I've been fascinated with the dealings of Joe Francis, creator of the Girls Gone Wild DVDs.
For me, a guy like Francis is a case study in karma. I mean, how long can you go around coercing drunken young women into taking off their bikinis without any consequences?
You know what I mean? These girls have fathers and brothers. Wouldn't you be afraid that someone would find you and kick the shit out of you? I would.
And if, by pure luck, that never happened, what about all the money you make dealing in such an enterprise? Don't you think that The Man--in whatever form he might take--might actually catch up to you and ask you to "pay to play"? Shouldn't you be ready for that?
And finally, hanging out with scantily clad coeds is going to lead to sex of one kind or another. Don't you think that some of the women (in conjunction with their angry families) might eventually sue you? You better have the checkbook ready for them, too.
As it stands now, Francis is in jail on a contempt of court violation: he doesn't want to pay the family of one of the girls, whom they claim was underage.
But, in reality, he wants to be there, because there are lots of people after him. Surprise, surprise. He's safer in jail.
I watched an interview that Greta Van Susteren did with him in prison, and he is quite a showman...he managed to choke out some tears and otherwise pretend to be incredulous that all this could be happening to him. Almost made me feel sorry for him...
But he built his own cage and that's where he now lives. Strikes me as another sociopath (see our conversation on OJ).
Just wondering whether anyone has followed this character and knows any more than I do about the drama.
Here's my research question (and I'm sure there's been research on this): what makes people into sociopaths? Nature? Nurture? Both? What makes a person so self-interested that he or she will disregard social norms and conventions to get what they want?
I'm going to check out some of the basics and I'll get back to this.
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7 comments:
I think sociopathy can be a slippery slope. The more you get away with, the more you push, until eventually you get caught. But, you could say it is the nature of a sociopath that they want to be caught, because they want to be brought back in line with societal norms - as Dosteysky put in - "there is not future in being a rebel" or something like that.
You won't be surprised to learn that sociopathy is clearly linked to parenting issues, particularly alcohol-related parenting issues.
In other words, if you have a parent who abuses alcohol, you will not receive much empathy as you are growing up. Therefore, when it's time for you to practice empathy, you really can't tap into it and effectively show empathy for others.
There are clearly organic factors that contribute to sociopathy. For example, if you have psychotic episodes--like OJ--then your sociopathy is more extreme than others who might merely appear callous.
However, much of it seems to be a training issue: If you were not trained to empathize with the plight of others, then it's going to be difficult to develop that notion as an adult.
Therefore, characters like Joe Francis just worry about "what's in it for them" and they don't worry---in fact, can't even imagine---the consequences.
Out.
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Yes, I think I have that problem from time-to-time as well. Perhaps it's more of a challenge in a globalized society to think socially, when your social circle now inludes people everywhere, instead of just your local community.
I'm curious as to if Joe Francis created the concept of "Girls Gone Wild," thinking that he could actually get away with exposing coeds like he did. You can't tell me that he didn't know these girls were underage. Sociopath is the best word to describe him.
In any case, he can still utilize his millions of dollars on something else once he gets out of prison. Maybe Joe Francis' Family Fun Mini-Golf Strip Club.
Sounds about right, eh?
DR
By defintion, co-eds are supposed to be at least 18, aren't they?
Ralph,
Dan Reilly (dreilly) is a professional writing student at KU. He's been reading the blog and says he is ready to post some comments.
Welcome, Dan.
************
The term "co-ed" literally means "co-education." (Duh)
It harkens back to a day when colleges were either all-male or all-female.
These days, it typically means "young women who attend college." It does not normally apply to returning adult students.
But to return to the issue of legal age: There are instances when female students move into college at the age of 17 and then turn 18 during their freshman year.
Therefore, some co-eds are under age.
My point is not that Francis knew or didn't know about the specific ages of these girls. I'm sure he didn't card them.
Instead, I think when you begin meddling with this kind of black magic---where you try to "get over" on someone by exploiting them---particularly in sexual ways---you might find youself in serious trouble at some point.
That's all I'm saying. He opened Pandora's Box (in more ways than one) and now he's living with the consequences.
Was it worth it? Maybe he thinks it is, but he's in jail right now and there are people who are waiting for him when he gets out.
That would suck big time.
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Yeah, sexual exploitation can lead to bad things, man.
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