no matter how mainstream porn watching, porn making, and porn culture have become (I remember “porn star” being a popular clothing label at least 20 years ago), actual porn performers are still effectively pariahs. They can be denied even the lowliest jobs, be summarily fired from others they’ve worked for years, be denied bank accounts, etc. Even working at Taco Bell has been deemed too good for someone who has dabbled in porn. It’s both shocking puritanical hypocrisy and also sort of emblematic of how we treat all “necessary workers.” We want to benefit from their labor (or maybe just jack off to it) without the pain of having to acknowledge their humanity.
Again, there’s an easy sob story there, but Red Rocket refuses to turn Mikey into an object of pity. He’s far too proud for that, for one thing, but also too squirrelly. Almost as soon as you acknowledge society’s cruel treatment of him you’re forced to reckon with your own feeling, that you probably wouldn’t want to live with this flakey motormouthed himbo either. Simon Rex rides that line perfectly, of being both lovable and insufferable, charming even as you know he’s trying to pick your pocket.
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