I didn’t recall at first who “Oscar winner” Jennifer Lawrence is. But I was sure I didn’t want to see her nude photos. And it’s not just because I’m so darned old. The truth is that I know Ms. Lawrence wouldn’t want me peeping at her and I think she has a right to her privacy.
Why am I even writing about this?
I was taken aback by the explosive response to the celebrity photos that were hacked and posted online over the weekend. The Internet and the airwaves are abuzz, and “social media” sites are ablaze. One site, Reddit, devotes a whole page to discussions of the purloined photos. The story even made Forbes.com
Ms. Lawrence is causing the greatest stir.
And it’s not just because she won an Oscar for (I had to look this up) “”Silver Linings Playbook.”
Salon.com this morning includes a psycho-babble piece by a female writer who could not resist clicking on the purloined photos of Ms. Lawrence. According to this writer, as she guiltily indulged her curiosity, “Jennifer Lawrence’s body became the body of all women.”
What does that mean? You tell me.
As I said, I haven’t seen those nude photos, but I am sure that all women do not look like her. It’s not that other women are less attractive. But, unlike men who come in three or four predictable packages, women’s bodies represent a wide variety of shapes and sizes. And they are all beautiful in their own way.
I don’t doubt that Ms. Lawrence is exceptionally beautiful. Her face is certainly nice to look at (photo above). But so is the ancient statue of the Venus de Milo. So is “Female Nude Reclining on a Divan” by Eugene Delacroi. So is Manet’s “Olympia.” So is Titian’s “Venus Anadyomene” (below).
The female form has inspired artists, sculptors and authors for centuries. (It is enlightening that of the more than 100 celebrities hacked, only one was male.)
We men have been titillated by the sight of “forbidden” nakedness since … probably since Adam. And “exposing” nude – and compromising – photos of celebrities is as old as Hollywood. (If you’re old enough, you might remember those photos of Marilyn Monroe.)
So what’s the fuss about?
We all value our privacy. I am not the shy type but I wouldn’t be pleased to see my naked body displayed on the web.
The point is that Ms Lawrence’s body belongs to her. And she has every right to show it to whomever she pleases and keep it hidden from the rest of us.
In the name of common decency, we should all just let those photos rest in peace, and find something else to look at.
Click for the Salon.com article.
Click for Jennifer Lawrence’s Oscar.
