In case you didn't know already, Laurence Fishburne's daughter, under the pseudonym "Chippy D" (shitty alias, but I digress), is about to have several porn videos of her released by some major companies in the industry. I've been having various Twitter discussions about this with people, but I think my thoughts are a bit more complicated than I can effectively convey in short message form; it's effing late in the a.m., so bear with me as I collect my thoughts like offering at Sunday church service.
To even broach the subject of what she's doing, let me get at why she's doing it. Chippy D, better known as Montana Fishburne, has stated that she saw "how successful Kim Kardashian became" once the vid of her getting smashed out by Ray J went viral. Apparently, Montana wants to ride the sex industry machine as some sort of fast track to fame. I think the premise of her porn excursion is a bit flawed for two reasons.
One: unlike Kimmy Kakes, Montana made a sex tape with every intention of releasing and distributing it through the porn industry channels, something that Kim K. (and before her, frenemy Paris Hilton) has vehemently denied was the purpose behind her tape. Without that conflict, there is no real controversy, which is really what skyrocketed Paris and Kim's fame. The tape was only the catalyst for a public controversy; if Kim's fame was a Big Mac, the tape would be the pickles and the legal battle would be the booty meat patties.
Second: who needs to do porn to get famous and launch an entertainment career when your dad is LAURENCE EFFING FISHBURNE????? His Blackberry's speed dial probably has more Hollywood connections than Scarface had to cocaine refineries. While I applaud her effort at trying to avoid nepotism and stake out her own fame, I think this misguided career move will instead set her up on the path toward infamy (if it hasn't already happened).
Of course, I'm pretty sure Montana has already deduced this, and I'm also sure that the flimsy fame excuse is just a decoy to hide her true motivation for becoming a porn actress. My grand, unified theory of Montana's metamorphosis into Chippy D: she did it because that's what she wants to do, but just can't be up front and say so (likely because her dad is, as already established, LARRY EFFING FISHBURNE). Whether I'm right or wrong about her true reasons for participating in porn, I do know one thing for certain. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon to bash her decision, even though I think her stated reasons for doing so are suspect.
Full disclosure: I watch porn, enough so that I actually have favorite stars that I can identify by their titties hands. I don't really see a problem with that, which of course means that I don't really see a problem with those that decide to star in the movies I'm watching.
I refuse to hate on Montana Fishburne for doing porn, mainly because I think most of her detractors are doing so only because of who her father is (besides, half of them can't wait to rub on out to her tape once it's released, so yeah). If her dad was just some schlub who'd never been in a movie or TV show (you know, like 99.9999% of the dads in America), no one would be making a fuss. She'd just be some new piece of ass getting smashed out on camera. She's not the first; she won't be the last. Not to belabor the point, but the only difference between Montana and Pinky, to pick a somewhat famous porn star, is that no one knows or cares who Pinky's father is. Whether you agree with women (or men) doing porn in the first place, I think it's jarring for us (as a community, society, however you want to classify it) to denigrate Montana's ambitions, flawed as they are, when we treat other porn stars with less-public roots with at least a modicum of decency. By that I mean, porn stars are now regularly seen cavorting with celebrities (link is slightly NSFW) in the fields of sports, film, TV, and especially music.
Not for nothing, we as a society have decided that porn becoming more mainstream and mingling with other industries isn't really that bad of an idea; someone relatively famous becoming a porn star was bound to happen eventually. I could bring up a couple examples where that's already happened in Brazil with famous TV hosts crossing over into porn but I'm too tired to look it up and link at this point. Maybe I'll edit that in tomorrow, but not tonight. And from a business standpoint, some people would be surprised to find out that some of the biggest porn distributors in this country aren't some groady video stores in the seedy part of town, but huge corporations like Time Warner and AT&T. But I digress.
In a sense, Montana's right that porn can possibly lead to other career avenues; her comparison to Kim Kardashian is a bit off the mark though. Instead, if you look at other porn actors and actresses who have been able to cross over into more mainstream forms of entertainment, it's not as far a stretch to see how one could get the idea that the transition from porn to legit acting could happen. The obvious example would be Ron Jeremy, who's done everyone everything from a cameo in "The Boondock Saints" to VH1 reality shows. A better choice, however, would be Sasha Grey, who is well-known for engaging in some of the more extreme acts the porn world has to offer. However, she's also parleyed her reputation into opportunities to do everything from modeling in American Apparel ads to landing the lead role in Steven Soderbergh's "The Girlfriend Experience". Yup, the same dude that directed George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and those 9 other guys in "Ocean's 11". While "The Girlfriend Experience didn't make bank like "Ocean's 11", it was critically acclaimed, and also serves as the clearest reference point for Montana Fishburne's current aspirations.
At the end of the day, it's Montana's life; she's an adult, and nothing anyone says at this point can undo the movies that she's already produced. I'm not going to say that I fully support Ms. Fishburne's endeavors, but I do hope that she finds whatever it is she's looking for. I also hope that we stop getting up in arms over someone with a famous father doing what many women without that kind of upbringing do on a daily basis. Just spread your condemnations like your condiments: evenly.
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