My only caveat is that the lecture was a bit too visceral in its excoriating treatment of said model. Mike R is a fine young man who has been exceedingly kind to many of us members in the past. Is he perfect? Of course not. We have all made mistakes. And will continue to do so. Albeit hopefully less frequently.
It is easy enough to point out flaws in a young man in his early 20's. Especially as to how he chooses to react to the highly charged inner conflicts of his sexual identity. Add to that a large portion of public adulation for his physical attributes and sexual prowess.
Mix and stir. It's not always a pretty sight.
He also confided to us in posts here that he suffered from anger issues and a specific type of attention deficit disorder. Both of which he said that he had sought professional treatment for in the past. Will he look back on this stage of his life and have regrets? Obviously he will. But many of us also got a glimpse of a beautiful person (on the inside) who was just very young and struggling to find his way in life. Many of us can relate to that.
Therefore I'm willing to cut him a whole lot more slack. That's not to say that I will like all of his remaining scenes...or even that I disagree with the lecture above. Just that with Mike R there is little that is black and white. But merely several shades of gray. I think he is decent man who is trying to do the best he can in life with the hand that he was dealt.
I've commented on the MikeR situation over and over, and keep thinking that I've said all I have to say on the subject, but Tampa points out some things that I had almost forgotten.
Mike was the most active poster on the forum, among the straight boys. And keep in mind that he was posting until the last day of his career at D&E. The Mike that posted here was the real guy, not the "character" that he played in the scenes. To the very end, he was always polite, and respectful to all of us gay guys, (and female fans), who wrote to him with questions and who expressed our adoration to him. He answered our questions about his personal sex life, including an episode he had with a gay friend. He answered all of our questions about his not being comfortable kissing guys, or getting fucked. He shared with us the death of a close friend, and as Tampa has pointed out, his own personal physiological issues. As I now recall, he appeared at a
Broke Straight Boys event, possibly at Johnny's in Fort Lauderdale, (a bar I've spent lot's of time at, in the past). Mike explained how he got drunk, and perhaps went overboard at that appearance, and did apologize for it.
In short, he is the friendliest, most open straight model, to have ever shared with us, his fans, (and apparently former fans) who wrote to him here. As I recall, if he hadn't checked in on the forum for a period of time, he always acknowledged each of us by our screen names, who wrote to him. He was a very sweet kid, right until he got his "dismissal" notice from David. And that time frame, included the scenes that we are now watching, where some have characterized him as being an egomaniac, and being "cruel" in his fucking style on set.
I certainly defend everyone's right to characterize any model on this site, anyway one chooses, but I equally have the right to express my opinion. I really truly believe with all my heart, that Mike was playing the character that he had assumed in his scenes. If he fucked aggressively, he thought that was what his fans here wanted to see.
Again, I feel the need to state that all his scenes were shot in a totally controlled environment, and at any time David could have stopped the scene, and told Mike off camera to "cool it", if he thought that any fucking scene was too aggressive or "over the top", so obviously David and his crew on the set, (Eddie and Tyler, that I know of) never objected to his style on camera. David has often encouraged the tops to fuck harder. This is a porn site, and some folks enjoy aggressive sex, while other's prefer loving passionate sex, but it is all out there for us to watch.
I NEVER take the "back story" or the amount of money paid to tops and bottoms during the scenes too seriously, as these are fantasy scenes staged by D&E for our sexual pleasure, and not a documentary. But the MikeR who openly and honestly posted on the forum was the real guy who played the egotistical slightly aggressive character in the scenes. And while I enjoyed both Mike's, the real kid on the forum, was a total sweetheart, and a kid that I'm sure was a hell of a nice kid. I really wish him well, and hope that he has found some peace and contentment in life after his services were terminated by the production company that creates the product seen on this web site.
