If you make a film dealing with a variety of dramatic/comedic situations that just happen to pivot around sex, will it only be relegated to the "art" ghetto (and the bottom of that ghetto)? Or is there a place, perhaps on-line, where these shorts can find a wider, broader audience that partakes in massive amounts of pornography every day, but sees very little "art" that deals w/ the interior, emotional lives of those engaging in sex acts? Also, since most "art-house porn" strives for hyper-realism (see, they are really doing it!), what will viewers make of our very Romantic, surreal, comedic dramas that strive to break your heart, not bust your nutt (or bust your balls as is the case w/Euro-nihilists like Lars von Trier)? We'll see.
- Kyle
Chloe sent me these photos of himself w/ Paul Soileau (Aliya in SAN FRANCISCO) as his performance art alter-ego Christeene. I told Chloe it was "High Art meets Low Trash" to which he retorted "Yes, Christeene is a stunning work of art and I am definitely a piece of low, low trash..." - Kyle
Chloe continues her talk about sex work...
The workers at the top of the hierarchy are the providers who work for themselves online and travel. These are the folks who usually get busted with someone famous. They tend to be educated, above-average looking, with the ability to market themselves well and know their niche category. It is often a means to an end with this set too, and they are rarely lifers, or it is their main profession.
But these are hardly the folks people think of when one mentions "prostitute." It also must be said that genetic women make the most money at this venture, while transsexuals (TS's) and transvestites (TV's) make less, but men, poor things, make the least.
Isn't it ironic that conventional modeling and prostitution are the only two professions where women make more than men? I'd love to see people become more aware of the ways in which sex is commodified in our culture, but the irony is that I bank on repression and the taboo qualities of sex in our Calvinistic culture, so in some ways it's better that it stays this way.
In the dark, online, all alone...
What changes would you like to see occur in people's attitudes toward sex-work and sex-workers? How far into the future is that day when negative attitudes will change?
It's no secret that when anyone mentions sex work or sex workers everyone automatically thinks of streetwalkers with pimps and needles hanging out of their arms. Not that all streetwalkers are junkies or addicts, but usually that scene has an element of desperation or addiction somewhere nearby.
I suppose I'd like everyone to be more aware of what I call the Hooker Hierarchy. There are all kinds of workers filling the needs of all levels of society. Sadly, at the bottom are the streetwalkers. It's the most obvious, in plain view, sometimes stunningly gorgeous in it's brazenness, in fact; which is why people have the association of hooking with streetwalking.
Above that, there are people who work out of bars, clubs, massage parlors, and even brothels, but they're still working for someone else usually. As is the case with agencies. It's just a more female-centric arrangement, with the women running the agencies having usually been the workers themselves at one point.
But to me, a pimp is a pimp is a pimp. Then there are the providers who work an ad online. At one level you have the Craigslist folks who are just doing it for the money, who aren't really concerned with presenting themselves at their finest, and have been known to constantly make "deals" and end up just bringing the whole pricing game down for everyone - typically young, dumb, and just need rent money or a new pair of shoes for going out Saturday night.
