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Adult industry veterans Vanessa Blue and
Marie Luv have first hand knowledge of the unique ups and downs in the
adult industry. Blue has moved away from films and more to site work,
and tries to warn young women about the kind of issues they can expect
to face as a starlet. Luv is still a high-profile actress, but has to
face the harsh realities of being an ambitious black woman in an
industry mostly controlled by white males. Here are some truisms
they’ve discovered.
Controlling Your Image and Your Budget Is A Must
“A lot of girls try to live off of this industry. That’s the first
mistake. Girls come in and see an opportunity to make [10,000] or
20,000 dollars a month. That’s huge to a girl that was working at Taco
Bell yesterday.” Blue experienced everything from stereotyping to
payless paydays before taking matters into her own hands. Vanessa made
control over her name the No.1 priority, even assuming the director’s
chair, which is a rarity for African American females. She won the AVN
Award for “Best Ethnic Series” in 2005, and her website gives her total
control over the product and her image without paying anything to
outside production companies.
Despite More High Profile Adult Stars, Black Actresses Still Don’t ‘Cross Over’
Marie Luv is one of the more popular African American starlets in the
business. She’s received modeling offers outside of the porn industry,
but she still has to lead a ‘double-life’ professionally — something
the more popular white actresses don’t seem to have to endure.
“[Mainstream modeling agencies] don’t know that I’m Marie Luv,” she
says, with more than a little frustration, “I want to [model] as Marie
Luv — and it’s difficult for me to understand how Jenna Jameson and
Tera Patrick can cross over and get mainstream work under their porn
name[s], but I have to hide my career.”
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Being In “The Business” Hasn’t Affected Their Personal Lives Like One Might Think
Blue, a self-described ‘homebody,’ didn’t have trouble dating as long
as she was honest-and selective. “Most of the guys I dated knew what I
did,” she says matter-of-factly, “As long as you’re honest with your
partner, and your partner is a confident person, you won’t have
issues.” Luv’s mother soon discovered her career. “[She and I] talked
about it, and mainstream modeling wasn’t going too well.” Her mother
was surprisingly supportive, and Marie re-entered the industry with
renewed zeal. “Sometimes if I’m super busy, [my Mom] will go buy me an
outfit!” she says with a laugh. –todd williams
