Russell Brand's Anti-Porn Rant Goes Viral

Actor Russell Brand has spoken out against the culture of pornography after the release of “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The actor who is famous for his roles in comedic films, criticized the accessibility of softcore and hardcore pornography in a filmed speech that went viral. 

World Magazine reports Brand also admitted that he consumed pornography as an adolescent. But at the time, pornography was not just a few clicks away. 

“Our attitudes towards sex have become warped and perverted and have deviated from its true function as an expression of love and a means for procreation,” Brand said. “Because our acculturation—the way we’ve designed it and expressed it—has become really, really, confused.” 

He continued, “Now there’s just icebergs of filth floating through every house on Wi-Fi. It’s inconceivable what it must be like to be an adolescent boy now with this kind of access to porn. It must be dizzying and exciting, yet corrupting in a way we can’t even imagine.”

At the same time, Google reversed its decision to make pornography more difficult to find online this week. The search engine giant labels graphic material as “adult” but wanted to make the content available to only the website publisher and those who were granted permission. After a public backlash, Google did not go through with the change. 

Brand said, “It’s making it impossible for us to relate to our own sexuality, our own psychology, and our own spirituality. Porn is not something I like, it’s not something I’ve been able to make a long-term commitment to not looking at, and it’s affecting my ability to relate to women, to relate to myself, to my own sexuality, to my own spirituality.”

Publication date: March 3, 2015