The Picture of Sasha Grey

Sasha Grey (Marina Hantzis) is one of the hottest names in the adult industry.

In The Picture of Dorian Grey, Oscar Wilde wrote that those “who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming,” while those “who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are cultivated.   For these there is hope.”

At some point, young Marina Ann Hantzis read these words by Oscar Wilde, a man considered to be little more than a pornographer by some of his contemporary critics. I believe it’s time to consider what can be gleaned from the fact that when Marina needed a pseudonym, she adopted the surname of Wilde’s most famous fictional hedonist.

Dorian Grey, the eponymous lead of Wilde’s only published novel, is freed to live a reckless life by the powers of a supernatural portrait.   Disregarding everything but his own vanity and pleasure, Dorian maintains his physical beauty while his painting ages to reflect the ravages of his excesses upon his soul.   Grey escapes the consequences of his actions, but only for a time. What will be the ending of Marina’s story?

This story begins in North Highlands, CA, where Marina Hantzis was enrolled at Highlands High School, where she claims to have earned a solid 3.8 GPA before being home schooled.   It’s not clear whether Marina graduated high school, but she did attend acting classes and joined a Sacramento theatre group.   She was drawn to experimental theatre and film, performing in the never released 2005 movie Love Thieves, and the film Unknown Pleasures, which she co-wrote.

Her interest in film took this beautiful young thing in a direction many find shocking. In May 2006, 18 year old Marina Hantzis took the moniker Sasha Grey and began acting in pornographic films.   By November, Los Angeles magazine was heralding her as a fast rising star in the adult film industry, calling Sasha Grey the next Jenna Jameson.   Shows like Tyra and The Insider eventually anointed Sasha the poster child for teenage porn stars, inviting her on to defend her involvement in the world of adult entertainment.

And defend it she did, although her opponents pulled out all the expected artillery — Sasha Grey reported that Tyra’s staff changed her hair and makeup to make her appear younger; The Insider decided that the best person to help Sasha Grey confront her inner demons was Dr. 90210; all that was missing was for Montel to send her to bootcamp.   The message of these shows was simple: silly girl is being exploited by the evil, sexist porn industry for the entertainment of a mindless, masturbating mass of male patrons. Sasha Grey, however, was refreshingly off-point. She presented herself as a bright young woman who made an educated, personal decision to pursue a career in the industry, casually diffusing her critics’ shots.

Oscar Wilde might have pondered with whom the corruption in this dynamic really rests. Watching these shows, a viewer would be right to wonder whether Sasha is being exploited — but not by the adult entertainment industry. Fans of daytime drivel seem to find enjoyment in the ugly meanings behind beautiful things. These salacious talk shows are like pornography for the ignorant and judgmental, except pornography offers its performers accolades absent for guests of daytime drivel.

In the past two years, the adult industry awarded Sasha Grey for her work in films like Babysitters and Fuck Slaves, and including the coveted AVN award for Female Performer of the Year, the porn equivalent of a Best Actress Oscar.

Despite my strong interest in attractive women, I’m not enough of a porn connoisseur to appreciate the nuances of Sasha Grey’s performances, but I have no doubt there is something there.   Sasha Grey is one currently of the most bankable names in the adult industry, and even stars in the budgeted $8 million Pirates 2, the most expensive pornographic film ever produced. Yet success in the porn industry is measured not only by awards and budgets, but also by achieving a certain amount of fame outside the world of money shots and girl-on-girl action.

Successfully crossing over into mainstream entertainment has been tricky for adult entertainers in the past.   When it was revealed almost all of Traci Lords’ work was done as a minor, the resulting headlines ensured she was practically a household name, which lead to small roles on television and in movies.   Jenna Jamison, probably the most famous of contemporary porn actresses, has also appeared in the occasional mainstream film, but never in anything that would require real acting talent. She did manage, however, to propel her popularity into a brand name, writing a best-selling book and creating a multimillion dollar business.

While porn stars like Tracy Lords and Jenna Jamison managed to get their names known, it’s impossible to ignore their notorious edge. It seems like every adult actress in the past decade has tried to brand herself enough to launch her own line of adult products, adult films, and even strip clubs. But few truly break through to the mainstream in a lasting way.

There is no doubt that Sasha Grey is becoming a brand, she already has her own adult products rolling out for those interested in experiencing Sasha Grey via latex. But is Sasha about to go beyond the accomplishments of Jenna Jamison and other big-brand porn stars?

Sasha at least was smart enough to try meeting the mainstream halfway.   In 2007, she worked with Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro and starred in his adult film directorial debut, Broken.   The film was not your typical porn, but much of Grey’s work is not typical.   Films like The Awakening of Sasha Grey, which features a sex scene with a six foot imaginary teddy bear, are not your father’s pornos. Fans of the genre comment on her edginess, as much of her adult work could be considered experimental film, if not sold next to other titles like Sasha Grey’s Anatomy.

Grey has also been featured in a video by the Smashing Pumpkins, on the popular Internet show PG Porn, and in the cheesy horror film Smash Cut.   She is even featured in this months Rolling Stone.

Potentially the biggest news in Sasha Grey’s career came when Steven Soderbergh cast her to star in his new film, The Girlfriend Experience.   While this small budget film is more akin to Bubble than Ocean’s 11 or Traffic, it is still an opportunity for which many actresses would drown their siblings.   And it could be a chance for Sasha to earn the creditability needed to break away from adult films and move into the mainstream.

And so far, Sasha is doing well.   “She’s really good, totally fearless, very smart,” says Soderbergh. “It certainly didn’t seem like there was anything I could suggest that she couldn’t handle.”

But Sasha is constant contradiction.   He latest blog post on her MySpace page contains a picture of Obama, right above a picture of Sasha having a mold made of her ass for a sex toy.   Under that, photos from her trip to MOMA.   It’s hard to say for certain if Sasha really wants to move beyond the adult industry.   While she certainly has the chance to make the transition, Sasha seems to embrace her adult film career.   Will she decide to become Marina Hantzis again, and pursue a mainstream acting career, or has that shipped sailed?   Or will she take another direction entirely?

Sasha manages her own career, and presumably is ready manage the career of others, through her own agency, LA Factory Girls, a brand name clearly inspired by Warhol.   It could be that Sasha’s interest in experimental film may be strong enough to keep her out of mainstream entertainment.   Clearly, starring in a low budget Steven Soderbergh film is different from being the new Kate Hudson, starring in rom-coms meant for the same insipid audience that watches Tyra Banks and The Insider.

Call Sasha Grey what you will, there is no doubt that her talent has been recognized by people who know talent.   All that remains to be seen is the path she decides to take, and of course whether the lifestyle of Sasha Grey will effect Marina Ann Hantzis. Which of her identities will come to reflect the consequences of her choices? Or will the picture of Sasha Grey finally reveal to us our own corruption as a society that is unable to admire the beautiful meanings in beautiful things?

Time has redeemed Oscar Wilde’s reputation, turning him from a degenerate pornographer into the literary master he deserves to be. Only time will show us if the story of Marina Ann Hantzis garners a similarly happy ending.  I believe for Sasha Grey, there is hope.

Note: There has been some controversy over whether Sasha Grey’s real name should be used online.   My decision to use her real name was predicated by its appearance on IMDB and other sources.

88 COMMENTS

  1. I don’t know much about the personalities of Traci Lords of Jenna Jameson, but Sasha Grey seems to want something completely different from what they wanted. Any person whose favorite band is Joy Division, proclaims her love of NPR’s Terry Gross, and loves Jean-Luc Godard and Lars von Trier’s Dogme95 stuff at least KNOWS what’s cool, even if she’s being a poseur.

    Jameson and Lords, I imagine, were looked at as novelties by mainstream filmmakers. But Grey actually may be the real thing. Working with Soderbergh and on a Mark Cuban-produced film is the perfect career move for her, and seems to fit with the kind of person she is.

    Times change. 20% of teens admit to posting nude photos of themselves on the web, and as frightening as that is, they are Grey’s peers. Porn itself is going mainstream. The mainstream is coming to Sasha, and she may only need to be herself to become a star.

  2. @Jason Sasha does seem pretty interesting. And I agree about Jameson and Lords being more mainstream novelties than mainstream celebrities. The porn industry has become less taboo. People put Jenna Jameson on the same level as Carmen Electra or Pamela Anderson. People today just don’t consider porn to be the unmentionable smut it was 15 years ago.

    It will be interesting to see Where things go from here.

  3. Sasha’s response to the Tyra Bank’s Show was good. It showed how deceptive the show was by intentionally making her appear young and innocent. The comment “she might even be mistaken for a middle schooler”; I mean come on! The show put her in a conservative pink shirt, took off her hoop earrings and replaced them with some pink juvenile studs, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and swapped out her heels for a pair of brown Hushpuppies. The most laughable accessory the show filmed her with was a backpack. At least they didn’t film her riding up to the studio on a bicycle.

    The Tyra Banks Show is garbage and I don’t know who actually watches it.

    • Beth – Thanks for the comment. I agree with you 100%. The Tyra show was a joke. Clearly the producers of the show had it in their mind that Sasha Grey is a young, naive girl, and that’s what they were going to show regardless of the truth.

      The insipid nature of The Tyra Banks Show really does deserve it’s own post at some point.

      • The Tyra show is garbage no doubt, but for such an "empowered feminist" why did Grey allow this to happen?
        She's bullshit, and your buying into it.
        She does disgusting things such as drinking (from stranger's no less) milk enemas, licks piss off toilet seats, takes on 10 guys at once.
        A real "classy" girl no doubt!

        The chick grew up in a below poverty level area, has a state supported drug addict dad, an abusive step father that she couldn't live with.

        Do the math LMAO

  4. vItI seems that you are overly positive and uncritical to a woman that has sold her body and soul to raw capitalism and who does the most disguting and perverted acts on film (among others things one can in her movies see her licking up other peoples urine from a dirty floor, swallow an enema out of the anus of another woman, swallowing the sperm from 15 men at the same time,, getiing spit at and slapped, getting electrocuted and getting a big hook inserted in her butt and be hanged up on that hook)) Such dirty stunts have a demoralising, brutalising and dehumanising effect on young people. This girl is truly emotional numb, mentally ill and gravely addicted. She really needs treatment and therapy.!

  5. Thanks for your comment. I can see why you think these things are disgusting, they are not exactly my cup of porn either. My point is only that Sasha Grey seems to be an intelligent young woman who understands what she has gotten herself into.

    There are men in this world who enjoy being submissive to a dominatrix. They get spit on and all the other disgusting things that go into that. It's easy to say that these men have issues, and maybe the do. But it's their decision. It's no different with Sasha Grey. She is paid quite well to do things that she may, or may not, enjoy. Either way, it's her right to do them. She doesn't strike me as a victim.

    If the argument is that these things are sick and no one should do them, then I don't know what to tell you.

    • I always find it rather amusing these people state they were NOT a victim in any way and that's the gospel.
      She and her handlers are WELL aware of the negative conotations associated with the porn industry.
      She's not going to bite the hand that feeds her!
      No, she'll make sure to use certain "keywords" as often as possible.
      Those words being "empowered", feminist".
      Bottomeline, she has a personal agenda and there's nothing erotic about a young girl who came from where she did ( an unhappy , poor,abisive home).
      Very naive to believe otherwise.

  6. I´m sorry to say it but she is truly a victim. She is a victim in the same way as those drug addicts who also can seem reasonable intelligent when one meet them (at least when they are not stoned) but who persistantly claims that they are taking drugs because they like it and that it doesn´t do them any harm. Which is of course delusional in the same way as sasha Grey is delusional.

    • STOP WITH THE VICTIM CRAP! Lordy, you are the type of goofball that tries to protect free people from doing things you feel they shouldn't do. If she wants to lick a toilet seat, let her. There are no guns to her head. Just because one's behavior doesn't meet your norm, doesn't mean their behavior is illicit or even immoral. In twenty years, if she ends up regretting her current behavior, too bad for her. That is part of her earnings. In the meantime, keep your talons out of her liberty (literally and figuratively).

  7. And something that is worse: Sasha Grey does a lot of propaganda here on the net (on Youtube, Myspace, Adult DVD Talk Forum and so on) where she denies the dangers of porn, both the mental and the physical (veneral diseases and other infections). That makes the things she does dangerous especially for young, easily influenced people who get a wrong impression about what sex is really about. She has for instance claimed that she is not afraid of AIDS because actors in porn are tested. That fact didn´t hinder several people (who wwhere tested) contracted HIV infections on work in 2004. Sasha has also said that if she would contract an STD she will share it with her boyfriend, To publicly bagatellize the risks in that way is really bad, especially since she became some sort of role model for young people, especially in the underground cultural movements. And she ofcourse also bagatellizes the mental and emotional harm that porn brings to people, both those who participates in it and to many of those who watch it. So i don´t share your opinion about her intelligence and that she is really aware of what she participaes in.

    • It seems odd to try to pin all this on Sasha Grey. She is just a young women who has chosen a career that many don't agree with. Maybe someday she will regret it, but as for now she seems a lot more in touch with reality than most girls of her generation.

      There are risks in most jobs. I'm willing to bet that more deaths are caused by taxi drivers than porn actors, but we don't think about making cabs illegal, and we don't chastise drivers as a whole.

      The simple fact is, people like you have a problem with the fact she is having sex on film and being paid for it. Because it's something you would not do, you think it's wrong. What seems wrong to me is judging someone harshly because you don't agree with their profession, a profession that doesn't hurt anyone. I can guarantee that Sasha Grey does not sit around typing nasty things about you online.

      And I'm also not into the fact that people like you keep posting her address and phone number. Judging from your feelings about the girl, it's clear that you do it in an attempt to lead some crazy person to her. That's just sick, and I'll just delete it if i see it.

    • Couldn't agree more…

      This is the great example that's being sent out to confused coming of age girls.
      Get into porn ,do WHATEVER disgusting things you have to at zero respect for yourself or family and you to can be a "star" ?

  8. IIt´s not about having sex on film (if you call drinking urine from a fllor sex) it´s about violent and dehuminising material that teaches young peole that women like to be abused, spit at, peed on, slapped, raped and mistreated. The movies and propaganda she spreads is like some kind of phsycological warfare against young people who gets the wrong impression about what sex r and relations are really about.

    • Some women actually like rough sex. Loads of women love to be slapped about and choeked during sex. It's porn made for a small neiche market of people who enjoy it, some one who doesn't enjoy this sort of stuff isn't going to watch it. Stop being ignorant.

  9. Not long ago five 15 year old boys gangraped a thirteen years old girl. When asked why they did it they answered that they believed girls like gangbangs. When asked why the belived such a thing they answered that they saw it in pornmovies. And Sasha Grey have made very expressive, gross and violent gang bangmovies, just the kind of material these (and many other) youngsters to commit gang rape. And she ought to be old enough. 20, years, to understand that the movies and propaganda she spreads is likely to inspire even more young people to commit crimes and to try to force their girlfriends and other girls to do the things they saw in her movies. The things she does destroys real peoples relations and actually destroys peoples lives. And if you defends and supports her in this than you are also in some respect guilty to the destruction of young lives.

    • And comic books cause school shootings. At some point you have to hold people who commit immoral acts accountable instead of scapegoating media. This entire notion that people do bad things because they see it done in movies lets people assign blame to something other than themselves, and focuses energy on prevention in the wrong places. Instead of thinking "Porn ruins lives, lets ban porn" how about you say "Rape is always wrong. Period."

    • I guess when I shoot up some people I can blame movies and video games. I really like your argument antipornster because it means I do not have to be responsible for my actions.

  10. So just try to study some materia about the effects of violent porn in society before defending such persons like Sasha Grey and the pimps and pornmongers she works for.
    In Great Britain they have fortunately enough banned the most violent movies, and this was made after a brutal murder where the perpetrator had seen a lot of violent porn movies and finally descided to try out the things he saw ther on a real person. And some of Sashas movies are just the kind of material that murderer got inspired by and that now is forbidden in Great Britain.

  11. So just don´t try to tell me (or others) that the proffession Sasha has chosen doesn´t hurt anyone because that is simply a blatant lie!!!

  12. And about STD:s. the percentage of people infected by such diseases is actually 15% higher among pornworkers than in the average population. And if you add suicide, drug overdoses, drug realated illness and similar then it turns out that being a pornstar is much more dangerous than being a taxi driver.

    • You either have an unhealthy obsession with Sasha Grey, or way too much time on your hands. Either way, I'm of the live and let live philosophy. People are responsible for their own actions. If a group of teenage boys gang raped a woman, it's not because of Sasha Grey, it's because they are screwed up and had lousy parents. No parent should let TV raise their child, and they obviously shouldn't be allowing kids access to porn.

      And I love the idea of throwing suicides into the mix to show how bad porn is. Doctors commit suicide at an alarming rate as well, should we ban that? No one is arguing that the porn industry will attract a certain type of person. It's quick cash for hot girls willing to do things most are not. But that doesn't make it wrong.

      I'm not defending porn that promotes violence against women, but I don't think it should be singled out. Many high budget Hollywood movies showcase violence against women, and I have a bigger problem with that, since it's much more accessible to children. Law & Order SVU is one of the worst shows to hit TV. But I'm not into censoring film. Some consider what Sasha Grey does as art and pushing the envelope. I don't know if I agree that it's art, but I do agree that it's not my decision to decide what is art and what's not.

      Obviously you have your own issues with porn, and evidently Sasha Grey. But maybe you should just worry about your life and not what others do.

      • I enjoy porn in moderation but she's going over the line.
        Yeah sure let her fuck up her life if she so desires, she's nothing to me.
        BUT she's easily found on the web for young impressinable minds to see as their first introduction to porn.
        Not good when young kids see a young girl taking 10 guys up her ass etc.
        It desensitises people, the need a new raunchier high.
        When the bar keeps getting set higher for outrageness you wonder what will come next…
        Will Kiddie porn be the next craze being all other avenues have been exploited to the max.
        It's not good that this is happening, not a bible thunper so I'm not approaching this topic from that perspective.

        • Trina, I think the line is, and always has been, set at the whatever consenting adults wish to do. Clearly kiddie porn is not ever go to be accepted or legal, regardless of how raunchy pornography gets.

  13. Sasha Grey has become a role model for many young people so she is VERY responsible for what she is saying in interviews and in her dirty porn propaganda. She is also very responsible for all the terrible, violent porn she and her produciers are spreading over the internet and to shops all around our country. Violent porn are extra dangerous because it connects deeply felt sexual arousment with violence, thus conditioning people to feel arousal when commiting violent act. Sex and violence is a lethal combination and peole like Sasha Grey exploits that fact and earn a lot of money on it, without thinking about the consequences for the victims of that sexual violence. Peole like Sasha Grey must be stopped. And to call her grotesque antics for art, that is just plain ridicolous.

    • I feel badly for you. You have some intelligent thought that is stitched together by mentally-stunted morality. It doesn't match reality. Speak your mind, but understand that no one is buying what you are peddling.

  14. Young people are easily lured into bad things so it is the responsibility of society to get rid of dangerous stuff like drugs, ciolent porn and similar. Many parents has to work for their living so they cannot watch their kids always. So it´s better to remove the porn from internet, videoshops and other places where it can be obtained, just as society try to do with drugs.
    It´s like with pollutant, you cannot just say to people that they ought to use gasmasks if they don´t like pollutants. It is of course much better to remove the pollutants instead.

  15. I pray for this beautiful young woman to straighten her compass and follow Steven Soderbergh's leads wherever they may take her. She has a chance to escape, as she did, unwisely, already. Now she can escape the mistake she made and chart a new course for her life without jeopardizing her health every day. Without good health, as with the environment, all other causes and goals become secondary. I see a lot of talent is this woman, if only for her fearlessness. She can make it as a model and actress. Her eyes are stunning. She is truly gorgeous and deserves much better than the low life of the porn industry. Just seeing her 31 yr old boyfriend and her "agent" were enough to convince me. God speed in your transition Marina.

  16. Sasha Grey obviously has mental illness issues or addiction issues. What a shame to see certain factions give this poor sick girl positive attention for her self destructive behavior.. ten years or more down the road, I wonder how she will feel about licking dirty toilets and drinking urine on film…… what will her children think when other kids tease them about it, especially if she has sons? Wouldn't surprise me if she ends up another porn casualty dead by age thirty.. She should NOT be seen as mainstream nor should she be given mainstream acting jobs. There are thousands of women who have been honorable and done legitimate work in order to become successful ACTRESSES, Sasha Grey is not one of them, she's seems to be an addict who gets paid so other addicts can get off. In interviews her eyes are dead and she comes across like a zombie, no wonder, living with what she does would make most of us shut down and seem that way too. Evidently she never had a father.. fathers out there, do everything you can to have a place in your daughter's lives, perhaps a father's influence would have saved Sasha Grey. Sexy indeed…. maybe to Caligula type personalities.

    • Yep, When you read her LA Weekly feature all the standard cliche's were present.
      Daddy or step pappy must have gotten to her @ some point.
      Plus I wonder if she was physically abused (raped?) because she needs to be beaten the way she claims to get "turned on".
      Not your standard S+M, punched hard in her stomach etc.
      Chick is messed up, in a few yrs. time she'll be doing the talk show circuit (like many other "empowered /feminist " porn stars before her) realying terary eyed how it was all a terrible mistake.
      lol

      • I think I have heard the same thing about gay males not having a father figure. When are we going to stop generalizing and saying all porn stars came from unhappy or atypical households? "What did her parents do to make her turn out this way?"

    • So honorable is a woman who does not have multiple partners? This is what happens when u grow in a society with propaganda about the ONE U can have thousands of options of compatible partners, not just one! But of course when u are middle or working class without money, like yourself, u cannot afford to change a lot of partners, and end up fucking with the same person for life! Abnormal is for men to fuck the same woman for life, when we all know that women over 30-35 are finished! Do u see any rich people staying with the same woman for over 5-10 years? But the majority is condemned to live poor lives, having to put up with their partners for life! By the way, have y tried to swallow urine? There is a trick in the porn business, that u dring at least 2 litres of water so your piss becomes tasteless and white like water, so it smells nothing. And the toilets that u call dirty, are Sets build for the shootings, u stupid ignorant bitch! Go and live your miserable life, we need idiots like yourself for consumers purposes

    • Oh! and i forgot to tell u: Whores are not the ones who sell their body for sex, it is women like yourself who play it nice and loving, when all u care is to find an idiot to take care of u for life! Why does the amount and perversion of sex determine that a woman is bad? These believings are from the medieval ages, an allibi for women to keep their men in monogamous relations. But if men were smart, they would have women like u sucking dicks for a living. And u are such whores, that u have manipulated the US justice system so much, that when u get divorced u get most of the husband's money. With this money, the husband would probably have a lifetime of sex with different models, and not ugly bitches like yourself! But fortunately the men have awakened, and as time passes, fewer marriages will be performed, and bitches like you will have to live on their own money. That is why here in Europe we make fun of the Americans. U work all the time, u live boring and conservative lives, and still u got fucked and broke!! That is how stupid u are!!!!

    • Takes one to know one — or are you jealous that you could never meet her success even if you were up to it.

      I suspect that you would raise the type of children that would do the teasing — with your blessing — that you "fear" for Sasha Grey's future children.

  17. I should chime in hear to say that I have had to delete some pretty disgusting comments about Sasha Grey from this post. I have never actually seen a Sasha Grey porn, but I can guarantee that she has never done anything as disgusting as some of the comments I have seen about her in this thread.

    Regardless if you think pornography is wrong, people should keep in mind that this is a human being, a young girl, you're referring to. For you people claiming to be Christian, you may want to actually integrate some of the more forgiving nature of those teachings into your own life. Otherwise I think even by your own ideology, you're going to burn in hell.

  18. I always get so surprised when I read blogs like this one. People who claim they are Christians can be such haters so I believe they have picked up their thinking pattern from Mein Kampf and not from the bible. Have you never read the part of the bible of a man called Jesus who was God's son and preached that only God can judge who is right and who is wrong and we that are all his children (that probably includes Sasha Grey)? Have you never heard about tolerance and the right to self-determination? I thought we we took a bite the apple to make our own choices and if Sasha picked a path you don't like, let God judge her and refrain to play God. If you don't like Sasha's movies, why do you watch them?

    • Your points are well put. The kind of Christians you describe bear a striking resemblance to Islamic fundamentalists and terrorists. They've been a threat to Constitutional and legal behavior for years. Once their rants turn to actions, they should be silenced with prejudice. I'm growing intolerant of intolerant people but I won't allow their further proliferation through inaction.

  19. All the pro porn stuff is very problematic– beyond stuff like toliet seat licking, 15 men on one woman(std waiting to happen it seems to me), dirty enema drinking, yadda, the std thing is very real. Critical thinking MUST be used with porn –do what you want but think about it,especially think about it before considering it a valid career option. And yes she is of age,but it still seems exploitive to me,considering she began at 18.

    What is scary to me is that, even w/her statusin the porn industry,she has contracted three STDs so far–some STDS, including HIV, are undetectable for several months. Yet Sasha calls an std the same as "the common cold". No, they aren't.

    If most of the people in her field of work are drug addicted as she says,and/or very happy with the financial success they are making off her, of course she will be reinforced in this delusion, encouraged to see stds as innocuous as the common cold. She is beautiful but the question of a brass-tacks,useful intelligence that can work for a person demands debate when health is on the line –is it intelligent to gamble with your health in this way?
    How does this reflect what a truly healthy individual would choose?When you value yourself you take care of yourself and an std isn't your "common cold".It just doesn't make any sense. It screams "PTSD" andself contempt, whether the individual says so or not.

    Alot of people don't think they've been abused then they tell you some horrific story after you've known them years and you realize they thought that shit wasNORMAL.So in their mind they were never abused,but, anyone else would think so. They haven't lied,but their perspective was too skewed to even know they were abused. Maybe Sasha Grey really wasn't but it doesn't make sense. Nobody likes money*that*much.

    You can do a thousand sex acts and be paid for it which is great money-wise but you only have one body. Also not only is she at heightened risk for stds but she performs constant anal sex which totally compromises the anus.

    Young adults please educate yourselves and value your health–arguably the most valuable thing you have. A very good, non-judgemental resource is scarleteen.org

    • Ofcourse the solution is to marry long-term whores like u, so when u divorce u get all the money…this money could probably supply a lifetime of models to your husband, prettier than u, and different every day! WE CANNOT FUCK THE SAME WOMAN AFTER 10-20 TIMES!!! Then it is just work! U women just cannot get this! Monogamy is only to your interest, not the men's. And before u judge on the sex orgies, go and have a 3-some with 2 guys, and then judge! But who knows how ugly u are…

      • You "gamieste" should learn some manners. You are the typical internet troll that uses the supposed internet anonymity to write abuse and troll around. Your view that all men not being able to remain faithful to a woman for long is baseless and narrow-minded. While there are men who can't be faithful; There are men out there who can be faithful, who are "programmed" to be faithful and stick with their woman during all the time the children are being raised … And beyond. My parents have been married for over 38 years and still going. 4 children, all gone to university despite of being of humble origin.

      • What a loser "u" are, Gamieste. Can't spell or think. A simpleton. It's a wonder you can use a computer or the Internet. Back under your rock, kid.

    • So, Jennifer, I suppose that your anus is a Temple? Enough! If she is seeking premium pay for anal penetration, then who are you to interfere with a legitimate contract? If she end up incontinent but doesn't bank enough to deal with it, too bad for her. You clearly have an agenda. Although you have a right to moralize over Sasha Grey, I have an equal right to scorn and berate you. Put your mind to better use. And relax your sphincter.

  20. This is not a response to the subject matter, but a criticism of your methods: Your YouTube annotations are a terrible nuisance. I understand that you want to get your points across and start a dialogue but the excessive annotations make the viewing so tedious.

    You could have just linked to this site in the video and included all of your responses, facts, and figures here. I stopped watching after the first video because of your incessant annotations. If you'd like to reach out to people and state your case, I suggest doing it in a less obtrusive way than filling the YouTube screen with dozens of lines of text and making the viewer press "Play" every 5 seconds.

    • Steven, thanks for posting. I didn't add any annotations to the videos. Those were likely added by the original poster of the video. I agree, they are annoying, but I couldn't find any other video of the content.

    • Steven, the Internet is a cesspool of moralistic nutbags like fundamentalist Christians and Islamists. They do the most bizzare things. They are second only to raving left-wing liberals in the ferocity and irrationality of their responses.

  21. Constanty sexualizing women children & girls to the degree that we have lately is not only worsening it's escalating & out of control- .. Sex workers have the benefit of their environments as far as their preference for sexual projections & labor as a paid prostitute for film-.. Intelligent females in the world are progressively having to suffer these inappropriate projections & abuses from men in the real world- & sex trafficking is shooting through the roof & the un officially announced the horror story that child porn is a commodity-

    I quote you- the poster of this 'article' "Regardless if you think pornography is wrong, people should keep in mind that this is a human being, a young girl, you're referring to." you are obviously- sick-
    to refer to her as a young girl is utterly far gone- & terrifying..

    To progressively find the pornographication of our society & of it's women, girls, boys & children- has to change- & there need to be more sane media skeptics- & these harsh realities & issues are out control..

    The writer of this article & the majority of these posters are off topic-
    conceptually pornography the majority of it is incredibly dangerous- especially with common representations of 'girls' & women having sex forced upon them & under or pretended extreme discomfort.

    If you cannot see this you have a problem.

    I am as liberal as anyone can get- but some serious things have to change- such as the age one can do sex work- it should be lifted to at least 25 & be a career choice exception- because the exploitation of children & their being forced into prostitution is speedily increasing at unprecedented rates..

    It is dangerous & abnormal to find a 'girl' attractive- & unintelligible to call a woman a 'girl' just as any man would not appreciate being called a boy.

    There are so many examples- learn ab out sex- learn about trafficking- do your research question media as a commodity & with you as a consumer- if you don't we are all living in the gutter- & it's getting worse.

    • Are you saying that women are children? or merely that you are a child? Or perhaps a child feminist dyke? People like you are a threat to a free society. My 80 year old mother goes out with the "girls". What's your issue with this? Go back to your closet. Your mission in life is not to make others as miserable as you are.

  22. why do people get so offended over sasha’s work? this is something she wants to do. i recommend anyone whos offended by the porn industry, to go watch the film 9 to 5:days in porn. it offers a great look into what the porn industry is and isn’t, and a look into the people who choose to do porn.

    sasha is a girl i actually look up to. not because i want to get into porn, or even like a lot of her work (dirty enemas and stuff arent my thing), but her attitude is something you won’t see everyday. she had the guts to get into a line of work that many people will look down on her for probably for the rest of her life. she’s a smart girl, who’s doing something she loves (sex and pushing the limits of it) but doing it in a professional atmosphere, unlike most girls who go out and have a bunch of one night stands and get knocked up, or contract a few STDs

  23. Sasha Grey is such a young woman but already she appears emotionless and weathered. I personally could care less if Sasha Grey wants to plug her butt with a cock for the 451st time. The fact that she continually justifies her work as liberating is either stupid( if she really believes this and I have my doubts) or dangerous( if she doesn't believe it why not take the time to encourage STD/STI's awareness) ? Either way, I feel sorry for her- look at Jenna Jameson. Who wants to be 35 years old and have to get vaginal restoration because your vag is as beat up as an old road? She is young now but porn actresses aren't really know for aging well.

    Sasha Grey says she wants to branch out unto other opportunities and hopefully, one day she can be successful as to leave this industry. However, from a purely theoretically standpoint, in order to be successful in modelling, acting, fashion, producing, etc. she will need to gain a female audience. Right now I speculate that 99% of her fan base are males. Most women are turned off not only by porn in general but especially the degrading stuff Sasha thinks is hot. Of course what does appeal to a woman fan base will turn off her male fans. Unless Sasha's smart enough to reconcile the disparity with which the genders view her, I'd say she's shit out of luck!

    Other than that, I would characterize her porn as gross but not even shocking. It seems like she does this stuff just for a shock value but it falls flat because it's not original. As for the urine, toilet bowl licking/ eating, that's just decrepit- only a sick person would try to compromise their health and hygiene so wholly. Sorry Sasha, once you've seen one porn, you've seen them all.

    • Live in your plastic bubble to avoid STD's and just die of boredom like the rest! But all this is just to promote monogamy. That is all u care. The men not to leave u after your 30-35 yrs when u are finished as women. What u promote is long-term prostitution, u just have 1 man to fuck, so it is easier for u, right?

      • So you consider a 'plastic bubble' any opinion that differs from yours? It's amusing to witness your own 'bubble' via claims that women are 'finished' at age 30-35, or that all women want monogamy. Neither of those opinions are fact, and interestingly you don't mention the age at which you view men as being 'finished'. Your whole post is some whining rant of male victimhood, which may represent your life, but not other men's. Retort with some "u suck" or some complaint about porn hating feminists eating your soul and your gamebox.

        Grey has undoubtedly created a niche for herself through clever marketing, and there's nothing wrong with that. She may or may not be as narcissistic and screwed up as many actors/actresses are. To paint her as some innovator is a leaning towards the ridiculous; the only difference between her and many porn stars is that she may be more successful in indie films. Porn has been McDonaldsized, and you have to accept both the negatives and positives in that.

    • This sounds scripted. Are you one of those "hip" preachers? Some clown who chokes his chicken after the wife goes to sleep, and feels "sinful" for touching himself? Or just a lifeless loser? You can't spell, you probably have no first hand knowledge, and your reasoning is pedestrian. Get a life.

  24. Marina Ann Hantzis aka Sasha Grey has a wonderful talent that is acting it might need a little smoothness although she still a little rough around the edges there is no doubt she can act I wish to see her on main stream movies IFC or otherwise. Her beauty is mystical and she can portray anything she wants from a sadistic female serial killer to a trouble young woman.

  25. i think that she wanted to be a star in any way and i know for sure that she will not be happy when she see herself doing those bad stuff infront of people .

  26. She takes it up the keester so much that I can't help but wonder how she doesn't soil herself on a daily basis. Sasha you are truly a terrible person without a conscience and because of your actions woman will get raped and murdered.

    • Gerry! Are you a raving Christian loom, or do you drool, too? Unlike you, I suspect that her anus is so well-toned that she could trim a Cuban cigar. When you become anally incontinent you'll have no "excuse."

  27. So she's like Paris Hilton, except that instead of making one porn she made about a thousand and now we have to put up with her death face everywhere, great……..

  28. I don't really get why people make such a big deal out of her, and porn in general. Both in terms of the people who incessantly campaign against it, and those who spend their time defending it.

    The chick is an adult with the ability to make her own choices. If she wants to get peed on (and be fimed while it happens) because it turns her on, then good luck to her. Who are you to say whether that's an "appropriate" method of sexual satisfaction? If it works for her, that's all that really matters. She has the brains and lucidity to do things consensually with other people that appreciate those things, it's not hurting anyone.

  29. As for the whole "porn ruins lives", then so does Nine Inch Nails, violent video games, and competitive team sports when you're a kid. People need to be held accountable for their actions. Yes, certain things may influence people (although that is debatable, the psychological research on the influence of violent media is still very much divided in its findings), but at the end of the day it's that individual's responsibility for what they do, not who they saw do something that gave them an idea. There's a big difference between Sasha Grey getting paid money (and wanting) to be nailed by 15 guys at a time in the roughest way possible, and 15 guys finding some unsuspecting girls and pounding her senseless even though she doesn't want it.

  30. Wow, reading the comments is really a proof that a patriarchal society is a nurturing space for arrogance and aggression. I love when somebody tries to make an intelligent discussion and in return they get the abuse and name calling.

    Porn industry is incredibly destructive to women. And, no, I am not a Christian. Any of the porn 'movie' you watch: women are called sluts, whores and bitches who need to 'take it' or 'get it'. We hardly ever see men's faces, only women in these clips. They don't have any control over what happens to them during the movie: they all just lie or sit there, being thrown from one position into another (like objects). Any of these so called movies concentrate solely on male orgasm. Obviously, the industry staff (camera, directors etc) are in majority men. And that's just what happens on the set. What about the diseases? The unstable pay? I could go on for too long. Wake up people and smell the stink of porn.

    • You clearly have no idea of how the porn industry works today. Why don’t we see men’s faces? 99% of straight porn is geared towards men. The women have ABSOLUTE control of what happens to them on film, everything from costumes, language, and specific sexual acts. There are plenty of women in porn that only do girl-girl, no anal… the list goes on and on. Try actually doing a little research before posting what is clearly an uneducated opinion

  31. aside from all this. anyone think it’s possible that she’s part of the monarch program? ever heard of it? MK ultra? look it up. i see a lot of connections between these worlds(porn and conspiracy). it’s also possible that jenna jameson is also been part of it as well as anna nicole smith. no one’s really observed this, since i guess not many conspiracy studiers look for porn:)
    it’s just a suspicion. google – monarch programming or MK ultra before you decide.

  32. aside from all this. i was wondering wether sasha grey has been in the monarch mind control program. ever heard of it? MK ultra or the monarch program? i know that anna nicole smith was part of it and im sure jenna jameson was aswell.
    i’m noticing connections between the porn ind. and the conspiracy.
    i guess not many conspiracy researchers go looking for porn:)but i did, and i noticed ..that what is being labelled and sold as ‘porn’ looks more like slavery, dehumanisation and control.
    before youz begin naysaying, google-mk ultra and monarch mind control program and see for yourself.
    let the force guide you:)

  33. one more thing…..
    it seems that the clips i’ve seen her in look more slavery, dehumanisation and torture control and is being sold under the porn ‘label.’
    just a thought….

  34. I find this thread completely useless for any side. Although i do agree that pornography is completely destructive and ruins lives and minds. I also believe that once you have rationalized with porn and have become addicted and decensitized then you will not see anything wrong with it. Thats because they no longer have a concscience to tell them what is right.

    For example: you may steal from a shop when you are a child and maybe you only think about doing it the once. After that first time you may feel guilty about what you have done, however you may do it again this time you may still feel guilty but you feel less guilty than before and so it goes……

    until you no longer think that stealing is wrong.
    the questtion is do we really have the right to decide what is right or wrong, i read in this thread that we earned it because we ate an apple. NO WE DIDNT!!!!!! THATS WHY WE NEED THE RANSOM SACRIFICE IT WAS A LIE:

    SATAN SAID: in the very day of your eating from it you will become like god knowing good and bad, and you positivley will not die (WHICH WE DO – and i dont mean we become angels and go to hevean ethhuier eccisiasties 9:5 the dead are conciouse of nothing at all) and its the same with the knowledge of good and bad (IT WAS A LIE) we have not become like god we do not have the right to decide between right and wrong thats why we have the bible for, to tell us. AND THE BIBLE DEMANDS WE TELL OTHER PEOLE LEST WE BE BLOOD GUILTY OURSELVES.

    THIS IS THE ONLY COMMENT I AM LEAVING< NO REPLYS WILL BE ANSWERED I CAME ON THIS SITE BY ACCIDENT.

    ANY WAY I SUGGEST THE NEXT TIME SOMEONE KNOCKS ON YOUR DOOR YOU LISTEN

    • I cannot help but to be amused at the right-wing, fundamentalist Christians who feel the need to post comments quoting their book. I suppose it is only fair to quote their fiction, since the author also used a quote from a work of fiction by Oscar Wilde. To claim you visited the site by accident (and then read the article and left multiple comments) is truly a low…isn’t there something in that book about bearing false witness?

      It is only my opinion, but I find the feminine form a work of art in most cases. Sex is normal as is arousal from pornographic imagery. (Yes, I watch porn, and so does my wife.) Prostitution is arguably one of the world’s oldest professions, alongside farmer and soldier. It seems to me we need to come to terms with our sexuality as a society. I have watched several of her scenes. Some are a bit too extreme for my tastes, yet I am confident my own tastes would be equally provocative to others.

      The fact is Miss Hantzis has a remarkable body which she has used to her advantage. That is hardly something new. After watching “The Girlfriend Experience” I am unsure if the applause for her talent is merited, but I do find her attittudes and realism about her choices refreshing. She also read to schoolchildren in her spare time in one California school, how many of us have done the same?

      She is an attractive young lady who has made her own choices and will deal with the consequences in turn. She in no less talented than many of the soulless morons currently flooding the media such as Kim Karsashian, Tyra Banks and Lindsay Lohan.

  35. i dont believe that its just the way you were brought up i belive that the concscince in the beggining knows that it s wrong. and just one more point i saw the whole video of sha sha grey being interviwed

    IF IT IS NOT SO BAD WHY WAS THE LITTLE GIRL CRYING OVER WHAT SHE HAD DONE if sha sha had defended it that well then the litlle girl would have become more hardend to do such terrible acts.

    THAT IS MY LAST COMMENT 🙂

    • Oh goodie, a bible quoter. And of course he will only leave one comment, except for the second one he added. I love how religious people feel that they are the only ones with the right to believe and act however they want. And it seems especially funny to quote the bible, a book people have used to inflict pain and suffering on millions, to condemn others.

  36. Sure, some people like rough sex. It’s interesting to note that Sasha doesn’t gang bang men in her real life, so she isn’t acting out those things that she does enjoy doing in her private life, in that way she is being a hypocrite to what she claims. She was alright in the Girlfriend Experience, but she does seem repeatedly come across as emotionally flat.

    If she’s fine with what she does, it is her choice to accept both the negative and positive benefits of that career, but I’m not obligated to view her sex work as somehow ’empowering’ to younger women. She’s marketing herself for income, not dedicating her life to some ridiculous, outdated rebellion against prudery, and she is doing a disservice to her younger fans when she spouts off in her self absorbed and pseudo intellectual way. Porn sex is not and shouldn’t be correlated to real life experiences.

  37. She's an idiot… From what I gather, she once said she won't get HIV because she doesn't let her partners come in her vagina and her ass. Apparently she believes that having sperm in your mouth carries no risk. Stupid, emotionally numb girl…

  38. FOR ALL PORN FANS:PORN IS EVIL.NO LOVE,NO PASSION,NO FEELINGS,NO NOTHING.FOR ALL PORN FANS:IF YOU HAVE A DAUGHTER,YOU LEAVE IN PORNOGRAPHY?COMMENTS PLEASE.

  39. I just saw on the internet a memorial for about thirty or so porno stars that had committed suicide or had died of aids or had been murdered. All were young, beautiful at the time of there deaths. The website informed the viewer that these dead porno stars were only but a few of the hundreds that had either committed suicide or had died of aids or drug addition. Sasha Grey is a 23 year old young woman who has been in the business since she was 19 years old. What she needs to realize is that she will never be 19 again or 23, and soon she will find herself a worn out, not so beautiful 30 year old, and she will wonder ware the years have gone, and her beauty and youth.

  40. She's a narcissist plain and simple. She loves negative attention which is why she does the grossest porn imaginable. There isn't anything intelligent or cool about it. How intelligent do you need to be to drop a few names and spread your ass cheeks on film? I mean really…

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