It’s a tough thing when you see yourself through someone else’s eyes. It is a particularly tough thing when you spend day after day showing other people themselves through your eyes.
I knew this when I granted Adrian Chen the interview for the Gawker.com article. I dish it out well enough so truth is I had better be prepared to take it. As I did with Luke Dittrich when he asked to profile me in Oxford American magazine I simply told Adrian to tell it how he sees it, I never fault someone for that.
Most of the people who have read it had very positive responses, specially those whose opinions mean the most to me. A few people were bitter, apparently thinking they deserve more of the spotlight but people saw that for what it was too, one even got publicly called out in the comments on Gawker.
Humble is a word that only a precious few of my closest friends would understand being used to describe me but the truth is I am humbled by this experience, the kindness and support that has been a result has touched me deeply and reminded me why I fight the fight that I do. Mr Helmy was right in that sometimes I probably do push the envelope a bit too far, I can only say that it is passion that brings about change. Ignorance and or apathy about something has never inspired people to fix it. I also want to state, for the record that some people I fully intend to offend. My readers, I am sure know when that is the case.
I haven’t given up on the idea that we in this industry can be good people and good to each other, if I had I would have quit this site ages ago and saved myself a lot of the stress. The site doesn’t make me money, some of my ads are comped because I believe in what they do. Some are paid for generously because they believe in what I do but this site operates at a net loss approaching about 500 dollars a month. The reason I bring that up is because I do want to answer those who think I do it for the traffic, that amuses me the most because traffic to mikesouth.com is the reason I need a big server, my paysites would run just fine on a much smaller one, and the more traffic I get, the more it costs me. I do get a few members to my paysites from here but most of my paid site members come from other forms of marketing, so that argument doesn’t wash, believe me. Anyone who says that clearly doesn’t know jack shit about me.
Steven King once said that he writes every day because it is his passion and he would write everyday before he got successful and would still be writing everyday had he not gotten successful. I understand that because it is how I feel about this industry. For all the issues I have with it it has provided me with almost all of my personal family.
We all have biological families but we all also have personal families, the people in our personal families are the people we choose to be in that family and that is a bond that runs just as deep as blood does. My personal family has an awful lot of porn associated people in it. You all know who you are.
Thanks again y’all and I will resume being a hard ass now.
8 Responses
I for one appreciate what you do on this site. You cut through the bullshit and get to the point, something which Xbiz and AVN don’t always do. Whether I agree with you or not on a particular issue I almost always learn something from you when you post an article here. I hope more people both from the industry and fans read this blog now that the Gawker article is out.
As for the charge that the site is based on your opinions (which you don’t deny) any article written anywhere other than a peer-reviewed academic journal is based on opinion in one way or another. Also the major news networks (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC) are all slanted in one direction or another (especially Fox News) no matter how they attempt to be objective. Lou Dobbs was about the most slanted of the talking heads on the news networks IMO, it got him canned from CNN because he took it so far. You are much more objective here than Lou Dobbs or Bill O’Reilly ever thought of being.
Mike I like your site because deal real issues that matter in porn indusrty. You got balls call village idiots out who you know fucking over porn indusrty for owen gain well other reward those same village idiots rewards thanking them for fuck up there indusrty. Only thank seem be getting these day is from same self serving lieing slandering village idiots support ever thing your against with attack against you on porn gosping sites where truth is after thought to what facts are. Lets look at village idiots in porn say thing about you many are same self serving people give out bad advices on syphilis event that hit porn indusrty. Most village idiots support Manwen well never love you is not cry shame. Manwen like hide under free speech but they sure do not like on there blog pages hate hate when confront them on your web site about there dirty deeds done cheap. The FSC never gone have on christmas card list again which I thank god for all thing point out that wrong with them. Than are self serving assholes in porn indusrty you know like one got STD lie about have it made few porn movies only stop when he got caught. Than got assholes try play down syphilis event in porn indusrty like was common cold who where giving bad advise out on matter as if they doctors when they clearly where not. You can tell make your enemys buy truth to what say what they do not want hear. Well your enemys Mike are like cockroachs they hide in dark place in porn run for lives when expose to there truths. I say good to be enemy this people thankless job clean out gutters expose trash in porn indusrty that most do not want or care to deal with. You do great job of it. If ever question about what your web site about what doing in porn indusrty look who question you what there about you well find some asshole you remove from your site or person that where you against still are care very little about what there opion meant in first place.
I see that Gene Ross is still your good buddy. I love how he makes his points valid using the “hill billy from the sticks” argument. A geographical lesson would be in order for this geographically retarded individual. In addition he deems himself a “journalist” who is supposed to take a impartial view but slinging around stereotypical slang and geographically profiling the entire southeastern half of the country kind of contradicts and invalidates anything he opines on. Lol, I said opine..I feel so Bill O’Riley. What I am really saying in simple terms is this guy for fucking real? The Sticks? Is there such a place anymore? I thought that was in LA somewhere. Someplace called the FSC. I could be wrong.
Thanks Y’all….
I think Im gonna start callin him “Green” Gene
it fits.
Oh and Green Gene was wrong about me outing a source. My source actually thanked me for leaving to trail to him/her.
The IT guy at DP is gone so he got the blame for it anyway, you know…blame the dead guy. It wasn’t him though.
If Green Gene was a smart as h thinks he is he coulda read between those lines, same as most of y’all did 😉
Funny thing about Gene Ross only times get story write on web site when copys paste that story from some other web site. I can not count how many times Gene Ross writen story I have thought my self WTF was that about. As for Gene Ross attacking your credible in porn indusrty let look his. If ever wonder why Gene Ross loves people like Rob Black well they gave him job in there ex porn companys. Gene Ross freinds with ever cockroach in porn indusrty he loves them like favrita pet has them on speed dial on cell phone. Ex porn star Jewel Denyle called Gene Ross when she worked for Rob Black ex porn company most lieing dishonest bastard she ever had displeaure be round. The same Gena Ross who fond going to pond scum part of porn indusrty write in glories detail on his web site how pond scum like screwing over hard working honest people in porn becuase they think funny as get rich doing off there hard work. Word wise look in people in porn indusrty attacking Mike South you well find people like Gene Ross are not save grace porn indusrty but apart dease that gone kill in the end.
I read Gene Ross’s site once or twice a quarter — whenever I want to read about a moronic comedian who gets it wrong almost as much as he gets it right. The tarot cards and crystal ball he uses (he admits to this, now) seem to be messed up. I wonder if his crystal ball has told him to buy a house in Marin yet — I don’t need one to predict that Prop. B will pass and porn will move to San Francisco. I learned a thing in my history classes in what would have been junior high in a urban area — that is those that don’t learn from history will repeat it and porn is about to do just that (the biz moved from LA to SF once before in the 70’s when LA Vice started arresting anyone that even said the word porn, SF Vice just stopped by for a cup of coffee and a free peep show and the city actually issued film permits to those porn producers that wanted one).
Thats a riot!