----------------------------------------------- */ ----------------------------------------------- */ ----------------------------------------------- */ ----------------------------------------------- */ ----------------------------------------------- */ ----------------------------------------------- */ The Fabulous Adventures of Astera: Writer/Actress for Hire: Indecent Proposal

The Fabulous Adventures of Astera: Writer/Actress for Hire

Meet Astera (aka: me), a star in her own mind. Our plucky little heroine has embarked on not one but two difficult, low-paying career paths: writing and acting. Witness the menial jobs! The unreasonable demands! The quirky friends and family! And the glimmer of success just ahead! Through it all, Astera maintains her core beliefs: 1) She is destined to be fabulous 2) Everything is more fun with a cocktail.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Indecent Proposal

I know there is a lot of crazy stuff posted on Craigslist, but this is the most sickening thing I've seen. (Granted, I never look at the "adult" section, so who knows what depravity lurks there.) Maybe this is all just a big hoax. I certainly hope so. But it is chilling nonetheless. I just can't believe that anyone would actually take such a job. Read it for yourself:

Young Actress Needed for Edgy Film
I am a young filmmaker who has worked on several public television documentaries as a writer/producer, and am now working on an independent project. I am seeking a bold and creative actress with a true love for the craft for my latest project focusing on the challenges facing young, pregnant women in today's society.

I am a member of the "new realist" school of filmmaking. This format is not to be confused with documentary filmmaking. All scenes will be outlined, if not scripted.

This film will focus on the horrors of the 21st Century (specifically the warlike, capitalist system that George Bush has imposed on the world). It will be political, and it will be provocative. It will begin with you playing a hopeful, young, religious woman seeking happiness and fulfillment. It will conclude with you shaving your head and having an abortion.

Please note that all actresses must be willing to become pregnant, have an actual abortion, and be willing to have the procedure filmed. All associated medical expenses will be covered. I believe that this sacrifice will make a powerful message about the inhuman, fascist world we are beginning to see.

Please send a professional head shot and a list of references.
I look forward to hearing from talented and excited women for this project.

no -- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Compensation: $5000

Now, I am absolutely pro-choice, but getting pregnant for the sole purpose of having an abortion and allowing the procedure to be filmed is absolutely beyond the pale. It's like making a snuff film. I can't imagine why this filmmaker thinks that such a tactic will bring to light the "inhumanity" of the world we live in. Such an act is inhuman in and of itself, and is most likely to backfire. In my view, all this stunt will do is prove to abortion foes that women are getting abortions solely for the sake of convenience, and cause them to argue that abortions are too easily accessible. Sure, it will provoke an outcry, but I don't think it will be the one that the filmmaker intends. Is there anyone who possibly thinks that it is ethical to get pregnant and have an abortion just to be in a movie? I really am disgusted by this. Perhaps I am just giving this deluded filmmaker what he or she wants--attention--but I had to speak out about this. Again, I certainly hope this is a hoax. Otherwise, I think of it as proof of the depravity of this filmmaker.

Postscript: I found this posting at about 4:00 this afternoon. It's now almost 9:30. I would have provided the link to the actual ad, but it has been removed by the Craigslist community. So I guess I was not alone in my outrage.

1 Comments:

  • At 5:23 AM, Blogger Debbie Cakes said…

    Holycrap. That is so flippin' sick.
    So, to make a statement about the inhumanity of this country I gotta send in my headshot and get pregnant...then just kill my unborn child, for $5,000? Yeah, that sounds about right...

     

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