Daniel Nardicio, I have some questions.
The legendary New York event producer, go-go boy connoisseur, and former Playgirl impresario talks about the neo-burlesque movement in a new interview, but sees a stark difference between what he does and what porn stars do.
I am not anti-porn. I am not sex negative. I had sex an hour and a half ago. My whole life is a celebration of sex. But when you do porn, you are a whore. You are paid to have sex. People will always look at you as a whore.
The interview in Hook Online, a site focused on and providing resources for male sex workers, but the interview seems focused on drawing arbitrary distinctions.
I have had a lot of opportunities to work with porn companies over the years. It doesn’t interest me. I don’t like the industry. I am not against it, and I don’t think it should be legislated more than it is. I think you can become a low-level celebrity in the gay community for doing something like porn, but I don’t think you are respected.
It’s like when you are good looking: people want to be around you, but you didn’t do anything. There isn’t talent there. It isn’t like you learned to play the flute, and you practiced for hours. Being in porn, you are just fucking or getting fucked. I think that when people see you having sex, they feel they own a part of you. The difference in burlesque is that performers remain objects of desire versus a sex object.
Colton Ford who wants to be singer is always going to be ‘Porn Star Colton Ford’. He says, “I am proud I did porn.” What else is he going to do? Kill himself?
I’d be interested in hearing what Colton Ford thinks.
Why do you think all these porn stars are committing suicide? It’s no surprise. There are a million reasons, of course. But they are in their 30′s and 40′s and killing themselves. It’s no surprise to me. You build a life on how you look, and it inevitably starts to ebb. Jeff Stryker reached out and wrote me a long email explaining how he wanted to be in Playgirl. Don’t get me wrong. I would want to suck Jeff Stryker’s dick today, and he is in his 50′s. But it made me sad. Eventually, all that attention, all that fame, all that desire: it will ebb.
The problem with this is not Nardicio — he’s a great guy, and someone who’s tremendously talented. Unfortunately, we all get used to having those outside the sex industry treat us like dirt. Which in turn trains you to attempt to make some sex work (like burlesque) respectable by demeaning other sex work. I’ve heard porn stars trash escorting, strippers trash porn, and burlesque performers trash strippers. And I’m sure there are some ballerinas who trash burlesque.
But it’s not limited to sex work. Fashion models trash Playgirl models. Hollywood actors trash fashion models. And it’s always the same: “You’re just using your looks. That’s not talent.” It’s the sex corollary of internalized homophobia. “I may be this — but at least I’m not THAT.”
It’s not having done porn that haunts porn stars (or former porn stars). It’s that people shame you for having done porn. Or is that me now making an arbitrary distinction? And what’s so wrong with being a whore?
Related:
Gay Porn Tube: Go Go Harder
My First Porn Crush: Daniel Nardicio on Brian Buzzini
