I approached this book with an open mind. Most people like to big themselves up when it comes to putting pen to paper and a lot of ex-porn stars tend to reinterpret the past to suit their needs (check out the autobiographies of Linda Lovelace, Traci Lords or Hyapatia Lee to see what I mean). Furthermore, Seka was a pretty divisive character. People either loved or hated her. So what’s the book like?
Well actually it’s a pretty good read, especially the early chapters about her pre-porn years. She describes a dysfunctional blue-collar childhood but never once plays the victim card: things were bad; things somehow fell into place; she got on with life. This appears to be her general attitude throughout the book. And it’s a refreshing approach. When describing how she eventually entered the business and made her first porn loop she is completely candid: “Not bad. Four hundred bucks for an hour and a half. And I got laid. Got laid, got paid. Win-win. It didn’t bother me.”
As far as I’m concerned there are only three real down sides to this book:
1) The lack of dates. The book is in chronological order but it's hard to tell the time-span between events.
2) The lack of quality photos - especially from her pre-porn and porn years. And let's be honest, that's what we want to see. All photos included are black & white and on the whole too small.
3) There is no filmography. It's easy enough to track down her movies on the internet, but it's a bit harder when it comes to her loops. My guess is that she can't even remember what loops she appeared in – especially when you think of how the industry was back then.
In fact, considering Seka was a porn star, there is unfortunately surprisingly little in the book about her movies or loops. Apart from Dracula Sucks (1978), Inside Seka (1980) and Careful, He May Be Watching (1987) she doesn't really discuss any of her films in depth. When it comes to her loops, she touches on Swedish Erotica and Diverse, but doesn't go into any detail. The really frustrating part is that she actually talks about making her first loop in Baltimore back in 1977 but it's still impossible to identify it. If Fire & Ice was her second loop with Diverse, her first remains a mystery. If you want more information about her movies you might want to check out my own unofficial biography of Seka that you can download as a PDF here. Admittedly I went for a more sensationalist approach, but surprisingly she doesn't seem to contradict anything I've written.
One thing I found really interesting was her description of her first ever photo shoot when she was working in Vegas - before she made her first mysterious loop.
“The shoot was in Vegas, which at that time wasn't built up like it is now. It was on the outskirts of town, outdoors in a wooded area. I had a deerskin vest that just had a string tied in the back, with little feathers hanging down from it. It was a hippy-ish thing that was pretty much what girls were wearing at the time.”So it would seem that these photos of a young, natural and stunning looking Seka are from the first shoot she ever did back in 1977...
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Annette Haven always accused Seka of being a businesswoman first and a porn star second, and maybe she’s right. But so what? Seka had her head screwed on. She didn’t take shit from anyone, looked after herself, made as much money as possible and never had a problem fucking on film. This is why she lasted so long in the industry when today girls burn out after a couple of years.
Should we care about a porn star from 30 years ago? Well if you’re interested in the genre, hell yes! As Bill Margold once said: “The three most important women in this industry are Marilyn Chambers, Seka and Ginger Lynn. They’re the most famous landmark women. They came along at exactly the right time. Chambers kicked it open with Green Door, and then Seka transformed film into first-grade video – she was really the performer who carried the seventies into the eighties.”
I know I’m biased. For me Seka is up there with Marilyn Monroe and Debbie Harry as one of the three most fuckable platinum blondes ever to come out of the States. She looked great having sex and always seemed to be enjoying it. But just like Marilyn and Debbie were creations, so was Seka. And that’s why I recommend you buy this book. You won’t see anything she doesn’t want you to see, but it’s the closest you will get to glimpsing the real Dottie behind the Ice Queen persona.
By Gfox_2000
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