Reflections on Playboy: Goddesses inspire three actresses at a <i>Vanity Fair</i> cover shoot

March 3, 2006

Goddesses inspire three actresses at a Vanity Fair cover shoot

Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson agreed to appear naked on the cover [not work-safe] of the March Vanity Fair; Rachel McAdams refused. Some have used this incident as a mere political football, but I wish to praise the divine inspiration behind all three women’s choices.

Aphrodite is famously eager to show off her body, while Artemis champions modesty. Like yin and yang, their opposite qualities define, complement, and power each other. That McAdams said no reminds me that Knightley and Johansson could also have said no, making the fact that they said yes all the more erotic. At the same time, I find the Artemis-like fierceness with which women often guard their modesty endearing.

In an interview for the Nightline program of February 21, Terry Moran asked Knightley why she posed nude. “For pure mischief,” she said, baring her teeth and wrinkling her nose in a benignly mischievous manner, “and because it made me giggle....You know what? I’m 20. It’s Vanity Fair. It’s [photographer] Annie Leibovitz. It’s something to show my grandchildren. They’ll think I had a wild youth....Why not?” Her reasons echo those given by countless Playboy models. Aphrodite seems to whisper the same words in numerous women’s ears.

If the story is understood (at least metaphorically) as a conflict between equally honorable deities, then everyone gets to be right.

Update, November 7, 2007, 3:10 p.m.: Better late than never, I’m posting the Vanity Fair cover on this page:

Posted by Brian Sorgatz at 10:32 AM

Bag Lady left this comment at March 3, 2006 1:12 PM
The men issue should be Mathhew Mcconughey, Brad Pitt, and Josh Harnett

JJ left this comment at March 21, 2006 8:19 AM
Hey brian423...

I just got the latest issue. Is it just me or is it completely ironic that Rachel McAdams refused the Vanity Fair pictorial, but she's featured in the Playboy Grapevine with a nipple slip pic?

Brian Sorgatz left this comment at March 21, 2006 10:14 AM
JJ,
It is somewhat ironic. But a gentleman graciously and cheerfully allows a lady some inconsistency in these matters, as I’ve explained in another post.

Salihah סליחה صالحه left this comment at January 11, 2007 2:30 PM
I think both goddesses represent the female form beautifully. I lean toward being a Artemis, but underneath, I'm all Aphrodite. I take the best of both worlds...the difference is that I am the one to choose when I'm which one and who I show which goddess to.

Brian Sorgatz left this comment at January 11, 2007 2:53 PM
Salihah,
I suppose that most women can relate to both goddesses at various times.

March 3, 2006

var a = 5; if(a == 0) {document.write('0 comments');}else if(a == 1){document.write('1 comment');}else {document.write(a+' comments');}