What was that about ‘porn movie producers’?

October 30, 2006

The RNC’s “bimbo” ad in Tennessee last week obviously captured so much attention for its racist elements, but in its litany of criticisms against Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.), the RNC also accused the Democratic hopeful as having taken political contributions from “porn movie producers.”

As it turns out, it’s funny the RNC would highlight this as a problem.

It turns out that the Republican National Committee is a regular recipient of political contributions from Nicholas T. Boyias, the owner and CEO of Marina Pacific Distributors, one of the largest producers and distributors of gay porn in the United States. This recent article on Marina Pacific’s new marketing campaign form XBiz, a porn industry trade sheet, notes that, in addition to producing its own material, the “company acts as a distribution house to hundreds of lines, mostly gay, 40 of which can be purchased only through MPD.”

The company actually seems to be a trendsetter in the industry. As Boyias recently noted, “We have always modeled ourselves after a Fortune-style company. They are the models of exceptional customer service. We have formed strategic alliances with our vendors and customers alike, offering them tools and marketing to assist them in succeeding with their business models. Our one-on-one interpersonal relationships have never been duplicated in the distribution industry.”

Some recent releases include “Fire in the Hole”, “Flesh and Boners”, even a “Velvet Mafia” series.

Boyias, apparently, has been quite generous to the Republican establishment, contributing to both the RNC and the NRCC.

The RNC’s obvious response, of course, is that Republican officials had no idea who Boyias is or what he does professionally. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a fairly compelling defense — parties and candidates get a lot of contributions from a lot of people. Had the RNC known about Boyias’ work a gay porn pioneer, the party probably wouldn’t have taken the money.

But here’s the rub: Harold Ford’s response to having accepted a contribution from “porn movie producers” is the same response from the RNC. Based on last week’s ad in Tennessee, the RNC didn’t find Ford’s explanation particularly persuasive. How about holding the RNC to the RNC’s standard?

For that matter, Aravosis reminds us that Republicans’ porn movie is not limited to Boyias.

[Mary Carey, one of the top female porn stars in America] and her boss donated $5000 last year to the National Republican Congress Committee (NRCC) – the organization that helps elect Republicans to the US House, and which is ironically headed by embattled Congressman Tom Reynolds (R-NY), who is now embroiled in the Mark Foley child sex predator scandal. Their $5k donation got them dinner with the president and a slew of top Republican congressional leaders, and even lunch with Karl Rove.

And before you say the Republicans had no idea they were taking a porn superstar’s money, think again:

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Carl Forti admitted as much to the AP and said, “Their money was donated to the NRCC. The NRCC’s job is to elect Republicans. We’ll take that money and use it to elect more Republicans.”

Yes, Mr. Reynold’s top staffer on the NRCC knowingly, openly, and gladly, took money from one of the top porn stars in America. And he had no qualms doing it.

Just to be clear, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people involved with the porn industry contributing to political causes. They are part of a legitimate (and apparently lucrative) business; if they want to get involved in the political process, they should be applauded, not spurned.

But as Josh Marshall put it, “[H]ypocrisy blows. And on this issue, as on others, Ken Mehlman’s a hypocrite.” Quite right. The contributions, in and of themselves, are not only morally unobjectionable, they’re also little more than political trivia. But the RNC is running commercials blasting Dems for doing the exact same thing that the RNC is doing.

People who live in glass houses should not throw pornography.

Not to hammer at the adult entertainment industry, but if someone were to put up a national commercial on this, with the final words being:

REPUBLICANS—BOUGHT, PAID FOR, AND BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE AMERICAN PORNOGRAPHY INDUSTRY

…I’m pretty sure that a respectable portion of the GOP “base” would stay at home on election day—and another portion would vote Democratic…..

  • My last reading on the subject of the lucrativeness of the porn world is that it is a multi-Billion (yes, with a B) dollar industry. It’s not surprising that some people in the business would contribute to either party. It is disappointing, though, for them to give to the Repugnants, since they are the party that constitently has tried to limit and/or eliminate the business.

    These contributors are not acting in their own best interest.

  • It is the context in which the information is released which makes it potentially powerful. The Republicans have invested significant effort into portraying Ford as a Playboy party animal. The money from porn producers then becomes part of this narative and the ignorance defense, while likely true, rings less true. This is how two bad pieces of information prop each other up.

    The Republican rely on the fact that no one thinks of them as libertine so that the ignorance defense will work for them and the hypocrisy charge will not stick.

    I think the key to using their own porn money against them is to play up the already existing, but too little used narrative, of the Republicans as amoral anything for a buck fat cats who don’t give a damn about family values.

  • The Republican’ts are a funny bunch of people. According to them, the stain on the money they receive from the sleezist people doesn’t effect them, but damn, let the same type of money go to a Democrat, and the world will end.

    Basically, they lie. To themselves, to THE BASE, to the American People.

    And this is a surprise because?

  • Mary Carey is also a high-priced prostitute, who probably rakes in big money when she goes to these GOP meetings — the whores’ whore, as it were. Her donation is an investment to generate clients, as with so many others. Yet that angle of the story is never mentioned.

    If Dems were taking cash from Heidi Fleiss and inviting her to meet with top party officials, you ‘spose that would get any press?

  • “These [porn producer] contributors are not acting in their own best interest.” – Michael W.

    There I have to disagree with you. Pornographers know that the ‘naughtier’ their product is preceived by the public, the better their profits and the worse they can treat their actors.

    Works the same with prostitution.

    Once pornography is accepted as a legitimate way for young women and men to make money to fund their education (or just retire at 27), the stronger the focus will be on actors’ rights and treatment. Not to mention how much money they get out of a very lucrative business (Billions, as you note).

    Republican’ts will play holier-than-thou and attempt (and fail) to surpress the industry, allowing the industry to oppress their workers because, after all, how can you regulate labor conditions in an industry you want to outlaw?

    Democrats would look at the pornography industry and say, how can we make this better for the workers?

    So it surprises me not at all that pornographers contribute to Republican’ts.

  • to add to Lance’s analysis, the key is the comment about the industry making billions. as in, they are among the few who benefit from BushCo’s economic policies. “But only until the moralists close their shops,” you say? Well, the porn industry can take the short-run benefits of pro-millionaire policies and when it comes to worrying about the long term fight with the Christian Right they can look around and see gays haven’t been shipped off to a deserted island yet, most schools still don’t have Ten Commandments monuments in the entry way, abortion is still mostly legal, and women still work outside the home and usually can get birth control. Oh yeah – and Marilyn Manson hasn’t been arrested on charges of corrupting the youth. My guess is the porn industry likes its odds.

  • …”Flesh and Boners”…

    Damn. Now I gotta retitle my screenplay.

    Sometimes I wonder if shady characters donate money to parties & candidates they don’t like, just so they can set themselves up as albatrosses. Y’know, like how oil companies donate to Democrats.

  • Lance (Post #6), not being gay (as I assume from your posts), you obviously don’t read many of the same magazines I do. You seem to have an incorrect notion of what porn “models” get paid. Top paid porn performers usually get no more than a couple thousand for a movie–no royalties or residuals–and these are the “superstars” of porn. The companies rake in the money, the performers get almost nothing, in comparison, except for their fan base and the occassional perks of the business.

    One periodical I occasionally read even does interviews with the performers, asking questions about why they decided to get into the business. Some say it’s for the thrill of it, some because of their interest and the flattery felt for being asked or recommended, most for the additional income.

    In some of the shadier levels of American society (and many of the not so shady ones), it’s already accepted as a legitimate career (though also usually a temporary one).

  • Michael,

    It depends on the sex of the performer. Porn is one of the few industries where females (top end or not) make much much more than their male counterparts (straight or gay.)

    The problem for women is longetvity as their careers are shorter than the male careers (some have been around for as long as three decades), but not as lucrative.

    Not that I’m a porno expert or anything, but I have watched a couple of documentaries on the subject (strictly for academic purposes…I swear!)

    Any puns are not intended…

  • But as Josh Marshall put it, “[H]ypocrisy blows…

    I think Josh just named Marina Pacific Distributors’ next movie.

  • … As Boyias recently noted, “We have always modeled ourselves after a Fortune-style company. They are the models of exceptional customer service. We have formed strategic alliances with our vendors and customers alike, offering them tools and marketing to assist them in succeeding with their business models. Our one-on-one interpersonal relationships have never been duplicated in the distribution industry.”

    Too … many … jokes … to … process … 😉

    On a more serious note, as long as a business is legitimate, I don’t see what the problem is in a general sense.

    The problem arises, of course, when one considers that the right has gone out of its way to paint itself as the moral superiors of … well, pretty much everyone.

    I agree with Steve — I’d love to see an ad that points out that the Republicans care little about the “family values” and “good Christian folks” crap they always push, and just care about power for power’s sake.

    Probably won’t happen, but it’d be nice to see.

  • I, for one, am tired of the media attacking the porno industry by associating them with the GOP. Isn’t porno questionable enough without being linked to the poster child for hypocracy and corruption?

    Seriously, there have been several comments about cognitive dissonance and the Dems but the GOP is a coalition of the willing including Evangelicals and Libratarians whom should be at opposite ends of the porno arguments. Throw in free market business people and an issue like this really pulls a tthe fabric of the GOP.

    Seems like the best “out” for Repbulicans would be campaign finance reform, particularly public financing but we all know they won’t go there.

  • There I have to disagree with you. Pornographers know that the ‘naughtier’ their product is preceived by the public…

    I think Lance nailed this (Like UM I too am having trouble with all of the puns). If we lived on a planet where sex was seen as normal and it was ok to admit people had bodies beneath their clothing, activities involving the flaunting and use of our “naughty bits” would not be as profitable. Imagine opening a topless bar in a society where no one wears a shirt. Unless the drinks were damn good and cheap it wouldn’t do too well. It is all a game where porn and the GOP are concerned (like the GOP and religion). The GOP pretends to hate porn (and provides a little free advertising by making such a fuss about it). It creates the spectre of the Democratic “If it Feels Good Do It Machine” to rile The Base. The porn industry charges high prices, which people (many of whom make up The Base) are willing to pay because the market (driven into a frenzy by all of the ranting about nudie flicks) will bear high prices for this form of entertainment. The Porn Industry sends the GOP its cut. The GOP winks and continues to shriek about how Democrats will have us engaging in three-ways on the highway if they aren’t in power…etc, etc.
    S.O.P.

  • The porn industry charges high prices, which people (many of whom make up The Base) are willing to pay because the market (driven into a frenzy by all of the ranting about nudie flicks) will bear high prices for this form of entertainment.

    People still pay for pron? I thought the Internet made that unncessary?

    Or … um … that’s what I’ve heard.

  • “Lance (Post #6), not being gay (as I assume from your posts), you obviously don’t read many of the same magazines I do. You seem to have an incorrect notion of what porn “models” get paid. Top paid porn performers usually get no more than a couple thousand for a movie–no royalties or residuals–and these are the “superstars” of porn. The companies rake in the money, the performers get almost nothing, in comparison, except for their fan base and the occassional perks of the business.” – Michael W.

    I think you got my comment backward. The Porn industry exists now on the exploitation of its sex workers. There are a few, like Asia Carrera, who are smart enough to become producers themselves, and get all the profit. But most of the kids are getting a fraction of the take. And the Porn Producers want to have that continue, so they contribute to the Republican’ts, who after all are all for worker exploitation. As proven by the fact that Boy George II has allowed 4,000,000 new illegals enter this country to be exploited by his business budies.

    And yes, I claim hetrosexual status, though I can’t see how that came through my comments.

  • Remember:

    It’s OK If You Are A Republican.

    Morality? That’s for the little people.

    It’s enough to make you puke.

    I’m really looking forward to November 8 and we can really investigate all these Republicans.

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