I listened to the podcast episodes that this article discusses. So far there's 4 out. I'm interested in Hollywood history and scandals so I checked them out.

It's a real mindfuck. They claim to want to present a balanced account of Traci Lords's short career in the industry, from the age of 15-18. Some people say she was complicit and knew what she was getting into, which disagrees with her account that she was exploited.

They talk to the popular actresses of that time who worked with her and were close in age (18/19 so legally adults), and two of the ladies talk about how they were kind of tricked into getting into films, how they cried, and how disgusting some of the men were. One of the ladies was a "throw away" kid whose parents kicked her out and she was rebelling and desperate.

In the next breath the host tells us how empowering and feminist the porn industry was at that time, and how the ladies had all the power, etc. After hearing stories about how the girls cried when they were new, and sounded vulnerable.

So far no one really looks head on at the idea that Traci Lords was a child, and it doesn't really matter if she had a fake ID. Also the idea that victims of sexual abuse (Lords was abused by a stepfather and it sounds like other boys) are groomed to perform. The people who worked with her don't consider it was a persona or reaction to trauma, they just call her a beast basically.

It's pretty messed up. Very much the liberal feminist view of porn.