KIEV, Ukraine – Over the years, porn stars past and present have unwittingly shown up in some of the most unexpected and unlikely of places — or their likenesses have, at least.
From the time Jenna Jameson’s nude form showed up in a $1 checkers set purchased at Winn Dixie to Evan Stone’s unscheduled cameo during the broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII, random, accidental “mainstream exposure” of porn performers is a bit like the next Amanda Bynes public meltdown: You don’t know when it’s coming or how it will come, but you know it’s coming.
Its literally deadly-serious context aside, the latest unanticipated appearance by a porn performer just might be my favorite: Sasha Grey’s unsolicited role as “Sasha Serova,” the central figure in a tale that efficiently combines propaganda and trolling in one strange, callous-yet-hilarious package.
In what was originally reported to be part of a pro-Russian propaganda campaign, Grey’s image was used in a story about Sasha Serova, a nurse working among pro-Russian insurgents. Serova was captured, sexually abused and dismembered by the Ukranian military.
Grey, understandably, was not amused, tweeting (among other things): “People are dying. People are losing family members & BS outlets mock the deceased with Fappery like this.”
As it turns out, however, the story appears to have been concocted as an anti-propaganda campaign, one designed in part to test the gullibility of “vatniks,” a pejorative used to refer to people who support pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
“We’re going to zoo-observe our dear compatriots, and try to find out how ridiculous disinformation has to be, before a vatnik starts to second-guess it,” a user of the image-board 2ch.hk posted about the campaign, according to a translation of the post. “We don’t know if there’s even a limit, but here goes nothing.”
Grey is not the first famous person whose image has been appropriated for use in the trolling campaign. Another of the campaign’s memes presents a picture of infamous Nazi physician Josef Mengele, rebranded as “Dr. Yegor Mangelov” a field surgeon “tortured and executed by the Ukranian fascists.” To plunge the satiric dagger in further still, the description notes Mangelov is said to have been nicknamed “Angel,” clearly a reference to Mengele’s sobriquet, “The Angel of Death.”
This also isn’t the first time Grey’s name has been bandied about by partisans in Ukraine’s ongoing conflict — which probably isn’t coincidental, given the anti-propaganda campaign’s goal of crafting nearly unbelievable propaganda to which targets of their mass punking can flock.
Back in late 2013, Grey’s “stay strong” tweet aimed at supporters of the coup that eventually toppled Victor Yanukovich made her the target of derision by pro-Russian media outlets and social media users alike. Now, some of the more gullible (and less observant) among those same critics are probably realizing they just spent a couple days mourning the passing of someone they had previously excoriated due to her support of their enemies in Kiev.
Clearly, the irony hasn’t escaped Grey.
“Just an FYI some other conservative propaganda outlet labelled me and other Russian artists as friends of the Hunta just last summer/fall,” Grey tweeted. “So to make it clear FIRST I was the ENEMY and now I’m a FRIEND because this was supposedly the fault of the Ukranians.”
The best part of all this isn’t the meme or the propaganda-prank it furthered. It’s some of the headlines about Grey’s response thereto.
“Former Porn Star Sasha Grey Debunks Rumors She Was Killed by Ukrainian Soldiers” reads my absolute favorite. Saying she “debunked” the rumors implies some effort was required on Sasha’s part. Call me crazy, but this really seems the sort of rumor that can be dispelled without putting much thought into the process, as literally any proof of life does the trick.
Second place goes to “Sasha Grey Is Not a Murdered Battle Nurse in the Ukraine.” In addition to a sincere ring of obviousness, it’s also endlessly fun to say while holding your hands on hips and mimicking the delivery of Deputy Raineesha Williams from Reno 911!
Who will be the next porn star to make an unexpected appearance? Only time will tell, and the form their appearance will take is impossible to predict, as well.
Who knows? Instead of a jarring conscription into an international propaganda campaign, maybe it will be subtle to the point of being almost unnoticeable, like the on-screen display of Dana DeArmond’s gaping asshole in place of Sean Hannity.
Whatever form it takes, one thing is clear: The next random, accidental porn star appearance is going to have some mighty big guerrilla combat boots to fill.
