Vanity Fair: Not In Favor Of Naked Men

Inside the April issue of Vanity Fair, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel and Paul Rudd spoof a 2006 cover with Tom Ford, Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson. But with bodysuits. What a cop-out.

Is it funny that the guys (and Annie Leibovitz, who shot both images) spoofed the shot? Sure. But it would have been funnier if the guys were actually naked. Who made this decision? Why bodysuits? It’s understandable to try and create a “pale” skin tone for the purposes of recreating the original photograph properly, but Leibovitz is a whiz with lighting. Is the world not ready for Jonah Hill’s ass? As for Jason Segel, he already did full-frontal nudity in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. We saw Seth Rogen’s bare buttocks in Knocked Up. Why is it that naked woman can appear on the cover of Vanity Fair, yet none of these dudes can expose their bellies? Is it because they’re not thin?

Of course, this issue just reflects the problems with nudity in our society in general. When I went to see Friday The 13th, the theater was crowded with men and women, but after the third time a female actress was shown topless, some girl behind me yelled out, “How come we can’t see no huevos?” She was asking for balls, but knew that the movie wouldn’t show any, because the producers didn’t have any. And that’s the problem with this “spoof.” As any good comedian knows, you have to commit to the joke. This one was done — ahem — half-assed.