Oct 10
21
Is Glee GQ photo shoot pedophilia?
Toronto Star – October 21, 2010
Glee photo shoot called ‘creepy’
Reuters News Agency
A racy photo shoot for men’s magazine GQ featuring three Glee cast members raised eyebrows on Wednesday, provoking terms like “creepy” and “pedophilia” and questions over whether the popular TV musical show is becoming overexposed. Short skirts, high heels, scanty panties and provocative poses featuring lollipops dominate the November issue photo shoot featuring Lea Michele (Rachel), Dianna Agron (Quinn) and Cory Monteith (Finn) that plays with the high school setting of the Emmy-award winning TV show. All three actors are in their 20s. The Parents Television Council watchdog group claimed that the photos “border on pedophilia,” given the adult male readership of GQ.
Broadcaster Fox declined Wednesday to comment on the parents council statement. But GQ editor-in-chief Jim Nelson said that the watchdog group “should learn to divide reality from fantasy.” “As often happens in Hollywood, these ‘kids’ are in their twenties. Cory Monteith’s almost 30. I think they’re old enough to do what they want,” Nelson said.
Bob Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, brushed off the council’s comments, noting that Glee had never been a “kiddie show” despite attracting teens. “From the very beginning, Glee has dealt with pot, teen pregnancy and gay sexuality. This is a show that has definitely got adult themes. The GQ shoot demonstrates it isn’t just a show for teeny boppers,” Thompson told Reuters.
But Salon.com writer Mary Elizabeth Williams said GQ’s playing up of the sexy teen angle was “just creepy.” Los Angeles Times TV writer Mary McNamara, noting that Monteith remains fully clothed, expressed dismay that young women still feel the need to pose so provocatively. Michele, she wrote “seems to be auditioning for a live action version of Japanese anime porn.” The Washington Post’s Celebritology blog said the GQ shoot was “the latest evidence that the Glee hype machine might be starting to spiral out of control.”
Thompson said he had long felt Glee is overrated by the media. But he noted that one of its consistent themes was tolerance and “that’s a pretty good message for a kid, even though it gets there with a lot of dicey content.”
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