Asia Carrera's letter

To: sophie@mentertainment.com

This is Asia Carrera. you have my e-mail address posted in the 'fan club' section of your site. please remove it, as I receive far too much e-mail to answer comfortably every day. Asia Carrera in her dancing days in New Jersey By the way, you did a spread on me in Mentertainment a couple years ago (1992 at Pellegrino's, Editor), before I was Asia Carrera. I used to be a dancer in NJ under the name of Jessica, and one time you printed some pics of me, and another time you printed a piece of fan mail about my dancing. I danced at all the clubs around Rutgers, before I moved out to LA to be a porn star. Mentertainment was the first time I ever saw my picture in print.
...Just thought I'd let you know...
Hugs,
Asia


Editor's notes: I went to my files, I found the pictures, I went to her web-site, and found the following piece that made me choke up. Here you go: the story of a porn-star from New Jersey: Asia Carrera: love her or hate her, can't ignore her.


ASIA CARRERA
"Why I Do Porn Even Though I'm Very Bright and I Could Have Grown Up to Do Anything I Wanted"
by Asia Carrera
Asia Carrera

We all know I was an academically gifted little girl. What I don't publicize, is that I was not an especially motivated child. I was an overachiever only through a) genetics, and b) incredible pressure from my parents. My parents wanted me to go to Harvard and be a doctor or a lawyer, and I wanted to play piano and hang out with friends.

Needless to say, my parents and I butted heads on this. My father was an immigrant from Japan, and my mother was an immigrant from Germany. They were from the "old school", strictly disciplined, and they both did extremely well academically, so they were in no way being hypocritical with their demands on me. (my dad went to Caltech on full academic scholarship for math and physics. He's the biggest nerd I know)

I was grounded for every "B" I got, and beaten for getting anything lower than that. I was not allowed to socialize at all, or go to parties, because they said there'd be time for that after I got into a good college. Well, I did what any red-blooded American kid would do, I'd sneak out. And get caught. And get beaten. And get grounded again. Without launching into too much detail, let's just say I was unhappy. (I tried to kill myself a lot)
Asia Carrera

Shortly before my seventeenth birthday, I ran away from home. I stayed where I could, with a rock'n'roll band, with friends, with strangers, in houses, in hotels, at one point in a tent. I worked when I could, but I couldn't do much at seventeen, so I had no money. I had friends drive me to school every day, and I begged people to bring me Doritos so I'd have something to eat. Everything I owned fit in two garbage bags. Sometimes I fucked people I didn't want to, so I could have a place to sleep, or a good meal. I gritted my teeth a lot, and did what I had to, rather than crawl back home and grovel for my folks' forgiveness.
Asia Carrera

Eventually the State found out I was living on my own, and I got put in a foster home. My foster parents were as strict as my own parents, and I still was not allowed to date or socialize. This was twice as difficult for me to handle now, after having had a taste of freedom, but I stayed until I finished high school. I ran away from my foster home on my eighteenth birthday, knowing I only had to fend for myself until the fall, when I was going to Rutgers on my full academic scholarship. I hitchhiked off with my two garbage bags of stuff, and did what I could to not starve.

So actually I went to college not for an education, but to take advantage of free room and board, and not have to worry about where I was going to sleep that night. I got a job as a bartender, and wished I had the guts to become a stripper 'cause I heard they made lots of money. One day the owner of the bar said he was having a private party and 'would you like to serve drinks topless for $100'? Wow, a hundred bucks was a lot of dough for me, so I said sure. I also drank a lot of vodka to screw up my courage. Next thing you knew, I was on the bar with some girls he'd hired, and I was collecting tips like crazy. I came home with $300 bucks, and was amazed. I'd never made that much money in my life!
Asia Carrera

So the next day I took a bottle of vodka and got myself hired at all the local go-go bars. I then proceeded to work seven nights a week, and I saved up a minimum of $1000 every week. I obviously stopped attending classes, only going in to take finals. During winter break in '93, I flew to LA try my hand at adult movies. I never went back, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I know some of you still think I'm "settling for less than I could achieve" in life, but all I can say is this: I'm happy here, happier than I've ever been in my life, and I don't consider that "settling" at all! I met my wonderful husband here, who treats me like the princess of the world, and I have a fun job that also provides me with the time and money to do all the things I want to do, like play piano, create drawings, and work on my web site! I've slowly lost the hard edge and the "fuck-the-world" attitude I had as a runaway, and gained a love for life that I never had. Now I try to do something productive every day, and I save and invest for the future. When I'm too old to do adult movies anymore, I'm going to be a stock analyst. And when I die, I'm leaving behind a trust fund to provide help and shelter for abused and homeless children, so a little piece of me will live forever!

And there you have it! Hugs, Asia

PS: I'm not mad at my parents. I know they just wanted me to be the best I could be, and I understand that. They just pushed too hard, that's all. I don't think you should sacrifice happiness for success, because if you are successful and unhappy, that's not much of a success, is it?





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