The truth about celebrity sex tapes

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No such thing as bad publicity
It doesn’t matter if the tape is released with or without a famous person’s consent; it doesn’t matter if the video is poor quality; it doesn’t even matter if you are, in fact, any good in the sack (Farrell’s tape, it should be noted, clocks in at a brief 15 minutes from start to finish).

The truth of the matter is that these tapes are actually a boon to celebrities because they help generate tons of publicity. We have always been interested in celebrity skin, starting with Marilyn Monroe and continuing with today’s reality TV personalities. Pictures of naked stars have been a staple of pornography for decades, so watching our favorite entertainers do the nasty is just the logical extension of this collective fascination.

Which isn’t to say that sex tapes have always been a good career move.

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Before the internet caught on, they were seen as shameful, the province of sex addicts (hello, Rob Lowe) or C-listers like Tonya Harding. Not anymore.

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They are now a legitimate means of grabbing headlines. They are, to phrase the trend in corporate jargon, just one more possible revenue stream.

In fact, it would be easy to argue that Farrell has already gotten plenty of mileage out of the tape he made with Miss January 2002. Before his lawsuit was launched this summer, Farrell had started to slide into obscurity because of box-office stinkers like “Alexander.” Thanks to his taped performance, he’s being talked about again.

No matter how good his legal team, there’s still a fair chance that Farrell’s exploits in the boudoir will eventually become available online; the public interest in them is growing at this very moment. And if we do all get a chance to buy our very own copy of the Farrell/Narain video, this is what will probably happen to the arc of Farrell’s career: nothing. He will continue to make movies that are mostly average, with the occasional really good or really bad one.

Colin Farrell can rest easy. His days as Tinseltown’s resident macho Irishman are far from over.

Dan Brown is a writer in Toronto. He can be reached at .

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