(Warning: There are a few clips from 50 Shades shown in the video that could be a trigger for some. Watch with caution.)

Russell Brand: English comedian, actor, and what do you know – anti-porn advocate. That’ll teach you not to judge a book by its cover.

But seriously – he might not have been the first person I expected to come out about the harmful effects of movies like  50 Shades of Grey, but I’m glad he did. In this short video he calls it soft-core pornography, and outlines the dangers as well as his personal realisations about the dangers of porn.

Have a watch or check out this summary of his main points:

• Films like 50 Shades of Grey are the “mainstreaming and commodification of soft-core porn”
• “Sex is something we’re all interested in because of biological programming, but our attitudes towards sex have become warped and perverted, and have deviated from its true purpose as an expression of love and a means for procreation”
• “I heard a quote from a priest: ‘pornography is not an issue because it shows us too much, but because it shows us too little’”
• A culture of pornography has led to an exaggerated perception of sexual activity in society, diminished trust between intimate couples, the abandonment of hope of sexual monogamy, and the belief that promiscuity is the natural state
• “There’s a general feeling, isn’t there, in your core, when you look at pornography, that this isn’t exactly the best thing for me to me doing, this isn’t exactly the best use of my time”
• Five main symptoms of looking at soft-core porn: voyeurism (an obsession with looking at women, rather than interacting with them), objectification (an attitude in which women are objects, rated by size, shape and harmony of body parts), validation (the need to validate masculinity through beautiful women), trophy-ism (the idea that beautiful women are collectibles who show the world what a man is), fear of true intimacy (inability to relate to women in an honest and intimate way despite deep loneliness)
• “This cloud of pornographic information; and soft cultural smog like 50 Shades of Grey… is making it impossible for us to relate to our own sexuality, our own psychology, and our own spirituality. Because this powerful primal resource – whenever it’s plugged in – is jarring and distracting…if you’re constantly bombarded by great waves of filth, it’s really hard to stay connected to truth”.

Remember who said all that.