Those Sick Fans!

Remember that great scene from Casablanca in which Louis the police chief closes down Rick's Cafe with the exclamation, "I'm shocked, SHOCKED, to discover that there is gambling going on here!" And then he pockets his roulette winnings?



That's what I thought of when I read this recent disingenuous snip from actress (who identifies as Christian), Katee Sackhoff (BSG, Nip/Tuck):

"IGN: A show like yours has such a huge online fandom. Do you ever pay attention to their speculation...?

Sackhoff: Yeah, in a sense. I mean they have online porn about us! Which is weird… That's weird....and terrifying.

(Got it from here.)



She's right. It is weird.



Those perverted, sick, and twisted fans! Where do they get that stuff from!?!?!



And there are some other images of her out there in cyberspace that are much worse than the ones I have here.

I get that having a sense of modesty and shame might be too much to ask these days, even for Christian actors. But how about just a sense of irony? Good grief, sister of mine in the Lord, take some responsibility! You're showing up everywhere with your breasts hanging out looking like a whore, and then you're horrified that people are objectifying you?! Why is fan fiction porn bad, but soft-porn images like the above okay? Somebody help me out here.

I know. I AM picking on Katee here. She is certainly not the only Christian actress who has allowed herself to be packaged and sold like a piece of meat. But I feel a lot of solicitude for this kid. Also, Katee seems to know she is playing with fire in this kind of sexploitive stuff. In several interviews, I've heard her distance herself from her sexy image and manifest embarrassment about the sex scenes she has been in. So, I'm wondering, Katee, if they fill you with that much angst, why do them? We all know the answer, huh? Everybody around you is telling you you won't work unless you prostitute yourself. But can that really be true? And is just "working" worth this kind of personal degradation? By the time you are a big success, what will be left of you to look back in the mirror?

I'm asking because it's a question that eventually confronts every young actor who comes to Hollywood, and really, it has broader ramifications for all of us who work in the entertainment business. Where does our responsibility end in the images we create, and where does the audience's begin? better think the whole question through ahead of time. People who think it through on the fly end up with big regrets.

Let's pray for Katee. And all the other young actors walking around Hollywood today, trying to make themselves do things for their career that make them feel icky.