I have a new piece up on the Blowfish Blog, a piece that manages to tie together the two big sex scandals of the week -- the Eliot Spitzer scandal and the "American Idol" stripper scandal -- into one, hopefully not overly belabored analogy. The piece is called A Tale of Two Scandals: The Obligatory Eliot Spitzer and "American Idol" Stripper Column, and here's the teaser:
When the governor of New York resigns due to the revelation that he had sex with a prostitute -- and a contestant on a top-rated TV reality show is found to have been a stripper -- sex columnists around the world are driven to the stories like salmon returning home to spawn. So this is kind of an obligatory column. I am powerless to control myself. Can't... stop! Must... blog... about... Spitzer... and... the "American Idol"... stripper! Send... help!But until help arrives, I’m going to have fun with it.
To find out why a weird part of me is glad that the latest major politician to get embroiled in a sex scandal is a Democrat -- and to why find out why I think so many Americans are wigging out over the fact that an "American Idol" contestant was once a male stripper -- read the rest of the piece. Enjoy!
Awesome stuff.
I still, all too often, tend to hear a story like the American Idol thing, only half-listen because I don't watch the show and have no idea who the guy is, and assume "Oh look, it's another sex scandal"... and miss what would be the obvious reaction if I were paying attention, which is: wait, what scandal? Because honestly, what's he being charged with here? If they're going to decide that it's inappropriate to allow anyone on a family TV show who's ever been naked for someone else's enjoyment, then boy are a lot of jobs going to have to go.
Posted by: Cubik's Rube | March 21, 2008 at 03:26 PM
"Because honestly, what's he being charged with here?"
He's not being charged with anything. On American Idol, contestants are voted on (and hence voted off) by the viewers. Basically, it was discovered that the guy had been a stripper; it was big news in the gossip columns and blogs; and the guy was voted off the next week. Whether it's because he was a male stripper or a lousy singer is anyone's guess.
Posted by: Greta Christina | March 22, 2008 at 01:08 PM
Sorry, "accused of" might have been a better phrase there - I know there's no criminal charges being made, I was just honestly puzzling over the substance of the allegations, or lack thereof.
(And I guess I was still only half paying attention, as I'd had the idea that there was a more direct connection between the details of his "scandalous" past and his departure from the show. D'oh.)
Posted by: Cubik's Rube | March 22, 2008 at 01:25 PM
If you get to feeling better and want a scandal to write about, this might yield something interesting:
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/story?id=4557969&page=1
[ABC News story "Race Car Boss' Nazi Sex Scandal: Max Mosley Allegedly Caught on Video Role-Playing Guard and Inmate", 31 March]
Posted by: Blake Stacey | April 01, 2008 at 09:11 PM