Remember when everyone freaked out about Belle Knox, the Duke porn star? Well, The Scene, a digital storytelling network powered by Conde Nast, caught up with Knox and made a mini documentary called "Becoming Belle Knox" about her double life as a student and porn star, and it was released yesterday.
In case you missed the story, in January a close male friend of Miriam Weeks outed her as a porn star on campus. Soon, the whole world knew and Weeks started receiving hate mail and death threats, and was publicly shamed for her actions. In February, xoJane ran an article written by Weeks herself entitled "I'm the Duke University Freshman Pornstar and For the First Time I'm Telling the Story in My Words." She talked about her reasons for doing porn, the most glaring one being the fact that it was her best option to afford the university's annual $60,000 tuition. On top of that, Weeks wrote about how porn fulfilled her and that she saw it as an empowering, feminist pursuit. She wrote:
I am not ashamed of porn. On the contrary, doing pornography fulfills me. That said, I vehemently want to have my privacy respected -- and I ask that anyone who knows my real name respect the fact that I am only discussing this publicly because it was made a public matter when I was confronted by a fraternity member who chose to tell hundreds of other men in the Greek scene.
The five-part documentary tackles multiple issues surrounding Weeks, her alter-persona Knox, college, and the porn industry. It's well-made, respectful towards Weeks and her story, and deals with a lot of complicated issues. Check it out.
Images: The Scene
