What was depicted in the video that the Frontline reporters watched being made was all done by actors and actresses (if I may be permitted a bit of sexist terminology in this context). The abduction was acted, the slapping around was real (the actress involved said she got "turned on" by this sort of thing), the sex with multiple partners was real (with lots of struggling and screaming on her part to make it appear as rape), and the throat-cutting at the end was simulated. So it was a simulated "snuff" film. When it was all over, the actress got dressed and picked up her check.

The question I have is:    what kind of person likes to watch something like this?

Now, I make no brief for censorship. I have nothing against a bit of tasteful erotica, provided it's consensual, and it depicts consensual sex. But apparently the main-stream of the porn industry is currently turning out some pretty gamey stuff. Trying to censor anything is like tap-dancing on the proverbial slippery slope, but some of this stuff strikes me as beyond the pale.

Although these things exploit women in the broadest sense, it's pretty hard to make a case that the women directly involved are exploited. The producers of this stuff say there is no shortage of attractive young women who are more than willing to perform. They generally get paid from $1,000 on up per "act," depending on what they are willing to do, and taping one of these videos rarely takes more than one day or two and often involve several "acts." One of the actresses said "where else can I make $48,000 in one month?"

Well . . . whatcha gonna do?

Don Firth