Nina Hartley hits the big 50 on March 11, 2009. This year also marks her 25th year as an porn actress. Her initial career was as a nurse, but in 1984, at age 25, she entered the world of porn. My friend Brian Alexander, Sex in America reporter for MSNBC, has interviewed Nina and served on a civic panel with her. He tells me that she is intelligent and articulate. (She earned her Bachelor’s in nursing Magna Cum Laude.)
Mrs. Hartley (yes, she’s married though Hartley is a stage name) is a complex individual. She states that she is atheist but also influenced by Zen Buddhism. (Her Lutheran father and Jewish mother both became Buddhist priests many years ago.) She lists herself as married (happily), but also an active “swinger.” Additionally, she says that she is bisexual.
From time to time, I will share a few of her comments from various interviews that will be of interest to those who work with people addicted to porn. The following are excerpts from an interview in January 2008.
“I didn’t find my way into porn until I was 25. Now, people know that at 18 years and one week old, they can go to Los Angeles and find their way into adult entertainment…The older adult in me says, ‘Wait, wait, but this is forever.’ When you are 18 years old, your concept of forever is barely 10 years…the camera thing, the permanent record of your involvement here, is forever—and they don’t understand how long life can be, and what ‘permanent’ really means…I tell them, ‘All it has to do is follow you home to your uncle, your dad, or your brother. It doesn’t matter if all those other people see you—your family will likely find out what you do, and how will that be? Don’t worry about the stranger down the street. What about your mom?’ It took my mom 20 years to begin to get over it, and she’s still not comfortable with it. But she no longer thinks it’s something I did to her, or no longer thinks it’s a phase that I’ll grow out of.”
Nina makes it clear that she believes these older teens have the right to make that decision for their lives and that she doesn’t believe they should be barred from that right. However, as you read, she tries to dissuade them from making that decision by warning them of consequences. Mrs. Hartley says that most of them won’t last five years in the porn business, but that “permanent record” called video will exist from now on.
If Jerry Falwell had said that, comedians would have had a blast ridiculing his “permanent record” remark. However, coming from the queen of porn it carries different weight. That’s not to say that Nina and Jerry would have agreed on many matters, but it does indicate that everyone, regardless of religious beliefs, should understand that every decision — every act — has both short-term and long-term consequences. In essence, Nina warns the eager 18 year-olds that concentrating on the short-term is shortsighted; it’s the long-term that we must live with.
I well remember speaking to a huge audience (maybe 20,000 people) a few years ago. Amy Dupree spoke just before me. Amy had spent years in the “adult entertainment” business before becoming a Christian and developing a ministry to women in that world. During my speech I referenced Amy and asked anyone in the audience to stand if they owed women such as Amy an apology for making them sex objects instead of human beings. Thousands stood, both men and women. Amy cried. After the event, I asked if I had offended her. She replied that those people standing had been a healing event for her because of all the terrible emotions she carried against those who had treatedher just that way during her years in the adult business. Her “permanent record” wasn’t just documented by media or employment records, but also by the inner anger and resentment she held toward so many because of it. Everything we do has a consequence, short-term and long-term. Not just with others, but within ourselves, and forever.
The Bible says that in Galatians 6:7. For those who choose not to believe that book, Nina Hartley said it, too. She’s been there and seen it all. Twenty-five year’s worth.
Let’s pass that truth on to not only the participants in porn, but the buyers and viewers as well.