NPR published a brief, blurby-type article about “Naked Attraction,” a dating game show streaming on HBO, acquired from England’s Channel 4, the publicly-owned, commercially-operated English broadcaster separate from the BBC, which is paid for by commercials. Apparently, the show’s quite popular, and for whatever reason, has created quite a stir here in the States.
As you might suspect, Naked Attraction is yet another naked pseudo “reality” type show in which the contestants participate unclothed, which, as Neda Ulaby, who reports on arts, entertainment, and cultural trends for NPR’s Arts Desk, wrote, has a fairly simple concept. “Here’s the gimmick: One contestant faces six boxes that contain six naked people. Bit by bit, their bodies are revealed, starting from the bottom. The contestant eliminates possible future dating partners based on the body parts they see.”
Professor Dr. Jeffrey P. Jones, PhD, Executive Director, George Foster Peabody Awards, and Professor at the University of Georgia, authored a book on HBO’s history, was interviewed for the article and stated the most likely reason for the show’s newfound attention:
“They are showing full male frontal nudity, and that’s maybe what’s catching a few breaths. This is marketing that happens without the HBO or Netflix marketing departments.”
In the article, Ms. Ulaby asked a blasé question: “But if nudity is a gimmick that gets them — what happens when nudity gets old?”
Professor Dr. Jones, who earned his undergrad & master’s at Auburn, and PhD at UT Austin, had a succinct reply for that:
“People will never get tired of nudity. It’s on frescoes all through Europe. Nudity is with us forever. Frankly, it’s a central part of who and what we are as humans, and we’re going to tell stories about it.”
On a personal level, I’m glad to know, that at least in a minor way, American society is finally, slowly acknowledging that men have penises, since we so rarely see them in film, or television. That fact seems to have escaped our Puritanical Evangelical brethren who eschew acknowledging that foundational core value of our being, which is that we all owe our existence to a penis.
And to be fair, there’s necessity in the ovaries & tubes, (manufacturing & delivery), vagina (sometimes termed “introitus,” or driveway) and, uterus (the housing center), as well.
But we in America have shamed the human body, have instilled via extreme, fear-based, punishment-exacting religious indoctrination, a base of shame-based guilt, for no good reason, save to perpetuate a system of dogmatic indoctrination, and legal articulation of extreme rightwing radical religious rhetoric.
It is unimaginable that in this year, era, and age, that Read the rest of this entry »
Warm Southern Breeze 