Volume II No. 04
 09-09-03
 The Kiss
 { Britney Spears, Madonna. Oh...and that
   Christina Aguilera, too. }
 author: Vance Cureton
 © Copyright 2003

 This has been an exciting two weeks. The MTV Video Music awards
 was a winner. And the Washington Redskins and New York Jets gave
 the nation a worthy Thursday night start to the 03 - 04 NFL season.

 But a serious question remains. Have you had enough of Britney, yet?
 That is, Britney Spears of the ever-revealed and talked about belly-button.
 Britney who can't dance. Britney who can't sing. Britney who has no
 discernible talent.

 Britney who is beloved by her young fans, just because she is Britney.

 There was another young lady more than a decade ago, who also couldn't 
 sing much, or dance much, but who could "perform" her you-know-what
 off on stage nontheless. This woman became the international phenomenon 
 known as Madonna.

 So was there really any surprise that when Britney, Madonna, and the
 equally hot Christina Aguilera, were scheduled to perform together
 at the MTV Music Video Awards, that Madonna { the tireless self-promoter } 
 would not be satisfied to let the performance - not a bad one - stand on 
 its own merits. And would just have to do "something" controversial
 to close out the show.

 Thus, the viewing audience was blessed { cursed? } with "The Kiss."
 Or should we say "The Kisses." Madonna layed an open-mouthed wet 
 one on both Britney and Christina to end the act. And predictably in the
 hours and days to follow the supermarket tabloids, the tabloid television 
 shows, and the even mainstream print and broadcasting had a field day 
 talking endlessly about "The Kiss."

 So what was it about "The Kiss" that causes such endless fascination?
 Let's get one thing out of the way, first. The discussions going on
 around the country concerning "The Kiss" have nothing to do about 
 the moral implications of lesbianism or homosexuality in general. The 
 three women involved are not lesbians. -- So need to call in the television
 evangelicals.

 Enough already.

 Instead "The Kiss" is all about the current fascination in American 
 culture with "beautiful" women kissing one-another. This is a taboo 
 of sorts, that has been bashed to smithereens in the last half-dozen 
 years or so. At least as far as the mainstream hollywood movies, as 
 an example.

 The women can be absolutely 100% heterosexual. -- Usually such
 scenes feature alcohol or drugs. Or maybe no stimulants are involved
 at all. The intimate encounters between women "being bad" is 
 provided as an irresistable sexual enticement for the trogolodyte-types
 who are presumably enraptured with the idea of two women together.

 Are these outlandish stereotypes or what!

 And even when the women in such encounters are not heterosexual, 
 when was the last time there was a scene in a movie that gets talked 
 about on tabloid television, where the women are not physically 
 attractive. -- Imagine for a moment, if Madonna were an out-of-shape 
 250 pounder with wide hips and bags under her eyes. Would the television 
 media have carried on endlessly about what happened on stage at the 
 MTV Video Music Awards?

 Probably not.

 In fact, the reaction might have been the complete opposite of what
 occured this time. Those open-mouthed kisses might have been regarded
 as vulgar and disgusting. Instead of continuous airplay, there might
 have been continuous and LOUD condemnation.

 There can be a tendency to over-analyze this whole thing. But, what
 a telling hyprocrisy is revealed in the relatively benign acceptiveness 
 of the female-female kiss on television and in the movies when the 
 women don't have the personal appearance of NFL line-backers. 

 Maybe it's good that taboos are challenged. Because taboos like prejudices 
 are often rooted in ignorance and fear. The fear of what might happen if
 yet another boundary is breached. Thirty years ago network execs at NBC
 held their breath, not knowing what really to expect as a reaction from the 
 public, when William Shatner kissed { with lips barely visible } Nichelle 
 Nichols in an episode of the original Star Trek series. Today interracial 
 couples on television are an afterthought. 

 Was this as shameless a calculation as it seems? A person can certainly
 give Madonna credit for creating controversy out of thin air. She certainly 
 can't act. And she is in no way a gifted singer. -- Not by a long shot.

 Madonna was always a performer first and foremost. And now that she's 
 at 40 her days are numbered. So, why would anyone expect her NOT to 
 try something dangerous to keep her feet firmly planted in the middle of 
 the music business? 

 "The Kiss" may well be talked about for years to come. At least in some 
 circles. Not unlike that outrageous and brilliant Michael Jackson moonwalk 
 performance of years gone by.

 Brilliant.

 The problem is Madonna probably didn't expect that all the talk would 
 center around the youthful Britney Spears. - And not around her. 

 Afterall "The Kiss" was Madonna's creation. Her inspiration.

 Oh, beautiful, innocent, blonde-haired Britney.

 Britney of bubble-gum, puppy-love, and the angst of first-time romance.

 Wait a minute!?

 Didn't Madonna french-kiss Christina Aguilera, too?

 Why isn't everyone talking endlessly about that kiss?

 Well, we are not quite yet, there... People.
 

 ReadingPost.Com
 © Copyright 2003

_______________________________

 Liberal Rights Announcement Group

 Enjoy this article? Subscribe to our list and
 have our latest liberal rants delivered right 
 to your mailbox. We will never SPAM you.

 Comments sent to editor may be republished
 on our site or in our announcement list at our 
 discretion. Comments containing crude language
 and/or vulgarites will be deleted and your 
 email address permanently banned.

_______________________________

 Detective Service Or Detective Software? 
 Your Choice...

 Net Detective Software
 Web Detective Service

_______________________________
 

 ARTICLE SEARCH:
 use keywords or phrases to locate 
 other ReadingPost.Com articles

_______________________________

 Having link partnerships is one of the ways to increase the link popularity of your web site.
 The search engines have a high regard for sites that have plenty of incoming links from
 similar sites.

 Therefore, working together to achieve our goals certainly makes a lot of sense. With that
 in mind we'd like to invite you to add your site to our Political Links Directory. Only
 sites that are related to political news, social commentary and opinion, political blogs and
 rants, election websites, political activist sites, media websites, political humor and satire,
 political forums, news commentary sites both mainstream and independent, religious opinion, 
 and miscellaneous sites, that are in some manner related to politics or current events, will 
 be accepted.

 All manner of sites are welcome from those on the Far Right, to the Far Left.

 Hate sites, extremist sites, sites containing an excessive amount of vulgarity or material
 unsuitable for children or young teens { a disclaimer should be located prominently on the 
 index page } and sites promoting bigotry or intolerance of any kind, will be rejected!

 Here's our EMAIL ADDRESS. <<---

 Send this information in your email:
 * web site title
 * a brief description
 * your url address

 Here's our information to post on your site:
 * our web site title: Politics, News Analysis, and Social Commentary for American Liberals.
 * our description: Political commentary from the left, with a special emphasis on politics,
   religion, sports, culture, and current events.
 * our url address: http://readingpost.com/

 Thanks For The Link Trade!