Celebrities on the Newsstand

[Alfred Urrutia]

--- Steve Sloca <gokings@comcast.net> wrote:

> But from 4 years experience in working with Playmates, I think that
> male viewers of nude models can be divided into two categories: those
> who, like Alfred, have their own pre-conceived fantasies into which


Nobody gets sarcasm around here.  Watch some Monty Python, maybe it'll help.


> they want to fit the model; and those who want a greater taste of
> reality in their fantasies by imagining a relationship with a real


A greater taste of reality in their fantasies.  That makes very little
sense. But, if they want more realism in their fantasies they could
imagine the girl being late for a date or spilling their drink on her
at dinner or wearing a stupid outfit that embarrasses the Playmate or
getting in a car accident with them, etc.


> person whom they could conceivably meet.  My partner, Victoria Zdrok,


How many people could say that they could conceivably meet a drop-dead
gorgeous girl who *would pose nude for Playboy* and not be living in
L.A. or New York in this country?  I mean, I get spoiled dealing with
the many girls who might conceivably give that a shot but I can tell
you I haven't worked with any of them and I don't know anybody who
knows any of them.


> always posts a story with each of her weekly picture galleries.  Some
> of them are witty short stories, publishable in their own right, some
> are historically based, some are erotic re-tellings of fairy tales,
> and some are just behind-the-scenes insights into the shooting of the
> photos; but all of them reflect her personality and character in the
> same way in which the "Playmate story" gives the reader a view of the
> Playmate as a person.  (She spends hours on these stories; and some of
> them are really, really good.)  About half of her members read the
> stories and get caught up in the fantasies she devises.  The other
> half doesn't bother to read the stories and only want to download the
> pictures.  As Dan notes, the same set of pictures satisfies both types
> of men; but it was the uniqueness of "the Playmate as GND" which
> provided those who want their fantasies to be about real women who
> were theoretically accessible to them with the requisite fodder for
> their imaginations.
> 
> IMHO, those men who only want the pictures to feed their pre-conceived
> fantasies are also likely to be those who fantasize about undressing
> celebrities.  They know in their hearts that there is absolutely no
> chance of their having sex with a celebrity or a Playmate, so they
> choose to objectify the woman in a fantasy which has no connection
> with their daily lives.  Those who want to "get to know" the person


What sort of space ship/secret agent/alien planet fantasies are you
thinking of that would have no connection to their daily lives?  Why
would it be possible or predictable that I, for example, could have a
fantasy of a GND that couldn't apply to a celebrity?  Meeting in a
bar?  Both.  Being introduced by a mutual friend?  Both.  Delivering a
pizza to her?  Both.  Not all the fantasies could translate (no
fantasies of super-famous girl picking you out of thousands if she's
an unknown GND but also no fantasies of meeting the girl out walking
the dog on the street if she's on a 10 month concert tour or has 10
bodyguards around her all the time) but there is plenty of overlap, at
least in my head, to apply similar fantasies to Julia Schultz (saw her
once eating at Hooters, talked to her for a bit) and Jennifer Garner
(maybe I could end up sitting with her at the Disney Studio Commisary
during lunch time like when I used to work there).


> who is undressing for their viewing are men who feel that they are
> capable of having a relationship with a Playmate or a woman as
> beautiful as she; and thus their fantasies are spun from the
> intertwining of the Playmate's life history with their own.  It was
> Playboy's genius--or perhaps mere luck--that it found a large audience
> among this second group of men and provided that group with something
> no other mens' magazine has provided, before or since: the Girl Next
> Door.
> 

How, to go back to Dan, is this different from celebrity pictorials
(nude and non-nude as you'd find in Maxim) that interview the
celebrities?  How is this different from finding out through E! 
Channel or Extra! something about the celebrity and working *that*
into a "realistic" fantasy about her?  I don't get the distinction.
Yes there are guys who only care about the pictures.  That works for
celebrities and Playmates.  There are also guys who are interested in
the backstory, the details of the model's life.  That, too, works for
celebrities and Playmates.  I still don't see how Playboy worked the
very special style of fantasy that no other magazine could do.  Don't
get me wrong, I really like Playboy but there are guys who like
Gabrielle Reece because she's pretty *and* she is/was a volley ball
player.


> In recent years, Playboy has gotten away from its GND heritage,
> feeding only the fantasies of the first group of men with "instant
> celebrity" pictorials and Playmates whose only claim to that status is
> based on plastic surgery and association with Hef.  The interests of


Recent years equals, what, about 36-48 Playmates?  How many of these
were faked and "sleeping" with Hef?  Add that up again.


> the second group of men for "real" women about whom they can fantasize
> have been neglected; and that has alienated a large number of its
> former fans.  As I have stated here before, the magazine needs an
> editor who is familiar with the kind of women who actually live in the
> world of the upwardly-mobile yuppies of today, for that is the kind of
> GND who will appeal to them and bring them back to Playboy.  As for
> the group of men who can't conceive of themselves having a
> relationship with a Playmate, they will be just as happy whether the
> Playmate is a GND or a stripper from a mens' club so long as the woman
> is "hot" enough to fuel their pre-conceived fantasies--and for most of
> this group, the more explicit the photography, the better.
> 

Explain how a stripper from a men's club fails to be a girl next door
to someone who lives next door to one/some.  I've made friends with a
few. They're *normal*.  They didn't grow up hoping to go to Stripper
Tech and get a PhD in stripping, they do it to pay bills or have a
flexible schedule so that they can try acting or whatever other
oddball non-9-to-5 job they're shooting for.





Alfred.

=====
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"When you're surrounded by midgets with hammers, you know
 you're going to get a pounding."
 - Triple-H, on how horror movies can help you to evaluate
   real life dangers.
Alfred Urrutia                     rampagingsloth@yahoo.com