|
Gentlefolk,
The scene is set by looking at an attractive woman’s private moment.
As this is being done by looking through a keyhole, this is an implied invasion of privacy. We all know this is wicked, and delightfully so, as we may indeed learn what goes on behind closed doors.
Now, from DB’s url, “Bendon UK, …, said the advert was inspired by the film ‘Rear Window’.”
For those who are unfamiliar with this film by Alfred Hitchcock, the plot outline of “Rear Window” is of a wheelchair bound photographer who spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced that one of them has committed murder.
So again, this time explicitly, we see that the ad incorporates an invasion of privacy theme.
Examine how the picture is composed, two thirds or so of it functions as background, with a dull undetailed brown. Upon this background is placed three words on the left, and on the right the subject of the ad.
Let us first look at the words. ”Elle Macpherson Intimates” Note that what is being presented is not clothing, but something intimate. What might that be?
Looking to the right of the picture, we see a keyhole. Not just any keyhole, mind you, but a keyhole which, oddly, has an oval shape, a shape unlike that of any keyhole you or I have ever seen, or are likely to. Indeed, the oval shape of the keyhole is not unlike that shape formed when the outer labia of a woman’s vagina are pulled apart, as during periods of sexual activity. While on the subject of the unusual, I have yet to see a door to a lady’s boudoir which is perhaps a third to a half of an inch thick. Have you? This all seems to be a set up presenting the object to be spied upon.
Narrowing our focus further, have you noticed that most of the lingerie is not shown? A large fraction of the bra is not even shown; only the part containing the breasts, although how it fits is probably something a prospective customer may want to see. The area of the picture occupied by the lady’s hands is greater than that of the panties. I’ll admit that I seldom put panties on (and even if I did I wouldn’t admit it), but I doubt that they are put on while sitting down, or by pulling on the front with both hands. And where are the lady’s fingers? Well two or three of them are stroking the material covering her vagina. Not, I grant you, by definition an act of masturbation, but one that is consistent with the activity. And where is this image? It is in the middle of the foreground, where artists commonly place the most important elements of their composition.
Now, I cannot say how a woman could or should masturbate. But I suspect that if you asked, you would find many women who would be able to tell (or even offer to show) you how a woman could masturbate with her thumbs. Perhaps some of the women who post at Pixies-place are adventurous enough to provide directions, if asked (thread opportunity here).
We have it on the best authority (Rod Stewart) that every picture tells a story. I have tried to write a story of what can be seen – not what should be seen. I have tried to provide a plausible interpretation of this picture – not a convincing or compelling one. You and I, my wife, and other members of this group tend to take images of this nature in stride. Now, take the picture off of this web site, where all the members approve of and condone such images, and put it in a magazine purchased by an old biddy in Stoke-on-Trent, or some other “unenlightened” voter.
I have identified two plausible objections, one ancient (indecency) and one modern (invasion of privacy). There may be others I have not seen. Remember, this was a professional job.
What was quite likely to happen in Great Britain is what has already happened here – and the ASA knew it. I have said before, say now, and will in all likelihood say again, is that we are not alone. We are not a majority. Society does enforce norms, be they good or ill, whether society should or not. When the FCC receives hundreds of thousands of complaints, it must act. When it does act, it does so by limiting the range of behavior over which it has authority. Better by far to prevent the advertisement from creating a toxic environment than responding to the complaints after the fact.
__________________
Eudaimonia
|
Linear Mode
