This Week In Antonella Barba [6 March 2007 Edition]

[image courtesy IDontLikeYouInThatWay.com]

[We apologize if you're reading this over dinner, or breakfast, or lunch, or in front of your boss -- Ed.]

I have avoided directly addressing the American Idol / Antonella Barba "racy photo" "controversy" for good reasons, I think. Anyone who's reading this blog surely knows all about it, doesn't need my superfluous snark about it, and has surely seen at least a few of the photos. Also, I didn't have a good "hook" into the "story" that would allow me to avoid looking purvy.

But there are new developments in this "controversy", and I also now have a hook, so it's time for me to write.

Follow me after the jump, and we'll talk about youthful indiscretion, your most "private" moments made "public", and double standards.

The photo above appears to show four college-age girlfriends on Spring Break, goofing for each other -- and a friend with a camera -- while blowing off a little steam before the academic home stretch. It appears to show that, because that's exactly what it is. This photo may be a little racier than anything in my personal private photo album, but it's not particularly shocking or offensive. This photo certainly wouldn't make Joe Francis perk up.

Also, this photo is typical of about half of the Antonella photos -- in the photo above, Antonella is third-from-the-left, or second-from-the-right, depending upon how you look at such things -- that have popped up on the internets. I say "about half", because some of the photos -- the photos showing Antonella alone in multiple "poses" with the same props -- look as if they may have been shot for a portfolio. But we'll get to that later.

But this photo is of special interest to me.

I am reliably informed by multiple independent sources that one of the young women in this photo is someone I know personally [I say "reliably informed" because I think the photographic evidence is a little ambiguous, but I trust my sources]. She is second-from-the-left, to Antonella's right. I won't "name" her here, to protect her "privacy". But for the sake of easy reference, I'll call her "J".

[Any reader who also knows this young woman's identity should refrain from commenting about it. Thank you -- Ed.]

Rob, what's that you say about her "privacy"? She's topless in a picture on the internets???

When Antonella and J -- and the other young women in these photos and in the others -- posed for these photos, they certainly never had any intention -- and probably no thought -- that they would ever end up on the internets and be downloaded thousands of times. I can assure you that J is horrified to see this photo of her out there for any-ole-one to see. I suspect that Antonella feels the same way.

Most of us reading [and writing] this blog are probably saying to ourselves, "I would never do anything like that." And I know a few people of Antonella's age -- and a few a little older, and a few a little younger -- who would probably say that as well. But I think when we say we would never do "that", we're probably thinking something like, "pose for racy pictures on the internets". We're certainly not saying, "I would never be 20 years old".

Most of us, when we were that age, did all kinds of things that completely embarrass us to think about now. We may even have posed for silly photos -- or passed out drunk and had such photos snapped of us anyway. Photos that when we saw them a couple of weeks or ten years later, made us roll our eyes. What's different for Barba and J and the rest of their Gen Y peers is that the ubiquity of digital media -- digital cameras, camera phones, scanners, etc. -- and the rise of "You"-centered narcissistic media -- MySpace, YouTube, flickr, etc. -- has resulted in all of this embarrassing "youthful indiscretion" stuff being repurposed into entertainment for thousands of other strangers. Immediately -- or, if not immediately, very quickly when opportunity struck.

In an age where flickr is the new "shoebox", and 10,000 MySpace friends is the new "10 sorority sisters", your most embarrassing silly private moments are potentially a whole lot more public. But does that make them any less embarrassing or silly? Or any less private for you?

And not surprisingly, the public's interest in this type of "content" rises in proportion to the pseudo-fame of the participants involved. Look at this photo and ask yourself -- if Antonella Barba had not auditioned for American Idol, would you ever have seen this photo???

So, when you see this photo above -- or any number of similar photos out there on the internets -- please keep this in mind. These photos were most likely "private" "friends-only" photos of some friends goofing around. They were never intended to be seen by thousands of people.

And, they're not even very exciting or jaw-dropping.

Which brings us to the solo Antonella photos. And Frenchie Davis.

I'm talking about the photos of Antonella posing in her underwear with a ball, and the photos of Antonella at the World War II Memorial. These photos look like they may have been part of a portfolio [they're not racy enough to be commercially-attractive featuring an unknown Antonella, so they probably weren't intended for immediate sale or consumption].

Even if these photos were part of a portfolio, they appear to have been designed only to land future modeling gigs -- they weren't of themselves commercially viable when taken. But interestingly -- and very importantly? -- the "portfolio" shots are even less racy than the "private" photos [which makes a lot of sense, doesn't it -- they were meant for public consumption]. Sure, we may think Antonella's "desecration" of the World War II Memorial was in poor taste and bad judgment, but -- ahh, to be a 20-year-old model in Washington DC...

There has been much hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing about whether American Idol has exhibited a double standard by not taking any disciplinary action against Antonella, after famously booting Frenchie from AI2 after word leaked that she had posed for an adult web site [how Web 1.0!!!]. AI defenders in some cases have sought to cast the differential treatment in the light of a distinction between Frenchie's "commercial" pornographic activity and Antonella's "private" activity -- a tack both Nigel Lythgoe and Simon Cowell have taken.

Over the last couple of weeks, however, the "American Idol has a double standard" crowd has gotten more vocal. And the battle has become more pitched. On Monday, pro-"AI-has-a-double-standard" and pro-Fenchie supporters announced plans for a protest rally outside the Kodak Theatre, where AI will host its finals. This prompted Rosie O'Donnell to bring up the topic on Tuesday's broadcast of The View, where Rosie sparred with Elizabeth Hasselbeck over the double-standard and called AI's decision-making "racist" and "weightist". Also on Tuesday, news reports surfaced that other female contestants still in the competition are upset about the whole kerfluffle, especially those who consider themselves more "religious" than Antonella. Finally, Frenchie herself is even dropping hints that she's thinking about suing AI over the whole mess.

I actually think both of these cases are very close, and both could have gone either way. I understand and respect AI's decision to boot Frenchie. I also understand and respect AI's decision not to boot Antonella. And my opinions have nothing to do with race, weight, commercialism or any of that.

I think that AI decided to boot Frenchie for the very banal reason that the producers feared the controversy would harm the show. At that time, AI, while a surprise breakout hit, still had a precarious hold over its fickle audience. It was very reasonable for the Idol producers to fear that a "controversy" like this could derail the whole franchise. Three-plus years later, American Idol is the most popular show on television and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. It is very reasonable for the Idol producers to assume now that this new controversy will be nothing but a blip in the radar, requiring no action on their part. They might reasonably think that if the public is really offended by this, the public will register that with their votes. The producers might turn out to be wrong, but the assumption is not unreasonable.

In retrospect, I wish we could turn back the clock and have the Idol producers allow the viewers to make the call about Frenchie Davis. We can't do that now, of course, but we can let the viewers make their own decisions about whether Antonella Barba should be the next "American Idol".

And guess what -- she won't be. Her [relative] lack of singing talent will get to her before the courts and judges do. After all, there is a reason why VoteForTheWorst has been pimping her.

But let's keep watching, and see if I'm wrong.

And, as always, feel free to rip me up in the comments.

*****

As a final note, I'd like to note that J herself is a singer and actress. I've had the pleasure of hearing her sing, and I can say unequivocally that she is a *much* better singer than Antonella. I'd be curious to know if J herself tried out for AI? Does anyone know???