AHEAD OF ITS TIME
Ahead of its time… Is it? Or are we just behind?
I find it intriguing that ideas (and people) from the past can be perceived to be in step with the present. It could perhaps be seen as an insult to the present moment.
Complimenting someone’s thoughts and ideas by saying ‘it’s ahead of its time’ could mean we haven’t pushed the boundaries hard enough in the present or have remained static.
This thought came to me while watching ‘Secret Diary of a Call Girl,’ a 2007 production. I thought the show's concept was very ahead of its time. But is this because I have come to an age (29) where I can understand the concepts and have been exposed to them? What where adults thinking in 2007 about the show?
In the current landscape of London, there/has been a sex-positive movement that is giving support to sex workers and their businesses because of many factors but mainly with the help of mainstream knowledge of the App ‘OnlyFans’. Social media companies - Meta and Instagram, to name two - however, don’t support this line of work, and Sex Works end up finding inventive ways to publicise their business.
I’m personally an advocate for sex workers. If a profession is chosen through stable mental health and you have no negative factors driving your desire to operate in that line of work, you do you. Protect yourself, protect others and have good intentions; to me, it’s just a job paying the bills, no different to any other.
I am by no means an expert or knowledgeable about the industry's behind-the-scenes structures, but if you're a freelance sex worker, you're going to have to hustle and build your brand just as much as a new tech company, Artist, law firm, etc. Client relationships matter!
The reason for diving so profoundly into sex work and the ‘it ahead of its time’ statement is because I was shocked by one of ‘Bambi’s’ (played by Ashley Madekwe) scenes in the show.
Bambi - ‘if i was on belles rate i would have earned £2,000 more this week.’
Stephanie - And your point is?
B - My point is it’s not fair
S - sorry i still don’t get what your point is.
B - I want to go up to £350 an hour. And I don’t want any more 1-hour clients.
S - no one will pay 350 quid an hour for you.
B- Why not?
S - Darling, your common.
B - What?
S - They want Stepford wives who can suck, not East Endenders who can Fuck.
B - knowing me from the start doesn’t mean you can hold me back.
S - Bambi, we can’t charge any more for you. You’re Black.
B - Tell me you didn’t just say that.
S - I know. Outrageous, isn’t it? Especially as all of you girls have superior figures.
B - Are you telling me I can't go up to 350 an hour because I’m not white?
S - The clients won’t pay for Black girls. Don't blame me; blame the racist clients.
B - Right. Shut up. I might not be as posh as you, but you can fuck off if you think I’m going to stand here and let you tell me in cheap because I’m Black.
S - Im not racist. it’s just a fact that clients do not pay - -
B - No, no, no, no, no, no. You’re not listening to me, yeah? Didn't they teach you how to listen in a posh school? You set our rates, not the clients.
S - I can’t dictate people’s sexual preferences.
B - But you can dictate that Black girls… and by the way, I’m mixed race … are worth less than white girls. Do you do that? Do you do that? If there is somebody else in charge, I would like to speak to them.
The character's frustration with the issue of her race and the power dynamic between her booking clients and her ‘Madame’ (Stephanie's business title, who runs the escort agency) pulled me out of the show and very much into the present society we live in.
‘Bambi’ Nailed it; she got her pay raise, called out the racism and was elevated within her career. It's a scene that could be rewritten to many contemporary companies operating today.