Racy "Glee" photos in GQ kick up a storm

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES | Wed Oct 20, 2010 6:02pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - 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 over-exposed.

Short skirts, high heels, scanty panties and provocative poses featuring lollipops dominate the November issue photoshoot featuring Lea Michele (Rachel), Dianna Agron (Quinn) and Corey Monteith (Finn) that plays with the high school setting of the Emmy-award winning television show. All three actors are in their 20s.

The Parents Television Council watchdog group said the photos "border on pedophilia," given the adult male readership of GQ. "This is just the latest example of the overt sexualization of young girls in entertainment," the PTC added.

"Glee", a sometimes dark, subversive comedy featuring a high school choir, has taken U.S. pop culture by storm since its 2009 debut. Superstars like Madonna, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga readily agreed to license their songs to the show.

The program has produced three best-selling albums, won two Emmys and deals boldly with issues like sex, disability, and gay bullying. It is regularly watched by some 13.4 million U.S. viewers and has a strong youth following.

Broadcaster Fox on Wednesday declined to comment on the PTC 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 PTC 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 that "Glee" is over-rated 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."

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Powered by WizardRSS | Full Text RSS Feeds

Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione dies

WASHINGTON | Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:44am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bob Guccione, who brought full-frontal nudity to the newsstands and built a multimillion dollar publishing empire on the success of his flagship Penthouse magazine, died of cancer in Plano, Texas, on Wednesday, his family said. He was 79.

His wife, April Dawn Warren Guccione, and two of his children were at his side, according to a statement emailed to Reuters.

Seen as an upstart rival to Playboy's Hugh Hefner as the leading publisher of skin magazines, Guccione aggressively challenged his rival while trying to keep Penthouse legitimate.

The financial success of Penthouse's mix of racy photographs, investigative reporting, science fiction and sexual advice columns allowed Guccione to launch other magazines, most notably the glossy science publication Omni.

He also published Forum, Variations and Penthouse Letters, pocket-sized magazines based on some of the most popular Penthouse columns.

Guccione also owned one of the largest mansions in Manhattan. But he eventually lost his Penthouse empire due to Reagan-era censorship, a series of extravagant business failures and the Internet onslaught of free pornography.

He earned world headlines and sent Penthouse sales rocketing with publication of nude photographs of Miss America, Vanessa Williams, in 1984 and of rock queen Madonna in 1985.

In July 1988 and again in January 1989, Penthouse rocked the worldwide television ministry of Jimmy Swaggart with "confessions" from women who said they acted out pornographic fantasies for Swaggart. The preacher was defrocked by his denomination.

Guccione portrayed himself as a conservative workaholic, belying the racy reputation inspired by his magazines and his stock uniform of a shirt open to the waist and gold chains draped around his neck.

"No one has ever been in my swimming pool without a bathing suit," he once said.

The son of a successful accountant, Guccione was born in the New York borough of Brooklyn, grew up in suburban New Jersey but left the United States after high school to practice painting first in Rome and, three years later, in London.

IMMEDIATE CRITICISM

While there, he held a variety of jobs, working as a cook, actor and private eye before launching Penthouse in 1965.

With its frontal pictures of naked women, the magazine drew immediate criticism that only spurred its popularity.

In 1969, Penthouse invaded the United States and challenged Playboy with more sexually explicit stories and photographs, many taken by Guccione himself in soft-focus. The magazine also was among the first to run a column for Vietnam veterans.

By 1974, Guccione's annual personal income from Penthouse was estimated at $6 million.

Powered by WizardRSS | Full Text RSS Feeds