As Walter has invited me to comment myself, I comment thus:
Alicia Rhodes -------------- I've chosen Alicia not merely because she comes from the UK, as I do, nor because she's the self-proclaimed anal queen, ahem, of this sceptred isle. A few weeks of constant work in LA saw Alicia make numerous movies, gaining several box covers and plenty of admirers for her unihibited performances. In fact, I find myself admiring her against my better judgement. On one level, in performance with her endless stream of foul mouthed comments, she's reminsicent of an exceptionally dirty seaside postcard come to life. Her on-screen persona often feels like a caricature. Yet she seems to have an unsettling depth behind this, and as with Kelly Stafford I find myself wondering what's really going on with her. Does she really, truly like what she does? The clearest example of this is the final scene of Service Animals 14, sexy and disturbing in almost equal measure. Is her debauched conduct all an act? A manifestation of deep self-loathing? Or is she just a very, very naughty girl?
And on target with the Kelly S. reference, too: Alicia reminds me a lot of Kelly. She's excellent in "Back 2 Evil" and '7 the Hardway," I think. But "SR14," that's just unbelievably hot stuff. Drinking her own piss and making Joey lick the spillage off her tits, damn!!!!
I represent Alicia here in the U.S. and to answer your question - Alicia is MORE than just a very, very naughty girl. As I always say when people ask me about her: "ALICIA'S A DIRTY, FILTHY WHORE - IN ALL THE RIGHT WAYS"!
And she's an exceptionally bright girl as well. I had the privilege of shooting some behind the scenes footage with her and also did an in depth interview. She is breathtakingly beautiful inside and out.
Normally I switch those studio based audience participation shows them straight off. I made an exception when on one occasion the announcer informed the eager viewer that on the upcoming show the personality roped in to explain to us all why the hapless interviewee was entitled to earn her living from lap dancing was Alicia Rhodes.
Indeed, up (or almost out !) popped Alicia Rhodes ! I can report that she gave quite a good account of herself, although I would have no reason to have expected otherwise. (For UK members, more of a surprise was that the audience did not threaten to rip Terry Christian and his guests into pieces. My, how times have changed !).
After this I took myself off to look up some titles including Service Animals 14 which I am now looking forward to getting. I am pleased to learn that in this film she will swear like a trooper. I am a big fan of this ! Your link above shows her to be a bit top heavy for my usual tastes though but I am sure I will force myself to sit through it !!
Shylock, thanks for your comments but I hope you'll forgive me for saying that it's these kind of comments that I find something of a backhanded compliment.
Having said that, it's not as if Alicia doesn't refer to herself in such terms. For example, in that Service Animals scene Alicia invites Joey to come on her "whore face". Obviously this fits in rather well with the kind of things Mason does, so I wonder if, Mason, you could expatiate more on where Alicia's coming from with this sort of attitude. She seems to be positive about what she does, so I can't imagine she'd accept being referred to in such terms unless she was into it. Also, can you tell us which DVD the interview you did is/will be on?
I actually nearly saw the TV show ziniaraya mentions (It's My Life) but unfortunately I can't stand T. Christian Esq so I couldn't bring myself to sit through it. I'm not surprised to hear Alicia gave a good account of herself - it's her attitude in "behind the scenes" interviews that interests me as much as her performances.
On that subject, I liked her scene in Interracial Lust a lot, but the odd thing is that in the "behind the scenes" clip there, she says that she had to stop herself from saying "nasty shit", which suggests that it's actually abnormal for her to refrain from swearing like a trooper.
Oh, I forgot to mention that Mason is right about her beauty - which is often obscured by too much make-up. She has a real angel face, which makes her wicked attitude even more intriguing.
Thank you for bringing this up, G9. Having promoted the use of terms like "whore" and "slut" to celebrate a woman's sexuality, I do concur that this can in many instances be misconstrued. There are negative connotations which can have a profound impact on the way porn girls and women in general are perceived, and can constrain the appreciation of a beautiful human being like Alicia.
Speaking to Alicia, I was romanced by how much of myself I saw in her. She embraces her sex without any care or concern for the expectations and boundaries society prescribes for women. Just recently I saw a British talk show in which she was ritually bombarded with derision by every member of the audience for being a pornstar. With grace and dignity she defended her love and right to fuck on camera, respectfully listening to each of the criticisms that were aimed in her direction. I do not wish to speak on her behalf, but Alicia is a smart, sassy, strong woman, a beautiful whore, who I feel has an intimate relationship with her sexuality, and is personally empowered by seemingly degrading words.
In a nutshell, we don't think a whore is intriniscally something to look down upon. A whore is simply a woman who enjoys sex with complete abandon, letting no fear of reputation, or societal repercusions stand in her way. It's a battle cry for an individual's right to authentic sexual expression. Basically, my motto has always been, "I am whore, hear me roar."
The interview was from Back 2 Evil. I do not know the extent of the footage used in the behind the scenes, but I do know what I captured, and it was a very compelling interview.
Thanks a lot for your comments, Mason, I really appreciate it. The kind of women you describe are the kind of women I love to see the most in movies, who go beyond the call of duty and give the impression this is more than just "work", that they have a real passion for what they do, no matter what shape or form that may take. It really intrigues me how Alicia's performances kind of straddle this boundary between "normal" porn performance and showing something "real". I'm not sure I've expressed that terribly well, but I hope you know what I mean.
It really bothers me, however, that many porn companies who have the benefit of such beautiful human beings giving their all (and doing something that I feel no-one should be disparaged for) like this and then they turn around and find their movies are being marketed with the girls being described on box covers as "sluts" and "whores" - in these circumstances I find it hard to construe this as any kind of empowering description.
I don't feel that many, if any, companies are making the very valid distinction that you do. The girls are only doing what the producers want them to do and what the fans want to see, and yet they are frankly being insulted for it. Who are the viewers or producers to look down on these girls (or guys, for that matter)? We all want them and yet time after time the attitudes perpetuated in the industry and by fans seem to treat the performers with as much contempt as respect. If women like Alicia or you can reclaim these terms and make them positive, all power to you, and I really mean that.
I got out my copy of Back 2 Evil, but although there is material there clearly shot by you (Mason), unfortunately it seems as though the interview you shot with Alicia wasn't used. The only stuff is some fooling around with Nacho, which may give people unfamiliar with Alica some idea of what she's like (note, this is before the cameras roll for the scene proper):
Nacho:"What's your stage name?" Alicia: "Alicia." N: "What's your real name?" A: "Angela." N: "What do you want me to call you?" A: "Bitch."
Edit - oops, forgot to add that I would love to see Mason's interview with Alicia being released somehow, somewhere...sounds like a real missed opportunity.
