"Baby, Give Me A Kiss"

The LA Times on "Girls Gone Wild" CEO Joe Francis.

If nothing else, the article is interesting, as an insight into exactly how big GGW (still) is. In my naivete, i'd been under the assumption that GGW had come and gone, and wasn't still a major part of the American cultural landscape anymore. Color me surprised.

Yeah, like young college titties are going out of style anytime soon. RIGHT.

Its a really interesting (and lengthy) article. I'm not one bit surprised about how Francis acts/lives/does business, hes like a drug kingpin of the softcore porn world.

I absolutely love this article. When I first read it a couple days ago, I was utterly blown away by the writing, and I think this piece is an example of some of the best journalism out there today. Hoffman's so even-handed when it comes to discussing Francis; she doesn't editorialize about him, which would have been very easy in this case. For the most part, she lets his actions speak for themselves.

As for the young women she talks to, Hoffman finds the perfect quotes to sum up the whole GGW movement. The quote from the young woman about becoming famous, something like "Everybody wants to be famous. Being famous will get you whatever you want. I can walk into someone's house and take whatever I want if I'm famous," that speaks volumes. And it's so haunting that it gives me shivers every time I think about it.

I'm amazed that he's still around when there's plenty of better porn out there that's just as easy to get.

I don't believe Jannel Szyszka's story. It just sounds too much like the typical story of a girl changing her mind the next day and crying rape because of it.

eww.. i feel sick after reading that.

Ganguro wrote:

eww.. i feel sick after reading that.

Man. I only got 2 pairs of panties.

SwampYankee wrote:

Man. I only got 2 pairs of panties. :(

Disenchanted movie watcher:
"What the hell? Who was shouting 'Show me your moobies!'?"

CannibalCrowley wrote:

I'm amazed that he's still around when there's plenty of better porn out there that's just as easy to get.

But does all that "better" stuff run television commercials every five seconds? I think GGW has become ubiquitous, in a way that only saturation-marketing could have made it. This guy's genius was simply the audacity to advertise porn on TV. Also, I guess the "reality" side of it might have been novel, when it first started coming out.

[edit] - Just actually read it - great article.

Interesting little read.

CannibalCrowley wrote:

I don't believe Jannel Szyszka's story. It just sounds too much like the typical story of a girl changing her mind the next day and crying rape because of it.

Jesus, man. And people wonder why so many rapes go unreported.

Added: Great, great piece though. Excellent writing and a shining example of journalism.

What a tease.. she didn't even tell us his "qwerty keyboard" story.

Prederick wrote:

If nothing else, the article is interesting, as an insight into exactly how big GGW (still) is. In my naivete, i'd been under the assumption that GGW had come and gone, and wasn't still a major part of the American cultural landscape anymore. Color me surprised.

I thought it went the way of the dodo too. I used to see those commercials every commercial break, and now I can't remember the last time I saw one.

Ish. I feel sick.

What a tease.. she didn't even tell us his "qwerty keyboard" story.

Keyboards are set out in the qwerty pattern in order to slow down typists. The original mechanical typewriters couldn't handle high speed input, so the idea was that a qwerty pattern was sufficiently nonsensical that no one would be able to type fast.

There are, or at least used to be, keyboards in a Dvorak layout that are supposedly much more efficient.

Alien13z wrote:

Keyboards are set out in the qwerty pattern in order to slow down typists. The original mechanical typewriters couldn't handle high speed input, so the idea was that a qwerty pattern was sufficiently nonsensical that no one would be able to type fast.

There are, or at least used to be, keyboards in a Dvorak layout that are supposedly much more efficient.

Not to get all know-it-all-y, but that's often regarded as a myth. It has to do with improving the innards of the typewriter to allow faster typing. Not that that matters anymore, though. /nerd

Not to get all know-it-all-y, but that's often regarded as a myth. It has to do with improving the innards of the typewriter to allow faster typing. Not that that matters anymore, though. /nerd

Well I still feel sick.

baggachipz wrote:
Alien13z wrote:

Keyboards are set out in the qwerty pattern in order to slow down typists. The original mechanical typewriters couldn't handle high speed input, so the idea was that a qwerty pattern was sufficiently nonsensical that no one would be able to type fast.

There are, or at least used to be, keyboards in a Dvorak layout that are supposedly much more efficient.

Not to get all know-it-all-y, but that's often regarded as a myth. It has to do with improving the innards of the typewriter to allow faster typing. Not that that matters anymore, though. /nerd

Oh, I know the real/rumored stories behind it.. I was interested in what this asshats story was going to be that he took such glee is making women feel stupid for it. I mean, it was like he took one obscure fact that most people probably don't know, much less care, and used it as a "line" to appear smart to 18 year old girls. I was kinda hoping at the end she'd mention that her punch to his face broke his nose.

What's a girl like you doin' in a place like this,
no forget that I asked and baby gimme a kiss,
and stop biting my fingernails, they're startin to bleed, well,
why don't we just skip the formalities and get down to what we're here for...

Duffman wrote:
CannibalCrowley wrote:

I don't believe Jannel Szyszka's story. It just sounds too much like the typical story of a girl changing her mind the next day and crying rape because of it.

Jesus, man. And people wonder why so many rapes go unreported.

Point: This DOES happen.
Counter-Point: It's much much more rare than some people would have you believe.

Alien13z wrote:

QWERTY stuff.

Close, but not quite.

Frequently used pairs of letters were separated in an attempt to stop the typebars from intertwining and becoming stuck, thus forcing the typist to manually unstick the typebars and also frequently blotting the document[1]. The home row (ASDFGHJKL) of the QWERTY layout is thought to be a remnant of the old alphabetical layout that QWERTY replaced. QWERTY also attempted to alternate keys between hands, allowing one hand to move into position while the other hand strikes home a key. This sped up both the original double-handed hunt-and-peck technique and the later touch typing technique; however, single-handed words such as stewardesses and monopoly show flaws in the alternation.

Edit: Stupid work making me stop mid-post. Sorry for being redundant.

LobsterMobster wrote:

What's a girl like you doin' in a place like this,
no forget that I asked and baby gimme a kiss,
and stop biting my fingernails, they're startin to bleed, well,
why don't we just skip the formalities and get down to what we're here for...

I friggin' love that song. The Refreshments!!!!

Edit: Also, the article was a very good read. I'm not sure I understand exactly how these girls come to the idea that taking their shirt (or more) off in front of a camera is in any way going to be a good move. If it's just about the freedom or rebellion, then why do it in such a context that it's a profit-making affair for somebody else?

At any rate, I think it's pretty clear that the girl in this story and many like her have been taken advantage of. It's a difficult case to make because she had been (presumably willingly) drinking and thus is an excellent target for the "she's changed her mind now that she's sober" argument, but the girl was 18 years old and this scumbag knew exactly what he was doing. Getting young females to betray their instincts is how he makes his living.

Dayam. If any daughter of mine ended up on one of those, I'd have to seriously consider the Muslim tradition of honor killing (followed by truck bombing their headquarters).

That was a brilliantly written article. I'd love to know what made her decline to press charges for the assault though. Not that I'm faulting the decision, I'm just nosy about what the logic path was that led to it.

As to the GGW thing, I didn't realize it was as big as it is. But every time I see one of those ads, I'm grateful I had a boy.

The bit about violent and abusive behavior toward the neighbor that complained about the noise pretty much reaffirmed my long-standing policy of keeping a loaded Mossburg 590 in the hall closet. The moment he started banging on my window, he'd be chewing on a deer slug.

PsychoKillerZ wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

What's a girl like you doin' in a place like this,
no forget that I asked and baby gimme a kiss,
and stop biting my fingernails, they're startin to bleed, well,
why don't we just skip the formalities and get down to what we're here for...

I friggin' love that song. The Refreshments!!!!

You get a gold star. But only if you give me one too (and that way we'd be even).

Mr E.B. Slugworth wrote:

I thought it went the way of the dodo too. I used to see those commercials every commercial break, and now I can't remember the last time I saw one.

You must not stay up late enough. You can usually catch them on just about any cable channel after midnight. They are so frequent at this time one is in just about every commerical break.

Dream wrote:
Mr E.B. Slugworth wrote:

I thought it went the way of the dodo too. I used to see those commercials every commercial break, and now I can't remember the last time I saw one.

You must not stay up late enough. You can usually catch them on just about any cable channel after midnight. They are so frequent at this time one is in just about every commerical break.

Along with erotic chat lines.

PsychoKillerZ wrote:

The Refreshments!!!!

Best intro music to a TV show evar.

EDIT: I have seen the omnipresent ads (usually after 1 AM on Comedy Central and Spike TV) but, honestly, I thought that it had reached the same level as Ron Popeil. Which is to say, someone is obviously ordering it, but the vast majority of people don't care. I was wrong.

To Ducki: Why'd she not press charges? I'll put $20 on it being because she thinks she's going to be a star because of this, and suing would keep her from becoming a big Celebutante.

It was an excellently written article, I just can't help feeling a bit sad after reading it. The general disregard for people just leaves me feeling slightly ill.

Rybowl wrote:

It was an excellently written article, I just can't help feeling a bit sad after reading it. The general disregard for people just leaves me feeling slightly ill.

Ditto. I wish I hadn't read that article.

Really, I'd save my sympathy for real victims - ones that didn't decide that it was a good idea to go out and get hammered and then let someone film them naked.