On Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 4:16:12 PM UTC-6, Bruce wrote:
> On Tue, 8 Dec 2020 14:14:45 -0800 (PST), Bryan Simmons
> > wrote:
>
> >On Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 3:59:28 PM UTC-6, Bruce wrote:
> >> On Tue, 8 Dec 2020 13:58:19 -0800 (PST), Bryan Simmons
> >> > wrote:
> >>
> >> >On Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 3:25:55 PM UTC-6, Bruce wrote:
> >> >> On Tue, 8 Dec 2020 12:31:24 -0800 (PST), Cindy Hamilton
> >> >> > wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> >On Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 1:52:55 PM UTC-5, wrote:
>
> >> >> >> I have zero interest in swordfighting. Shakespeare in Love would have been
> >> >> >> better with a prettier actress. Yes. I am that shallow.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> --Bryan
> >> >> >
> >> >> >Wasn't she the director's main squeeze or something like that?
> >> >> Are you saying he squeezed other women as well?
> >> >
> >> >Back then, squeezing was a perquisite enjoyed by many directors.
> >> >
> >> Well, as long as the squeezee consented.
> >> >
> >What constitutes *consent* has changed. The casting couch is no more.
> With a prostitute it's sex for money. In this case it's sex for a part
> in a movie. Isn't that the same?

No, it isn't, and for several reasons. With straightforward selling/buying
sexual services, one person is paying another, and it is clear what is being
transacted. There may be a power differential, but it really is merely fee
for service.
Then there's the dishonesty toward those who are funding the movie.
Sure, there were folks on the production side who might know that a
particular director is *like that*, and might turn a blind eye because they
feel that the value he adds is worth it, but there's no transparency. The
film director has a responsibility to cast the actress who will maximize
the profit for investors, not the one who allows him to do sexual things
with her.
Of course, the worst aspect is the fact that the director isn't just dangling
the prospect of a one time gig, but a break into higher levels of
employment--"I can make you a star," or even worse, "I could prevent you
from becoming a star."

I wrote a book where a young woman, about two weeks before her 20th
birthday, on a lark, decides to try dancing at a strip club. She meets a
rich widower, and agrees to become his "courtesan" for an extraordinary
salary. She's anything but naive, and insists on being paid weekly. You
should read it.
*********
"Like I'm any different than your maid, or the kid who mowed the yard
yesterday, or folks who give haircuts, or a surgeon. Yeah, surgeon. Look
at that whore. Shameless. She just took out that fellow's gall bladder."
Winter started laughing, "I am sure glad I don't have to take out your gall
bladder."
"Me too."
*********
Steve would indeed hate *Winter's Present*, but not because it is like a
Harlequin romance, because it isn't.

--Bryan