14 DAY TRIAL // Nobody said that one actually has to do something to be famous. Overnight celebrities are something people already got used to and there is no rule (unwritten or otherwise) to stop them from rising to fame and fortune. Of course, many of these suddenly break through on the stage by being lucky enough to be discovered by an expert filmmaker, casting director or music producer.
And, still, there are some examples of famous persons that almost verge on the absurd. They are the Hollywood almost classic case of celebs that have done absolutely nothing to deserve being thus called.
Half distance from both extremes lays the case of music or movie stars who, in an attempt to boost a declining career or to reach more audiences and get more publicity, use sex as a commercial product that sells. Because in the strong competitive world of showbiz, sex and nudity more often than not tend to tip the scale in their favor, to the disadvantage of talent and skills.
It has become a common technique for stars, although never acknowledged as such, to get involved in a major sex scandal or to release various kinds of materials, with explicit sexual content, every time the sales are decreasing. Actually, we're not claiming for a fact that they do that on purpose, but even a superficial look at all the homemade sex tapes that 'leaked' on the Internet and especially given their huge number, might make one to incline towards believing it.
Skin always sells and Madonna was among the first artists ever to discover that. Of course, she didn't publish her controversial 1992 book 'Sex' to boost up her image or her sales. She didn't need to, at that precise moment. But she did publish it and its effects were almost instantly measurable.
From the moment in which 'Sex' hit stands from all over the world, Madonna became associated in people's minds with the image, the embodiment of sex. She became a raunchy, lascivious icon that will survive and will never be erased (despite her later goodie behavior and religiously annoying attitude) from the collective memory.
Then came Pamela Anderson, a woman whose whole life seems to revolve around the idea of sex (but not around the act as such). She was Playboy's favorite playmate and every man's horny fantasy. But years past by and her decreasing popularity seemed a certain sign that she was growing old. Besides, she had already settled down with rocker Tommy Lee and proud mother to a couple of children, so she didn't quite fit the sexy blonde stereotype anymore.
Not until someone 'stole' a video tape that Pammy and Tom filmed during their honeymoon and posted it on the Internet. Sales went up again and Miss fake boobs was getting all the media attention she craved for. Of course, the couple claimed to be absolutely outraged by such an abusive violation of privacy but that wasn't enough for stopping the tape from selling.
And it wasn't even that good, if you think about it. Hearing Pamela telling her new husband 'I love you' every five seconds isn't amusing at all! But people said that the porn was good though, given her accumulated prior 'experience', and worth watching.
Enter Paris Hilton. She is the epitome of star without any obvious reason. Nobody knows what Paris does to make herself such a favorite for the paparazzi, and even less worthy to have fansites. Recently, she started doing some acting (bad) and took up singing (also bad), maybe to allow her to justify all that undeserved popularity.
But what made her really famous is the now classic sex tape stunt. The heiress still claims that her then boyfriend actually broke her young heart with his gesture of making a special edition of their wild night. 'One Night in Paris' became a best-seller, virtually introducing her to a worldwide audience. So, maybe there was a good reason for which she refused to sue her ex-boyfriend and to stop the tape from going public.
Unlike Pamela and Tommy, Hilton didn't even try to make it look as if she were upset about the sex tape. She moved on smilingly, only a few weeks later, to work on her personal reality show that (oh, my Gosh! what a surprise!) brings her more $6 million a year. Outraged? Hell no! Pleased to be seen having sex (which is, by the way, even worse than her acting and singing)? You bet.
More recently, Colin Farrell was involved in a similar sex scandal. But, ironically enough, Colin is the last person on earth to need such lame excuses to make himself more (in)famous. I mean, the man can just go out and have a few drinks more (as he usually does) and tomorrow, he is in all the newspapers.
This time, it was one of his former girlfriends the one that tried to gain something from showing something more than just skin. On Colin's expense, we might as well add. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out but, still, it goes to show that many are willing to make public even the most intimate details of their life in order to be granted easier access to notoriety.
The list could go on like this for ages. That is actually the down side of going for such general topics but, we must say, it also has its advantage. It helps to demonstrate (if anyone needed such a demonstration) that what you always suspected is truly right.
You had your money on the prize right from the start: as we were saying in the title, if you're a star and you run out of ideas, you're feeling you're going downhill into oblivion and nothing comes close to getting you out, do your best to get involved in a major (international, if possible) sex scandal and you're home free. Nothing sells better than homemade sex tapes, but a sexy book will always do, if nothing else is available.
