Stacy Valentine was the bell of the ball and the media darling Tuesday night during a party held in her honor at Club Luna in Beverly Hills. And, if truth be told, you practically needed a state department clearance to get in a word edgewise with Valentine who was getting showered with more attention than Elian Gonzalez.
Part of the event, dubbed the Eighth Annual Emily Dickinson Retrospective [for laughs], was to promote the documentary The Girl Next Door, directed by Christine Fugate, which stars Valentine and begins at the Nuart Theatre this Friday. Part of it was to unveil Valentine's new career as a clothing line doyenne via a fashion show. The fashion line, which Valentine partners with September Phillips, is called Good Girl/Bad Girl Clothing, items of which were modeled by recognized glamor puss, good girl/bad girl stalwarts such as Chloe, Dyanna Lauren, Midori, Alexa Rae, Crystal Knight, Amber, Flower, Sugar, Gwen Summers, Lola, Rebecca Bardoux, Shelby Myne and Siren.
Beer guzzling and other forms of liquid replenishment were merely counter measures in a room packed like a sweaty Savannah courtroom in mid-August. Speaking of Savannah, Paulie Shore was among the celebrities spotted along with the usual list of suspects that generally begins with Corey Feldman. Actually it wasn't too difficult to spot the glitterati, seeing as how they were situated in a cordoned-off area in the middle of the room, thus allowing them opportunity to gawk at the crowd gawking them, petting zoo-style. The only difference being is that the celebrities had seats.
AVN managing editor Ken Wood remarked that one older gent bore a startling resemblance to Hugh Hefner. I suggested that, under the circumstances [The Playboy Foundation kicked in money to fund the documentary], it might be Hefner, which it was - minus the triplets he's been seen squiring around as of late. And Valentine, looking like, well, fresh and homespun as the girl next door, was parked, for the most part, comfortably cozy to Hefner's left while Hefner would from time to time reach into his pocket and jot notes on a scratch pad.
A face you didn't expect to see in the crowd was that of celebrity attorney Alan "The Dersh" Dershowitz; and, after the show, Cheyenne Silver, Vivid's newest contract girl, was seen in the parking lot asking Dershowitz if she could have her picture taken with him. I was tempted to ask Dershowitz if he thought Patsy Ramsey did it [points of which he debated on Geraldo last week]. On the other hand, Cheyenne said she loves being a Vivid girl and it's affording her luxury time to go back to school. I actually believe Cheyenne mentioned something about directing which, in this town, seems like a totally odd thing to say.
A head you didn't expect to see in the crowd belonged to Marc Davis who says he shaved his about four days ago. Asked how he acquired a skull tan so quickly, Davis says he's been driving around with the top down and likes the fact that his new look is prompting him being carded in some clubs. A couple of other adult industry people seen during the evening were Johnny Thrust, Gwen Summers' other half; and director Jane Hamilton.
And, to put a capper to the festivities, Ricki Rachtman who has been hosting Monday Nitro wrestling parties on various college campuses in recent months, was seen with a camera crew interviewing Dershowitz. God only knows what that conversation could have entailed.
From gnd.movie.com: The Girl Next Door is an intimate and humanizing look into the rise to fame of adult film superstar Stacy Valentine. The wheels were set in motion when Stacy's then-husband, to satisfy his own sexual fantasy, urged his Oklahoma housewife, Stacy Baker, to submit her photograph to Gallery Magazine's amateur pictorial competition, voyeuristically named, "The Girl Next Door." Easily winning this contest, Stacy was soon gracing the cover of Hustler magazine and accepting offers to perform in X-rated films.
Within months, Stacy Baker had the money and confidence she needed to escape her abusive marriage and head for Hollywood. In mid-February 1995, she arrived in Los Angeles as Stacy Valentine.
Since then, Stacy has appeared in more than 50 adult films, and was recognized as "Best American Starlet" at last year's Hot D'Or Awards ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival. VCA, a powerhouse adult film studio, immediately signed Stacy to an exclusive deal. The prestigious title of "contract girl," not unlike the Hollywood studio system and the contracts they had with their actresses, is given to no more than five women out of hundreds of actresses. Acclaimed PBS filmmaker Christine Fugate's interest in exploring pornography through the eyes of a woman led her to the newly named Stacy Valentine. Over time, the two developed a trusting bond; and it was this trust which resulted in extensive behind-the-scenes footage revealing the complexity of Stacy's business and personal life.
Live internet sex-shows, faked orgasms, and DP's ("double penetrations") prove to be all in a day's work for Stacy. Yet The Girl Next Door reveals the contradictions between her personal life and her work. In her quest for beauty she rarely eats; she has had her breasts augmented, her thighs and flanks liposuctioned, and her lips injected with her own fa taken from her hips.
Going home to Tulsa, she cries with her mother, whose nonjudgmental attitude toward her daughter's work is based on unconditional love, and to some extent, incomplete knowledge - she doesn't watch Stacy's films. And unconditional love is what Stacy needs from her boyfriend, Julian. Also an actor in the adult film business, Julian loves Stacy very much. However, he cannot quite accept that the woman he loves is Stacy Valentine, the well-known porn star.
The Girl Next Door is the conflicting story between Stacy Baker and the world of pornography, and Stacy Valentine and her desire for true love. Stacy allows us to experience the exotic world of pornography through the eyes of a former housewife from Oklahoma.
