Entertainment or Outrage? Victoria's Secret's Very Special Christmas
by Joanna Pompilio
American Word Staff Writer

What can you do when you’re the biggest thing in lingerie since the thong? Hit the most powerful media outlet, TV, and move Heaven, Earth and human rights groups with Angels, of course.

These Angels are no Saints, which is what the Victoria’s Secret execs wanted as they hit the airwaves with fur flying and asses giggling - all to a commercial success that is sure to make millions during the holiday season.

Two women’s groups and a media watchdog organization asked CBS to not air the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, calling it a ‘soft-core porn infomercial,’ according to articles in the Associated Press. CBS declared a full-speed-ahead with its annual bra bash, complete with babes in brasseries and butt floss flocking down the runway and taking to the sky, all under the heavenly title of Angels.

The panty parade went on, but not without a few snags in its stockings. Viewers missed the real entertainment when four members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals rushed the stage. Their target was uber-supermodel Gisele and her new contract with Blackglama, a leading American fur company. Toting signs that blared “Gisele: Fur Scum” across them, the perturbed PETA members caused the runway show to be restaged and re-taped. The protestors were trapped and led away by security guards and three were served summonses for their 20-second burst of disorderly conduct, according an Associated Press newswire release.

In a society where every aspect of the entire world is available through the click of a button; and instant Internet access is in airports, bus stations and the smallest bodega; cameras so small they are called Elves; blackberries that allow email access without being jacked into a computer and last but not least cell phones that seem to grow, like fungus, out of even the smallest child’s ear – skin and sex are still the most lucrative and entertaining pastime.

Is the world just boring? Or is sex so taboo in American society that mere nakedness, parading down catwalks and dubbed ethereal, is really a worthwhile form of artistic _expression and amusement?

The answer is a resounding, “hell yeah!” from every sex starved individual, famished for even momentary glimpses of flesh on some of the highest paid, walking hangers in the world. Since this was the eighth annual peep show from Victoria’s Secret, the demand has grown to a horny howl from spectators everywhere.

From a male perspective, this show is probably beneficial. They need to know what women are socialized to want for Christmas, and what men of course, love to see their wives and girlfriends wear, if only for a little while.

And besides, if parents and advocates groups have a problem with Victoria’s Secret style of television, they should also direct their attention to other, toward more violent programming, such as the reality TV show COPS, or NYPD Blue, which exhibits naked rear ends on prime time television weekly. There is also cable television, which children could easily get their hands on. Programs such as The Sopranos, or the sexually explicit Sex and the City, which some

Here’s a secret that’s been out for a long time: If viewers don’t like a program, they can change the channel. Remotes make it so that viewers don’t even have to get off their asses, so shut up and flip the channel.

But that’s too easy for some people. The Concerned Women for America, the National Organization for Women and the Parents Television Council call it ‘a soft-core porn infomercial,’ according to an article in The Columbus Dispatch.

Sounds like fighting words.

But these groups shouldn’t worry, because unlike ABC, CBS made sure that this year, no sheer lingerie would be featured. This eliminated the need to blur nipples and ass crack. Because that would interfere with the entertainment.

CBS also gave the show a TV-14 rating, an indication that the material may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14. Executives from the network dismiss the allegations that the show is offensive, according to an article in The Columbus Dispatch. In fact, CBS and Victoria’s Secret execs are already plotting sequels to the show, citing a swimsuit edition and other ways to put the female form on display and instill negative body images in the minds of young girls.

The lingerie maker, owned primarily by the Columbus, Ohio based The Limited Inc, paid to produce the fashion show and was also responsible for buying most of the

commercial time on the hour. This year’s show is vastly different from last year’s. Sure, there are still half naked women grandstanding and flaunting their booties and busts for money, but the Victoria’s Secret minions upped the ante with interviews and model profiles, appearances by Destiny’s Child, Marc Anthony and other big name performers.

With a commercially driven, moneymaking machine lineup like that, how could viewers not be entertained?

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