Will the Real Miss Bennett Please Stand Up?

Recently two actresses appeared nude for Vanity Fair magazine. The editors intended a third woman for the naked shoot, the stunning Rachel McAdams. But unlike the other two, she had enough feminine strength and beauty to gracefully decline the nudity requirements and walk off the shoot. Regretfully, Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson had simultaneous judgment malfunctions--not unlike Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction"--and felt compelled to comply with the directive to take their clothes off.

The only thing covered in the shoot was Vanity Fair artistic director Mr. Ford (Rachel's fully clothed stand-in), and Scarlett's fingernails. The name of Scarlett’s nail polish was particularly noted by Vanity Fair, "Lady is a Tramp. It kind of fit with the photo." Their demeaning remarks reveal Vanity Fair was not striving for artistry, but instead to profit from demeaning the image of a gracefully talented and beautiful young actress.

Kudos go to Rachel McAdams who probably walked off the shoot with nail polish that matched her clothes, not the intent of self-serving editors.

As for Keira, she is nominated for an Oscar for playing Miss Elizabeth Bennett, the intelligent, modest, classy heroine of Pride and Prejudice. However, the Vanity Fair shoot suggests that Keira is more like Elizabeth's misguided sister, a modern day Lydia Bennett, who has no respect for her own graces and ends up in the hands of destructive self-serving opportunists. 

When you think about it, it's kind of strange that people who would never run through other people's lawns in their birthday suits  willingly traipse around in everyone's grocery store, book store, cigar store, liquor store and their living rooms--via their naked images sitting on thousands of shelves and coffee tables. For the adorably beautiful Keira, her raw exposure gathered storms of media attention, but garnering respect it likely did not; a modern day Mr. Darcy would probably be awed by her beauty, but unimpressed by her judgment.

Sadly, instead of Mr. Darcy, it seems in real life Keira is picked up instead by the likes of Mr. Ford and Annie Leibovitz of Vanity Fair, the modern day Mr. Wickham and Mrs. Younge. Ford and Leibovitz, like the Pride & Prejudice villains, are revealed as wolves in sheep’s clothing, as they leave degradation in their wake merely to advance their own profiteering.

Gratitude goes to Rachel McAdams whose graceful exit from Vanity Fair shoot has garnered admiration--at least from us, anyway. Thank you, Rachel, for the walk out!

Comments

[tj]

Does anyone know who Rachel's new rep is? She apparently dumped her rep over this.

Great post, Jeannine. I totally agree with you.

[kalipay]

wow, uniquely put, JK. thanks for the insight.

[Erin P]

Great blog on Vanity Fair, Jeannine! Great title! Now I just need to read the book and see the movie...I know, I know:)

Also, you've pointed out what we don't hear about very much but I'm sure is out there - celebrities making their PR decisions based on their moral judgments and feminine intuitions!

[Steven Mark Pilling]

Congratulations on a good website, ladies! In response to Jeannine Kellogg's article, I can only echo her kudos to Rachel McAdam's walk-out of that "Vanity Fair" obsenity. It's tragic that Dakota Fanning's agents didn't have the moral fortitude to get her out of there as well. They badly failed that child when they should have been protecting her from heartless exploiters like Tom Ford.

[ellen]

What happened with Dakota Fanning?

[Wendy Shalit]

Dakota Fanning was, unfortunately, glammed up to look like a heavy-lidded, jaded femme fatale of about 40.

[Ellen]

That's too bad about Dakota. She seems to be a really precious little girl with tons of potential. I hope she doesn't get started down "that" road.

[Steven]

It's beginning to look like Ellen's fears were all too prophetic.

[Lewellen]

The truth about the movie Hounddog:

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