The moral fiber of the American lifestyle was stretched last Thursday night once again, this time by ABC's airing of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show live from New York. As expected, the program drew a rash of slashing critiques and outraged reactions from numerous conservative groups. The AFA (American Family Association) went so far as to call it "no less than soft core porn."

The models, sometimes "bursting" over with confidence, strutted down the runway in their skimpiest outfits and right into our living rooms. A choir sang "Hallelujah, Hallelujah," no doubt perking the ire of those morally enabled to shout and denounce ABC as perverted iconoclasts. But they've been shouting now for years.

The truth of the matter is that sex sells. ABC hid behind spun rhetoric saying that the country needed a break after having dealt with all the foregone tragedy and oncoming war. Relief disguised as panties?

It was, of course, no strange coincidence that the show aired at exactly the same time as Fox's Temptation Island II--another flagrant abuse of bikinis, pecs and hidden cameras for ratings and dollars, and a show I watch religiously.

Having spent so many years as an adult living in Europe, it's hard to understand why so much fuss is still raised over a presentation like the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Supposed "teenager" shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson's Creek delve far deeper into sexuality and misconduct than a live ad for a catalog that any person can get in his home anyway. Programs such as MTV's Dismissed or Blind Date do much more towards promoting illicit sex and tweaked morals. The truth of the matter is that the images of half-naked models can be seen on the covers of most magazines in supermarkets or in many commercials throughout the day on normal television.

There was one, however, blatantly obvious disappointing aspect of the show--the sugar coating. ABC ran full speed towards the edge of the pool, then dipped a single toe in to test the waters. Views were seldom from the waist down, a real disappointment for the men with leg and shoe fetishes. The extremely curvaceous models were digitally altered so that their natural areolas looked more like oil smudges that stylists backstage accidentally missed. It was a vain attempt to hide that which cannot be hidden.

Logical thinking would have dictated a male audience, but in actuality the viewer percentages highly favored the female population. It is difficult to determine if the ladies were watching to get some good Christmas shopping ideas or to size up the competition and once again aspire to unattainable goals--also of course applying to the men who have about as much chance of dating Heidi Klum as I do of becoming the President of Chile.

So in the end, the AFA roars and the world goes on about its business. Luckily for ABC, the United States population continues to, in relation to media, have the attention span of chalk. Anyone still interested anymore if Elian is working in a cigar factory at the age of six? Has Chandra Levy's face shown up lately on a half-gallon of homogenized 2%? When the next envelope is pushed, the conservatives will once again rant and rave and the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show will be as forgotten as Madonna's "Justify my Love" video or Ellen's lesbian admission on national television.

December 2001