minorthreat78's Full Review: Traci Lords - Traci Lords: Underneath It All
In the late 1980's, a young, coke-addled porn starlet was picked up by the police. While the notion of a cocaine addict porn starlet being picked up by the police may seem to be redundant, this particular case was of particular note, being covered heavily by both the mainstream and adult film industry press for several years following. The reason? The particular porn actress was a young woman named Traci Lords.
Now a borderline pop-culture icon, Traci Lords first gained notoriety not as a porn star, but as a minor starring in porn. The police investigation had less to do with her drug abuse than her being 16 when engaging in sex acts on camera for money. Part of the notorious Meese pornography commission investigation, she became an example of the exploitation of the then-burgeoning porn industry.
Since then, Traci has gone on to have moderate success in mainstream film, and even had some success in dance music. Still, the many strange features of her life are certainly enough to merit a biography. To have Ms. Lords on board as the author...so much the better. One would certainly expect quite an experience learning about the life of somebody going through the crazy ups and downs Traci Lords went through.
I would hope it would go without saying that somebody who would turn to nude photography as a money-making proposition at age 15, and hardcore porn at 16, probably had a bad childhood. Indeed, Traci hits the porn-star trifecta, experiencing physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect by her mother. Raped at 10, sexually abused by her semi-stepfather, runaway at age 13...most of us would probably be hard-pressed to come to a reason not to accept money for sex after all the trials she had to overcome. Strangely enough, she seems somewhat less concerned with this than being upset about being named Nora (her birth name).
Sometimes, when you read an "autobiography" of a celebrity's life, the belief that their story is being "streamlined" by a ghost-writer is present throughout. If anything, I believe I can safely say the vast majority of the writings in this book are the words of Traci Lords herself. I say this because no professional writer could possibly be this self-involved or pedantic.
Many of the chapters in this book feel like diary entries, more or less along the lines of:
"Dear Diary,
This guy did something nasty to me today. He is so MEAN!!!"
Very little is done in terms of exposition. Many times, I felt as though Ms. Lords couldn't remember enough of her own life to write a book; most of her teenage years are presented as a blur. While I'm sure there are dozens of people looking forward to her discussion about entering into the acting world, my bet is that a lot of the readers of this book are more intrigued by the prospect of hearing about the dark side of the early video porn days, when people did coke on set and age verification was somewhat limited, and nobody knew what the word "condom" meant. Sick, maybe, but as the old adage goes, "sex sells".
Those looking for exciting and/or shocking revelations in this book will be hard pressed to find any in this book. While some details of her tumultuous childhood are interesting, and the tale of her naive introduction to the sex industry is an intriguing cautionary tale to young runaways, most of the book is bland retellings of experiences on the sets of various movies and TV shows, with little substance above that of the average Hollywood Reporter. Quite honestly, I finished this book wondering if Traci had the capacity to understand her own life.
I leave this book wondering if having a ghost-writer, at least in this case, might not be a good idea. Ms. Lords seems far out of her comfort zone, recounting her own life. Obviously, much of what she went through was quite traumatic; I don't think many people would want to trade places with her. On the other hand, as a book, this is really too bland and uninteresting to merit reading.
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