Illuminating the Dark Side of ‘Girls Gone Wild’
The Joe Francis cover story generated more than 200 responses from readers.
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Congratulations to your staff for the shocking expose on “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis (“‘Baby, Give Me a Kiss,’” by Claire Hoffman, Aug. 6). Hoffman’s description of Francis’ misogynistic behavior was crude, yet empowering. She showed resilience and strength in the face of a new kind of acceptable violence and hatred toward women.
Jenna Cawley
Orlando, Fla.
I’d like to congratulate Hoffman for an incredibly professional piece of writing. She showed Francis’ charm, success, sadness and aggression. After reading the last line, I had one strong reaction to this man: “EEEeeewwww.”
Erin Powers
Los Angeles
Why did you subject your readers to a lengthy article on someone like Joe Francis? Publicity is what he craves, and you even had him on the cover. My family is absolutely not interested in reading about a porn industry that preys on drunken young women.
Is The Times desperate for topics of interest, or do you think sleaze helps sell newspapers?
Mary Curtius
Carlsbad
Hoffman deserves a thousand awards not just for putting up with Francis, but for writing a piece that so vividly describes sexual intimidation. Her writing makes it painfully clear that anyone can be caught in such a twisted snare, whether they’re naive teenagers or self-sufficient adults. Thank you for the frank reporting, which is seldom witnessed today.
Kate Leventhal
Baltimore, Md.
Hoffman describes Francis as humiliating her, pressing her face against the hood of a car and twisting her arms hard behind her back. She also writes that a police officer advised her to press charges, but she declined. Why? It’s staggering to think that in 2006, women continue to allow men to assault them, and then let them off scot-free.
Hoffman wonders why the “Girls Gone Wild” women behave the way they do for Francis. Perhaps she should ask herself the same question. How is she any different from the women whom Francis clearly exploits? Like those girls, Hoffman allowed Francis to get away with it.
Michael Allen
Los Angeles
Hoffman’s wonderful article was so unpleasant and unsavory; I couldn’t stop reading. The “Girls Gone Wild” concept seems to cast its empty, sensual spell over all who venture too near--or are too drunk to notice. I wonder what the young ladies who appear in the videos will think of themselves years down the road. Maybe this: I was a narcissistic teenage drunk, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.
D. Fox
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