- Just when the industry thinks it can't get a break in the media, National Public Radio comes to the rescue with today's edition of AirTalk with Larry Mantle.
Mantle's guests on the show, which was inspired by the Los Angeles Times magazine article of Jan. 12 titled "See No Evil," were AIM director Sharon Mitchell, Evil Angel DVD division head Tricia Devereaux and VCA director Veronica Hart, all of whom have been actresses in the adult industry. The group was also briefly joined by Dr. Peter Kearnt of the L.A. Department of Health Services, a frequent consultant to AIM.
One of Mantle's main concerns was the health of the industry's talent, and Mitchell assured him that, despite the scare headlines of the L.A. Times article, the infection rates for gonorrhea and chlamydia within the industry were only "a little bit higher, but not by much" compared to the general population, and that there hasn't been an HIV-positive performer in several years.
But, Mitchell noted, only about 10 percent of talent test for STDs other than HIV, and she would like to see that number greatly increased.
Later, when Mantle asked Dr. Kearnt if condoms would ever be mandated in the adult industry, he replied, "I think that we will have to go there... It may be that Cal-OSHA regulations are what apply to this situation, which are the blood-borne pathogen regulations... This industry, which we've neglected to this point, can be made a lot more safe and I really think we should all get together and try to do that."
"I'm all for doing whatever I can help do to keep my friends more safe, more healthy, more happy," added Devereaux, who noted that she doesn't blame the industry for her having contracted HIV.
Later, however, she cautioned, "The majority of the scenes that the company I work for shoots are without condoms, but they do make them optional, and I think it's more of a thing of self-image with a lot of the female performers that they don't want to stand up for themselves, and we try to avoid that. We try to say there's absolutely no pressure; 'Do you prefer to use condoms or not?'"
"Do women who demand condom usage in their scenes get a 'rap' that comes out of that?" asked Mantle "Are they seen as difficult or less desirable to employ because of that?"
"No," Mitchell replied. "They work less, but they have higher standards. Economically, they make the same amount of money; they just charge more when they work... They're also role models. They're very important women to have on the sets."
"Right now, we basically go by whatever AIM [recommends] for the business, and right now, we have in place the PCR-DNA testing, which is every 30 days," explained Hart, who noted that VCA has a special office set up to handle testing compliance for performers in its movies. "I would really hate for the government to get involved in our business as far as regulating anything... Initially, when I was in the films, it was kind of outside of the law, and I think you would see a lot of people go underground if the government perhaps got too involved in it, and I think that would be contrary to everything we've built within the industry, which is doing a very good job of policing itself."
Later, Hart mentioned that after five years of mandating condom use in its features, VCA went condom-optional six months ago.
"So condoms being used in a film, that does not affect sales?" Mantle continued.
"I don't know. I don't work in the sales department," Hart responded.
"I would say that the very, very strong pornographic fan, that they do seek out... things that don't have condoms," Devereaux countered. "Customers know where to find what they want to see, whether on the Internet or some other video company, they're going to find it."
The discussion delved into a wide range of industry issues, with one caller inquiring about the availability of employment and other help for performers found to be HIV positive. Mitchell mentioned that there are scholarship funds and counseling available for HIV victims.
The HIV-positive Devereaux, however, got more personal, expressing shock that Marc Wallice, whom she and others have accused of being "Patient Zero" in the HIV chain that infected five actresses in the late '90s, was still working as an editor in the industry.
"At that time," Devereaux said, "he [Wallice] had no reason to feel that he needed to continue to perform other than selfishness, if he knew."
"I want to ask you about drug use in the industry," Mantle said. "Can you speak to what the statistics are?"
"I don't have clear statistics on that," Mitchell responded, "[but] we have a very popular 12-step meeting on Thursday nights at the AIM Healthcare Foundation... We let [performers] know right off the bat that if you need to be taking something or drinking something, then you need to be doing something else for a living."
"I think there's always been drug use in every part of life," Hart added. "When I go into a place [to shoot], I have to sign a location agreement. I sign that there's not going to be any alcohol or illegal substances, and I think if anybody is doing anything, they're certainly keeping it well out of the line of my sight."
All in all, AirTalk turned out to be a very entertaining hour, and hopefully, NPR will schedule more such discussions involving the adult industry.
