Naked Lennon raises a bit of a ruckus...

[flowomo]

From the Modesto (Cal) Bee:

By DAN DAY
BEE MANAGING EDITOR
Last Updated: October 23, 2005, 04:20:38 AM PDT

The naked buck stops here.

As managing editor, I approve the contents of the front page of The Bee, and I never can figure what might trigger reader reaction. Of all the big issues we covered last week, the one that sparked the loudest outcry was ironically small: a one-inch square photo of a celebrity who has been dead for nearly 25 years.

That would be John Lennon, who posed with his wife, Yoko Ono, a short time before he was murdered. The photo shows the former Beatle in naked profile, curling up to Yoko, who is fully clothed. The picture was on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 1981 and has appeared in many publications countless times since.

When the magazine industry named it the top cover of the past 40 years, we put a thumbnail version at the top of the front-page "rail" filled with short items directing readers inside the paper.

We received several calls from people outraged that The Bee would print such filth in a family newspaper. One caller accused us of selling pornography. A few canceled their subscriptions, and that is regrettable.




http://www.modbee.com/opinion/story/11387849p-12133953c.html

[Skidmore]

1. Bet if it had been Brittany Spears in the buff, you'd

have not heard a peep.

[MADem]

23. They would have complained that the picture was too small! nt

[Horse with no Name]

2. I remember that issue

I was a senior in High School and had a RS subscription.
When it came in the mail, my mom tore the cover off.
:(

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

4. People who are offended by love are the same ones who

read "Inside Detective" or some other such tabloid horror and death nonsense.

[Horse with no Name]

12. My mom does neither

and she is a Dem.
However, she didn't feel (remember the times) that it was appropriate for a 17 year old to get a magazine with naked peeps on the cover.
I was upset that she did it, but given the times, I can understand.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

19. Did she let you watch "Tammy and the Doctor" without parental guidance?

American puritanism at its best...

[NYCGirl]

20. Was that the one with Peter Fonda in it?

(Before he was "Easy Rider".)

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

22. Yes

I remember my RW uncle preventing his teen daughter from seeing it. I had a major eye-roll going at the time.

[Horse with no Name]

24. I don't suppose she did since I have never seen it

Personally I have no problem with parents censoring what their children do. That is their job.
But I do have a problem with OTHER people attempting to censor children that aren't their own.
Which is basically what you are attempting to do.
It isn't your place to decide what is or isn't appropriate for someone else's child. My mom decided it was not appropriate for me and you are hypocritical to suggest that she was wrong.

On edit:
I looked up that movie you were speaking of and it came out in 1963--the year I was born.
How do you compare that to a magazine cover that came out in 1981?
I was never censored when I went to the movies with my boyfriend during the same year...Apocalypse Now...American Gigolo...Urban Cowboy...etc.
However, for whatever reason, she did object to the magazine cover.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

27. If you approve of your mother tearing off the cover of a RS issue

when you were 18, maybe 19 years old, then what is the point of your post? If it is that you approve of your mother's actions, say so. I can't read your mind.

[Horse with no Name]

28. I was 17--still a minor.

I know the point of my post...do you know the point of yours?:shrug:
Approving of something and having the capacity to understand something--even if you don't agree--are entirely different viewpoints.
Perhaps they are a level of maturity you do not understand?

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

29. In Europe you can drink at 16

which only reinforces my point about American puritanism.

But, to each his own. Maybe tearing off the cover of RS makes you less debauched than the rest of the world.

[Horse with no Name]

31. how elitest of you

so by your standards I should put naked pictures in my kids Christmas stockings to wash away the American puritanism that you decry?
We are talking about something that happened regarding a cover of a magazine 24 years ago.
The controversy of the cover in relation to the times is what makes it stand out today.
If that same cover came out today...it wouldn't be talked about in 24 years.
It is all relative.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

33. If I don't have a hang-up about the human body, I'm elitist?

Have you ever indulged in a public sauna, n-a-k-e-d?

Just because I do, constantly, doesn't make me an "anointed one." It just means you're missing out.

[Horse with no Name]

36. I don't have a hang-up with the human body--nary a one

I'm a nurse and I have probably seen more naked people than you could ever imagine, now whether I would engage in group sex or public saunas truly isn't any of your business and I certainly wouldn't post my answers to either on a public message board.
You are deliberately attempting to muddy the issues.
One would have to wonder why.
The issue was simply that a parent chose to censor a controversial magazine cover from a minor child.
As an adult, I understand why she did it but never did I say that I would do the same thing if the same magazine appeared in my mailbox addressed to my daughter.
What a parent would do 24 years ago is certainly different than what many parents would do today--probably even my own mother would change her views on it.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

38. Saunas equate to group sex?

Your comments reminds me of letters to Ann Landers way back when, the problem in question, whether children should see their parents naked or not. Ann and Abbie always answered "of course not." However, in Asia and Europe, kids not only see their parents naked, but also see their neighbors and complete strangers naked, a la the sauna. Asian and European kids are even accustomed to seeing adults wash their private parts in public. Nakedness is demystified at a young age as being perfectly natural and having nothing to do with "sex," as you have suggested.

A photo of Lennon's backside while he was kissing his wife is mild in nature by comparison. Actually, it's something the Christian movement should have "embraced" when it had the chance.

I figure the US is about 50 years behind Europe in terms of acceptance of the human body. How else to explain the sexually perverted fixations American soldiers/mercenaries have had on their Iraqi captives?

[Horse with no Name]

40. No I simply went from one extreme to the other

simple nakedness to wild sex...hoping to hit all points in between and addressing the point that none of what I do with my body--naked or otherwise--is any of your business and what you are seeking to prove here proves only that you advocate only the other extreme end of the spectrum of puritanism which is exhibitionism. The way you judge people who don't believe in your system is no better than the way puritanists judge others.
It only reminds you of what you want it to remind you of--you are clearly projecting.
You simply are seeking to further some type of agenda here, however, I really don't have the patience for it anymore since it is revealing itself to be nothing but argumentative and elitest.
As far as the explanation as to why the sexually explicit torture?
I'm sure nobody can explain it to your satisfaction so why even try?
:hi:

[AntiCoup2K4]

17. My mom "confiscated" the entire issue

I guess she thought seeing a naked dead guy on a magazine would turn me gay or something? :shrug:

I learned to hide magazines a little better than that (especially the ones where the nudity was more intentional):evilgrin:

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

21. Meanwhile, the rest of the world was soaking in saunas and hottubs

like there was no tomorrow.

The US is so backward when it comes to nudity. Still is. Most Americans are loathe to enter a public sauna area without a bathing suit.

[Nickster]

3. Geez, I think that's one of the more beautiful pictures that I've seen.

and I'm not even an "artsy" kind of guy. Just a beautiful show of affection for his wife.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

5. Not to mention, it beats the torture Americans have been administering

on innocent people for the last 3 and a half years, at the very least.

[ComerPerro]

6. I always thought it was a little strange

but, well, John and Yoko...

Go figure...

[Missy M]

7. Pea brained people with dirty minds!!!!

[calico1]

8. I wonder how these people shower or have sex

since they never see a naked body? What fools. This poor man died later that day. Good god.

[DarleenMB]

9. Always makes me wonder

about their "christian" sensibilities. Excuse me? Wasn't "man" created in God's own image? Hello? So God is "filth?"

[phusion]

10. gah

I find it amazing that Americans are so offended by the human body.

[Loonman]

11. Yoko plain offends me

Never could stand her, she's the one big bad spot in Beatles history.

[davidinalameda]

13. it's Modesto for gods' sake

fucking freeper heaven

[Cults4Bush]

34. I lived there from 1980-83... I hated it.

and I was only in elementary school. I remember all the High riders (rich hicks)would get ganging with the low riders (no explanation needed)across from my school in Salida.

A friend brought me a joint in 2nd grade as thanks for letting him cheat off my test. Man it seemed like every single person was on drugs there.

I think Beck actually wrote a song called Modesto, it was pretty good if I remember.

[Ladyhawk]

42. Yeah, I live an hour from Modesto. We import our freepers from them. n/t

[oregonindy]

14. why is it the naked body is horrible and violence and war is okay with

these frickin wackos?

[deutsey]

30. There's something redemptive about violence and dirty about nudity

:sarcasm:

[rodeodance]

15. I shake my head!

[bleedingheart]

16. Uptight people hate nudity but rent The ChainSaw Prom for their kids

crazy but true

[EC]

18. I can't believe this would happen in California

maybe in some of the states that really, really hate John Lennon, but CA?

[MADem]

25. What is so absurd about this brouhaha is that you cannot see a darn thing!

It's not as though an offensive penis is hanging out, or a plumber's butt (as seen on Saturday Night Live) is in your face. Hell, fashion models expose as much skin as is actually SEEN in that picture....

[ET Awful]

26. Better a naked Lennon than a naked Lenin

:evilgrin:

Personally, I liked the editors comment "Your reward? We'll keep bringing you a decent mix of stories and pictures reflecting traditional American values: gunplay, corruption and car theft."

[Cults4Bush]

32. Lennon a real anti-war working class hero.

It kills me how so many love him now but hated him then.

I think Lennon would have played at Camp Casey and would chain himself to the WH fence with her.

His passion is legend...

[Nickster]

35. I always wonder what John would do during days like these.

[Horse with no Name]

37. Imagine....n/t

[Nickster]

39. Ok, you forced me to play him on my iPod right now.

Listening to this one, very good remix work.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000AD241A/qid=1130182789/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-0279101-4552958?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

[Horse with no Name]

41. He is awesome!

I still have a Double Fantasy album that has never been played. I bought two...and kept one back and played the hell out of the other one.
Back in those days, I was afraid they would all be gone and I wouldn't be able to get another one when I wore it out,lol.