Monday, September 10, 2007

What gives?

For me, sitting around at the hair salon is an opportunity for me to catch up on magazines. I was waiting as my husband got his hair cut, and picked up the current issue of Allure, with Britney Spears on the cover. It was surreal. The photo spread, which featured a topless Spears (with her breasts discreetly covered by her hands or arms), was accompanied by Judith Newman's article about her unsuccessful efforts to get an interview with Spears. Then, there was Editor-in-chief Linda Wells's tortured (and ultimately lame) justification for putting Spears on the cover. What gives?

Just go to the Allure web site - it's all about boosting magazine sales.

PS I didn't watch MTV's Video Music Awards, but by all accounts, Spears' headliner performance was a disaster. While Kanye West's insistence that he should have been headliner is proof of his overweaning ego, he was probably right when he said that MTV "exploited" Spears for TV ratings.

Does this woman (Spears) have anything else to offer than exposing her body? Are Allure and MTV so deficient in imagination that they must exploit this woman's tabloid-worthy escapades and problems to promote themselves?

1 comment:

Tessalina Hollydae said...

Yes, MTV and Allure really are that desperate. There was an US Weekly article that made the news because it was ultimately a report about an interview that didn't happen and Spear's bizarre behavior leading up to said non-interview. They stated at the end that the article was written out of concern for a spiraling Spears. I've no doubt she's spiraling, but I do doubt their concern. Celebrity exploitation sells.