Retired porn star Sasha Grey ruffled a lot of feathers when she led story time at an elementary school in Compton, CA, earlier this month. Her Nov. 16 interview on The View explored the disturbing book-reading.
Emerson Elementary parents felt blind-sighted. They were not informed about Sasha's story time with their first and third graders, according to co-host Sherri Shepherd on The View.
Co-host Barbera Walters asked Sasha Grey, "What if the parents had said, 'I object?'" Sasha answered, "Well then, I wouldn't have done it." She felt that the school should have pre-warned the parents about her visit. But then she clarified: Schools should tell parents about any guest speaker—no matter his or her occupation or background.
Sherri Shepherd responded with a personal experience: She appreciates knowing about guest speakers at her 6-year-old son's school, because she takes the time to talk about the visitor's background with her child. For example, if the visitor is a firefighter, she'll explain more about the fire-fighting occupation. But... a porn star? Here is where the conflict arises for many parents.
Retired porn star Sasha Grey has acted in about 200 hard-core adult films. She rose in popularity after playing a starring role in Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience (2009), which depicts her as a "high-end escort who provides not just sex but conversation, canoodling over late-night wine, and morning-after chitchat—the illusion of intimacy," according to Entertainment Weekly.
"Illusion" is an interesting word to describe this kind of intimacy, and perhaps it is the frustration many feel toward the adult film industry. This word itself conveys a sense of light-hearted fantasy. And it is most often this fantasy which baits men and women into the adult entertainment world.
But the "illusion" conceals the fact that this kind of lustful adult "play" lacks an emotional connection. There is nothing deeper to the physical acts themselves—no connection of the souls.
Because of this void, the fantasy becomes a false-front of shallowness, often concealing a downward slope of self-indulgence, addiction, and broken relationships—similar to the theme in The Girlfriend Experience. Sasha's character is an "ambitious teasing blankness, [occupying] the center of a crumbling mosaic of money, status, deception, and manipulated lust," as quoted by Entertainment Weekly.
Yet porn star Sasha Grey doesn't see it that way. When Barbera Walters asked her why she chose this profession, Sasha explained: As a kid, she was always ashamed of her sexuality. But through "research" and "opening her mind," she changed her perspective and saw her sexuality in a positive way. And by entering the adult film industry, her goal was to redefine the negative "stigma" that often goes along with the adult film industry. (One might wonder if she accomplished her goal?)
But, backing up: Why did Sasha want to read to the children? Reading was very important to her as a kid, she explained. She described her childhood reading experiences as very inspirational—in fact, "It's what made me who I am today," she said on The View. But her statement raises eyebrows. Barbera Walters stated: "Being a porn star is not something you hope your children will aspire to."
"I've always gone after what I've want. And I will continue to do that," says porn star Sasha Grey.
This self-absorbed mantra likely runs throughout the adult film industry, ranging from the producer to the consumer. And it's this kind of egoism that keeps the porn industry attached to the "negative stigma"—keeping parents leery.