Monday, March 5, 2007

Notes On A Scandal

Ouh la la! Santa Monica's PC squadrons have gone topsy turvy last week. The subject of their ire? An ad for the reality show America's Next Top Model posted on the city's Big Blue buses -- showing Tyra Banks and model wannabes in sexy attire.

After receiving complaints from residents, director of transit services Stephanie Negriff decided to pull the 'offending' ads from the buses. "It's a matter of public taste," she said. "We try to be sensitive to the community."

"It wasn't like peopole were conservative, saying that this was horrible to show bare skin," argues Big Blue Bus advertising manager Dan Dawson in the SMDP. "It was the opposite. People didn't think it was appropriate to objectify women in that way."

Objectify? "It's just some ladies in bikinis," says a bus rider. In a beachtown where people hang around in bikinis and other half-naked gear anyway -- albeit with less attractive bodies.

Bill Bauer nails it in today's SMDP [page 4]: "This is a city that revels in being progressive and forward thinking only as long as it's politically correct [...] It has nothing to do with 'taste' but has everything to do with bowing to pressure from some narrowly focused, special interest group out to promote an agenda."

"It's political correctness run amock in Santa Monica," Bauer concludes. A city that prides itself in being 'liberal', whose nickname is 'The People's Republic of Santa Monica', but which can sometimes have a je ne sais quoi reminiscent of last century's socialist regimes.
[more in Variety]
photo via SMDP