Posted on 11/19/2002 3:13:35 PM PST by diotima
Groups Protest Victoria's Secret Show
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Two women's groups and a media watchdog organization on Tuesday asked CBS not to air the Victoria's Secret fashion show, calling it a "soft-core porn infomercial."
CBS said it was moving ahead with the broadcast of supermodels in lingerie on Wednesday night.
Concerned Women for America, the National Organization for Women (news - web sites) and the Parents Television Council were among several groups protesting the televised fashion show, which was taped in New York City last week.
ABC aired it last November, prompting an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites), which ruled it did not violate decency standards.
Along with the airing of near-nudity, the groups said the show degrades women.
"What purpose does the special serve except to overly sexualize women and use this to bolster the networks' demographics for young men?" they asked in a joint letter to CBS President Leslie Moonves.
Melissa Cardwell, research director for the Parents Television Council, said she had hoped that the hundreds of protests about last year's special would have dissuaded broadcasters from showing it again.
"Despite what the PTC says, this is not pornography," CBS spokesman Chris Ender said. "It's a one-hour fashion show mixed with musical performances and comedy segments.
"Does it push the envelope? Sure. But everyone knows what the Victoria's Secret fashion show is," he said. "With the advance publicity and the content advisory, every viewer will be armed with information to make their own choice."
CBS is giving the show a TV-14 rating, an indication that the material may be unsuitable for children age 14 and under.
The show has bounced around the CBS schedule. It was originally scheduled to air at 10 p.m. EDT but, worried about competing against ABC's two-hour finale of "The Bachelor," CBS moved it to 8 p.m.
Then, it was moved again — to 9 p.m. Ender said that upon reflection, CBS decided it wasn't best to air the show at 8 p.m. in what used to be considered the family viewing hour.
A "small number" of CBS affiliates aren't airing the show in prime-time, but Ender wouldn't name them. Two are in Idaho: KBCI-TV of Boise and KIDK-TV of Idaho Falls, both owned by Fisher Broadcasting, Inc.
"I don't believe it meets the standards of our communities in the time period offered," said Jeffrey Anderson, Fisher's general manager. "It's a family viewing hour."
Instead, the stations will air the show after midnight on the weekend.
ABC occasionally blurred the picture last year when particularly sheer lingerie was featured. CBS said it expects that not to be a problem this year, indicating the underwear is not as revealing.
The Parents Television Council, angered by the FCC (news - web sites)'s ruling on last year's show, said it intends to step up pressure on federal regulators if this year's edition is similar.
Also, CBS said it had edited out a demonstration by animal rights activists at last week's taping. Four protesters stormed the stage with signs that read "Gisele: Fur Scum," when model Gisele Bundchen — who has a modeling contract with a leading fur company — walked the runway.
Some people enjoy showing off their good looks, others enjoy watching. VS sells stuff to make it even more fun. But there is always some group dedicated to trying to stop others from the pursuit of happiness.
No kidding....a lot of these models are 6 1/2 feet tall beanpoles and just look very odd to me. And what's with Heidi Klum's hips?
I would very much like to have bodies like some of those models, but the gargantuan chicks like Elle et al look like walking hatracks to me.
Me too. VERY cute stuff.
NOW is just angry because none of them couldnt fit one smelly fat toe in anything at Victoria's secret.
They keep forgetting that the rest of us girls want to look pretty :-)
It makes their hips swing.
Thank you for your comment.
Yes, there were a lot of complaints. But those of us who saw it couldn’t figure out why. I find many of the regular fashion shows to be disgusting and offensive, something I couldn’t say about last year’s Victoria’s Secret. Maybe it was the competition that was complaining. Success always has its detractors...those who wish to see one fail.
Like the Contessa? ;-)
If I was a lesbian...
I guess you can call me a lesbian trapped in a man's body.
Now I need to go to Wild Oats. First let me listen to some Indigo Girls as I put on my Birkenstocks...
Horse hockey. With a 200+ cable channel universe (and even if you don't have cable/satellite, you've got at least the four major networks plus PBS to choose from), this is ridiculous.
And finally, in the event your television's tuner is broken and stuck on CBS (heaven forbid!!), there's always the other knob on the television: The OFF switch.
That being the case, the protestors truly need to stop trying to tell me what I can and cannot watch. I am at least intelligent enough to make that decision for myself and my family.
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