More Demi Moore
More Demi Moore or the August 1991 Vanity Fair cover was a controversial handbra nude photograph of then seven-months pregnant Demi Moore taken by Annie Leibovitz for the August 1991 cover of Vanity Fair to accompany a cover story about Moore.
The cover has had a lasting societal impact. Since the cover was released, several celebrities have posed for photographs in advanced stages of pregnancy, although not necessarily as naked as Moore. This trend has made pregnancy photos fashionable and created a booming business.[1] The photograph is one of the most highly regarded magazine covers of all time,[2][3] and it is one of Leibovitz's best known works.[4][5]
The picture has been parodied several times, including for advertising Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult (1994). This led to the 1998 Second Circuit fair use case Leibovitz v. Paramount Pictures Corp. In addition to being satirically parodied and popularizing pregnancy photographs, there was also backlash. Some critics rated it grotesque and obscene, and it was also seriously considered when Internet decency standards were first being legislated and adjudicated. Others thought it was a powerful artistic statement.
In each of the subsequent two years, Moore made follow-up cover appearances on Vanity Fair, the first of which propelled
Background
In 1991, Demi Moore was a budding
Annie Leibovitz had been chief photographer at Rolling Stone from 1973 until 1983, when she moved to Vanity Fair. In 1991, she had the first mid-career show, Annie Leibovitz Photographs 1970-1990, ever given a photographer by the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., with a similarly titled accompanying book.[9] The show traveled to New York City at the International Center of Photography for a showing that would run until December 1, 1991.[10]
Details
The photograph was one of several taken by Leibovitz of 28-year-old Moore, then seven-months pregnant with the couple's second daughter, Scout LaRue Willis. The photographs ranged from Moore in
The use of a pregnant sex symbol was in a sense an attempt to combat the
The photo is not only considered one of Leibovitz's most famous, but also an almost mythical representation.[4] It is considered emblematic of Si Newhouse's reputation for "newsy features and provocative photos."[19] It is the first photo mentioned in the New York Times review of Leibovitz's exhibition Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005 at the Brooklyn Museum and it is contrasted with another of her female pregnancy photographs (of Melania Trump).[20]
A year later, Moore still did not understand the controversy that caused photos of a naked, pregnant woman to be viewed as morally objectionable. Moore stated that, "I did feel glamorous, beautiful and more free about my body. I don't know how much more family oriented I could possibly have gotten." She considered the cover to be a healthy "feminist statement."[15] In 2007, Moore stated that the picture was not originally intended for publication. She had posed in a personal photo session, not a cover shoot. Leibovitz has had personal photo sessions of Moore and all of her daughters.[21]
Cover story
One journalist's professional account of the cover story describes it as "relentlessly long",[13] and a second journalist's description is that it is a "very long profile".[22] The article discussed the then three-year-old Rumer Willis and husband Bruce Willis. Willis and Moore discuss each other in the article. The article also spends three pages recounting her life.[22] The article spent little time on her next film, The Butcher's Wife, or the child she was pregnant with, Scout Willis.[22]
Legal issues
Naked Gun 33+1⁄3
The photograph was
In a parody ruling, the court must determine whether a work is transformative in a way that gives a new expression, meaning or message to the original work. In this case, the court ruled that the "ad may reasonably be perceived, as commenting on the seriousness and even pretentiousness of the original." It also ruled that the ad differed from the original "in a way that may, reasonably, be perceived as commenting, through ridicule on what a viewer might reasonably think is the undue self-importance conveyed by the subject of the Leibovitz photograph."[25]
Other issues
When the Internet arose as a popular and important medium and the
Follow-ups
In the Demi's Birthday Suit August 1992 issue of Vanity Fair, Moore was shown on the cover in the body painting photo by Joanne Gair.[28] It made Gair an immediate pop culture star as the most prominent body paint artist, which prompted consideration for an Absolut Vodka Absolut Gair ad campaign.[29] The 1992 cover, which required a thirteen-hour sitting for Gair and her team of make-up artists, was a commemoration of the August 1991 photo. Leibovitz could not decide where to shoot, and reserved two mobile homes, four hotel rooms and five houses.[11]
In December 1993, Moore was again on the cover of Vanity Fair, but this time she was dressed in two straps and a large red
Other celebrities have since posed nude or semi-nude while in advanced pregnancy, including
Serena Williams appeared pregnant in very nearly the same pose on the cover of the August 2017 issue of Vanity Fair, 26 years after the August 1991 cover featuring pregnant Demi Moore.[40]
Legacy
The photo has had long cultural and social impact in the U.S. Many women feel that the rush of celebrities taking pregnant photos has made taking such photos glamorous for pregnant mothers. As the photos have become more common on magazine covers the business of documenting pregnancies photographically has boomed.[1][41] Furthermore, the photo is critically acclaimed. Almost fifteen years after its publication the American Society of Magazine Editors listed it as the second best magazine cover of the last forty years.[2]
Parodies
Two months after the photo's publication, it was parodied on the cover of The Sensational She-Hulk #34 in October 1991. The cover features
In 2006, graffiti artist
See also
References
- ^ a b "Celebrities make pregnancy seem glamorous". Today.com. Microsoft. April 26, 2006. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
- ^ a b "Lennon leads list of top magazine covers". Today.com. Microsoft. October 17, 2005. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
- Newsweek Magazine. October 2, 2006. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
- ^ a b Lacayo, Richard (September 30, 1991). "Shadows And Eye Candy". Time magazine. Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- Newsweek Magazine. Archived from the originalon December 21, 2007. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
- ^ Penner, Degan (November 21, 1993). "Egos & Ids; It's Demi Vu All Over Again". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- ^ a b c d Anderson, Susan Heller (July 11, 1991). "Chronicle". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- ^ a b "Biography for Demi Moore". IMDb. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- ISBN 0-06-016608-8.
- ^ Goldberg, Vicky (September 8, 1991). "THE NEW SEASON: ART; An Icon Maker For Excessive Times". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- ^ a b Bellafante, Ginia (October 26, 2003). "ART; What Celebrity Looks Like: The Annie Leibovitz Aesthetic". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- ISBN 0-7893-1509-2.
- ^ a b Parker, Kathleen (July 19, 1991). "Memo To Demi: You May Regret Those Pictures". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 2, 2009.
- Newsweek Magazine. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
- ^ a b Mesinger, Maxine (July 7, 1992). "VF dresses Demi in paint". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved April 2, 2009.
- ^ a b c Stabile, C. (1992). "Shooting the mother: Fetal photography and the politics of disappearance" (PDF). Camera Obscura. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 25, 2007. Retrieved August 23, 2007.
- ISBN 9780742553873. Retrieved February 20, 2008.
- ^ Newsweek Magazine. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
- ^ Angelo, Bonnie (July 13, 1992). "SI And Tina's Newest Act". Time magazine. Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- ^ Smith, Roberta (October 20, 2006). "Photographer to the Stars, With an Earthbound Side". The New York Times. Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- ^ "Demi Moore: 'Pregnant Photo Was Never Meant for Magazine'". World Entertainment News Network. Hollywood.com, Inc. February 19, 2008. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2008.
- ^ Charlotte Observer. Retrieved April 2, 2009.
- ^ Carmody, Deirdre (February 19, 1994). "COMPANY NEWS; Spy Magazine Can't Find Buyer, and Closes". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- ^ a b Richardson, Lynda (December 20, 1996). "A Parody of a Pregnant Actress Stands Up in Court". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- ISBN 9781413306460. Retrieved February 20, 2008.
- Newsweek Magazine. Archived from the originalon March 6, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
- Newsweek Magazine. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
- ^ Singer, Natasha (February 2, 2006). "A Real Body of Work". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- ^ Elliott, Stuart (June 6, 1993). "Advertising's Marathon Auditions". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- ^ "The Hollywood Gossip".
- ^ Van Gelder, Lawence (August 25, 2006). "Arts, Briefly". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- ^ Hearst Communications Inc.Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- )
- ^ La Ferla, Ruth (June 8, 2006). "Showing? It's Time to Show Off (page 2)". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- Newsweek Magazine. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
- ^ Carr, David (February 17, 2003). "Anna Wintour Steps Toward Fashion's New Democracy". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- ^ "Pregnant Linda Evangelista on cover of Vogue". MSNBC.com. Microsoft. July 18, 2006. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- Hearst Communications Inc.Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- Hearst Communications Inc.Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- Today. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
- ISBN 0-415-90449-8.
- ^ The Sensational She-Hulk #34 (Marvel Comics, 1991).
- Hearst Communications Inc.September 15, 2006. Retrieved February 25, 2008.