I read Iceberg Slim's biography years ago. Fascinating sh!t. But yeah, under the right circumstances, you can get certain people to do stupid sh!t. It's amazing, really. MTV had a reality show once whereby the mark (a young 20-something) would be at home and they'd send in actors to suggest certain crazy things and his parents would have to guess if he or she would go along with it. I think if you're impressionable, and/or desperate, and/or have low self esteem, all kinds of things are possible.

I often wonder how 3 fully grown adult women managed to find themselves imprisoned for 10 full years in a house on a residential street in Cleveland.

@MongoLloyd said:

I read Iceberg Slim's biography years ago. Fascinating sh!t. But yeah, under the right circumstances, you can get certain people to do stupid sh!t. It's amazing, really. MTV had a reality show once whereby the mark (a young 20-something) would be at home and they'd send in actors to suggest certain crazy things and his parents would have to guess if he or she would go along with it. I think if you're impressionable, and/or desperate, and/or have low self esteem, all kinds of things are possible.

I often wonder how 3 fully grown adult women managed to find themselves imprisoned for 10 full years in a house on a residential street in Cleveland.

I own a copy of Iceberg Slim's book. Just the whole idea really enthralls me. You also find out that the "Oh, they are just strung out on drugs and they use that to manipulate them" turns out to be false mostly. I think people are just trying to wrestle in their minds how they are able to pull this off.

There is a scene in the film when Bishop Don Juan is showing off a calendar he has of him with celebrities and one of them is Donald Trump. I thought, Oh yes, Donald Trump, magnificent pimp.

I watched all episodes of The Deuce and the pimps just made my skin crawl. I just HHATED those guys. They are scum.

And, it's just a little ironic that in #metoo Hollywood, former pimps like Snoopy Dog and Ice T are embraced and have had long illustrious careers in entertainment.

I wonder if those guys were REALLY pimps or just bullshittin' for street cred. Snoop Dog had already hit it big in the music industry by the time he was 21 years old so I doubt he was pimpin' in his teens. Ice T may be different but again, I think he was frontin'. I mean, is it really pimpin' when you have a bunch of groupies hanging around you? I guess Led Zeppelin would be considered pimps too.

I doubt their compatriots would allow such a lie to persevere.

@MongoLloyd said:

I doubt their compatriots would allow such a lie to persevere.

I tell you one thing about that show The Deuce, I never saw a better promotion to legalize prostitution than that show. These women would be able to retire by the time they hit 40 if they didn't have to deal with pimps, freaks, weirdos, and going to jail all the time.

Well, yeah, it should be completely legal in the US. It's legal in most other countries. Maybe once we get past the cannabis thing, we can address it. It's very odd that sex work was lumped in with human trafficking with the recent asinine clamp down on online advertising. Plus, when it's legal and regulated, all parties involved tend to be healthier.