Industry News

Shelly Lubben on Chasey Lain

Chasey Lain: The Lubben Angle:

by Rog of Rogreviews

We have talked a lot about the disastrous Chasey Lain clips that Donny Long threw up onto YouTube this week. We all agree that the videos show Chasey in a very bad light. She clearly has substance abuse issues, health issues (mental and physical probably) and a severe case of Diva-it is. (Yes, I know that this literally translates to “Swelling of the Diva” and that it makes no sense, just please roll with me.)

Porn fans, Whore haters and every Captain Save-a-Ho out there has had his or her say on this issue so it makes sense that Shelley Lubben would pick up on it. Those of you who don’t know Shelley may want to take a look at her site. (www.ShelleyLubben.com) Basically she is a former porn performer and sex worker (and drug addict) who has turned her life around and now runs a ministry designed to help get other women out of the industry and onto a better path with God.

She also regularly rails against porn and even spoke on behalf of the greedy fucknuts in Sacramento during the recent porn tax hearings. I have taken plenty of heat for not blasting Shelley on a regular basis as most in the industry (understandably) do. The fact is, I respect half of what Shelley does.

There is no one out there to help women who want out of porn. When someone is ready to leave the industry has no interest in helping that happen. They have no interest in helping a young woman find help for a drug problem, a way out of an abusive relationship or help in finding a new “regular” job. For that I respect Shelley and support her efforts. Her ministry gives women who are often estranged from their friends and family a way to move past an industry that has no interest in helping them get out. (Just to be fair, how many industries help people on their way out?) For that I give Shelley a great deal of credit.

On the other hand she is fond of bashing every aspect of the industry, padding (or making up) her stats and blaming porn for everything from global warming to New Coke. In this case she has used the Chasey videos as a cautionary tale. To hear Shelley tell it, this sort of thing happens every day on every porn set the world over.

Let’s take a closer look at that though. First, does it happen every day? What exactly? Do drug addicted women show up on porn sets unable to perform? Yeah, probably. With so many porn shoots the world over, the numbers would be in favor of at least one woman showing up to work drunk or stoned. On the other hand, teachers, cops, doctors and clergymen also show up to work drunk or high every day. Do we blame their profession for their addiction? Does it happen on every porn set? No. Flat out, NO! I have been on dozens of sets as a journalist, cameraman and even a few as a director. Not every girl on every set is high or drunk. Am I saying I have seen someone altered on set? Of course not. I can tell you that I have never shot anyone in this condition and never seen anyone go through with a scene where a woman this badly out of her head.

But Shelley’s implication that every set is like this is just a flat out lie. To say that “most” sets are like this would also be wrong. Look folks, this is a business. Watch the Chasey videos and tell me how much work got done. It was a day wasted with both cast and crew waiting around for Chasey to get her shit together enough to shoot a scene. If every female in the porn business showed up like this, nothing would ever get done. It’s absurd to think that this is the norm.

Shelley’s implication that porn did this to Chasey is also iffy at best. She is in porn and she is fucked up. That much is true. But does A lead to B? Are there no other factors? Of course not. Chasey is in porn and she is fucked up, but she is also clearly messed up on either drugs or alcohol, perhaps both. Let’s call that C. So did A lead to B or did C lead to B? Did C lead to A? Did C plus A lead to B? I know a lot of women who have been in porn for a number of years. They aren’t all like Chasey.

I have known a number of drug addicts and alcoholics in my life. They aren’t ALL like Chasey. But of those two groups, the one that most often ends up like Chasey are the drug/alcohol abusers. To ignore this obvious fact is intellectually dishonest. In that spirit I won’t deny that porn and drug addiction can often go hand in hand. It is an industry where people can get in, make easy money and get out. Some girls use porn to pay for their drugs. Are some introduced to drugs while in porn? Probably and that sucks, but can we blame the industry for that?

I am sure that a number of priests first started molesting children while in the Church. Do we blame Christianity for that? Saying that porn did this to Chasey is just not intellectually honest. Last time I checked dentists had the highest rate of suicide based on occupation. Should we assume then that there is something very destructive about fixing people’s teeth?

While I still respect the outreach and aid that Shelley provides, her use of Chasey’s videos as a cautionary tale are dubious at best. Porn didn’t do this to Chasey. Drugs didn’t do this to Chasey. Chasey did this to Chasey. Like it or not, that’s the truth.

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