Undue attention to a tragic pornography figure

By: American Decency Staff

One can’t turn on a news program in recent days without hearing endless accounts of the life and death of stripper and porn “star” Anna Nicole Smith and the bizarre legal circus that has thus ensued. The fact that the media, including “legitimate” news programs have focused so much attention on this situation is a disgrace. Even more repugnant is the fact that our society has made a celebrity and idol of a pathetic person, lost in the mire of sin, who only achieved fame and fortune through sex and the sale of her body for the pleasure of men. Pornography and strippers, once a thing of shame, are now glamorized for little girls to aspire to and emulate. Now those who appear in sleazy porn movies are called “starsâ”, strippers are referred to as “dancers” in “gentlemen’s clubs”, and Hugh Hefner – nothing more than a pimp – is a cultural icon. Anna Nicole Smith began her pornographic “career” as a stripper, filmed pornographic films, and was a Playboy Playmate, posing for the porn rag’s centerfold. According to MSNBC, “Anna Nicole Smith was remembered by her former peers Thursday as strippers at topless clubs across the nation blew kisses and toasted her with champagne in a post-midnight salute. At Rick’s Cabaret in Houston, where Smith danced in the early 1990s and met her elderly husband J. Howard Marshall, strippers gathered on stage to raise glasses of champagne while the disc jockey played ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’.” The porn industry would have us believe that pornography is harmless – that it’s just ‘girls having fun’. But what is the legacy of Anna Nicole Smith? Her life seemed filled with despair, but did her life of pornography harm no one except herself and those close to her? Is pornography victimless? Tragically, Anna Nicole Smith’s life and example may have had a far-reaching, damaging impact on millions of men, women, boys, and girls as the tentacles of pornography permeate our culture. Through the celebrity status a stripper and porn “star” has received, countless women and girls may decide that degrading themselves is ‘glamorous’ and is the way to fortune and fame. And men and boys have had the notion reinforced that women are merely sexual objects whose worth is equated to the sum of their body parts. Instead of being “glamorous”, reality would confirm that life in the porn industry is far from victimless. Instead, it is riddled with drug and alcohol addiction, sexual abuse, disease, and despair. In recent years this ministry was involved in the attempted passage of stronger anti-obscenity legislation that would place further operational restrictions on strip clubs. In the course of that work, we heard numerous testimonies from former strippers of the physical and emotional degradation that they experienced. Our hearts broke for young girls who bought into the lie that selling themselves for the pleasure of men was “glamorous” only to have their lives destroyed. Anna Nicole Smith is not the only one to have had her life destroyed. MSNBC also reported: “The selection of Anna Nicole Smith as a Playboy Playmate in 1992 made her a member of an exclusive sorority. Her death at 39 put her in a more grisly club – Playmates who haven’t reached their 50th birthday. “Automobile accidents, drug overdoses, homicides, a plane crash – all have claimed the lives of Playmates. The cause of Smith’s death is still unclear.” A Playboy photographer claimed: “It’s a curse to be beautiful.” Beauty, of course, did not cause these deaths. However, there are repercussions for all of our choices. Scripture tells us: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Whether or not that death comes at age 39 instead of 89 is not the tragedy, but the tragedy is when one remains trapped in the lies and lures of Satan and never experiences that gift of eternal life. The tragedy of Anna Nicole Smith’s life culturally is that pornography is once again being legitimized to millions of vulnerable ones. And the tragedy of Anna Nicole personally is that she, herself a victim of pornography, seemingly lived a life of despair and reprobation instead of healing and redemption. For further reference: Hey men. When you are frequenting those porno outlets, do you realize the damage that you are causing to the “innocent victims”? Testimony of David Sherman Former Midwest Manager of Deja Vu Sexually oriented businesses: An Insider’s View ==================================== Let’s encourage one another and strengthen one another to be more like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 PH: 231-924-4050 www.americandecency.org

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