LOS ANGELES — Vivid Entertainment co-chairman Steven Hirsch asks and answers the question whether porn is an acceptable career option in a new column on the Huffington Post's blog.
Hirsch primarily cites the case of Nadya "Octomom" Suleman as a nationally known figure who recently decided to try adult entertainment, performing in a solo masturbation video that has yet to be released.
The Vivid boss notes that in 2009 Suleman rejected his company's $1 million offer to star in an X-rated film and even told Oprah Winfrey that she would never do an adult movie no matter how dire her financial situation.
"Today no one is surprised that she seems to be embracing porn, and there is little public backlash about her decision," Hirsch writes. "The only controversy seems to be over her poor financial planning, not the method by which she's solving her money problems."
Hirsch wonders if Octomom's decision and the general public's reaction is "the new norm."
"Love it or leave it, porn seems now to be a part of mainstream pop culture," he continues. "Today, just about everything in the media has sexual overtones, and porn fits right in."
He goes on to discuss how his company more than two decades ago decided on a more mainstream friendly marketing approach, and how that decision ultimately led to his brand achieving sustained crossover appeal. And nowadays he says so-called celebrity sex tapes and mainstream parodies seem to not only generate steady consumer interest, these titles are also often celebrated.
"Perhaps we are growing as a society, on some levels at least," he writes.
To read the full column, click here.
