Call it a hunch, but I've got a sneaky feeling something isn't quite right with Alicia Silverstone. She is, as you probably know, the new "Miss Thing" in Hollywood, having been catapulted to super-stardom by an Aerosmith video. The doe-eyed eighteen-year-old is now everywhere from music videos to movies to magazines, including interviews in Rolling Stone and Parade. And it is her responses in these interviews that make me wonder what is going on in that now recognizable head of hers. Ms. Silverstone stated in Parade Magazine that she did not believe that her looks have had anything to do with her success. Apparently she thinks that it is talent and only talent that keeps getting her jobs. Even though I could, I won't argue this point.
Ms. Silverstone has also told us that she would rather walk her dog than be with boys and that the sexual displays in the media are disgusting. Now, I don't know if you've seen the Rolling Stone Magazine piece or not, but, gracing the interview are two very gratuitous pictures of Alicia's panty-covered crotch. And for those of you who have been privy to the Aerosmith videos, I'm sure you will agree that the dear girl is not innocent of said sexual antics. So what's going on? A few possibilities immediately come to mind:
A. Alicia Silverstone really is clueless and simply does not realize that when the nice man with the camera asks her to spread her legs, she is being exploited.
B. Alicia Silverstone is quite sexual but hopes that if she keeps telling us she isn't, we'll believe her, despite her on-camera appearances.
C. Alicia Silverstone is not at all comfortable with her sexuality, but cozies right up to it when someone flashes the cash.
D. Alicia Silverstone believes that flirting, teasing and behaving in a sexually provocative manner is very different from actually being sexual, and while the first is okay, the second should be avoided at all costs.
I have a hard time believing that A is the right answer. No young adult could be that out of touch with reality, even in Hollywood. B doesn't ring true either. A wholesome image just isn't that helpful in the movie business. Ask Hugh Grant. It is, I think, much more likely that C or D is the correct answer. My guess is that Ms. Silverstone is either playing the young American male audience for the chumps that they are, or, she is very confused. In either case, she is exactly the kind of girl my mother warned me about.
Not that Ms. Silverstone is that awful of a person mind you. But let's just suppose for the moment that she is not playing the part of the innocent woman-child, and actually believes in what she is telling us. In that case, Alicia has, along with more than a few other women, picked up on the idea that female sexuality must be fragmented in order to balance the conflicting expectations of American society. That while looking sexy is a much admired and highly desirable quality, enjoying the act of sex itself somehow makes you a corrupted, wicked person.
Now, we could blame the Puritans for a lot of this, but let's not. It wouldn't do us much good anyway, their all dead. The point here is that relationships are hard enough already without any added struggles with basic sexuality. I think it's safe to say that everyone has had their just share of garbled signals and confused motivations, and they certainly don't need any more of them in their bedrooms. Despite this truism, we seem to be getting more mired in this sort of frustration, not less.
And yes, all the while, Ms. Silverstone can tell me in her most virtuous of voices that she can't see anything about her that equals sex. And maybe, on a bad day, I'd forget that she is a voting, property owning adult, and see nothing wrong with her contradictions. But today has been pretty good and I wonder: perhaps this duplicitous thinking isn't as prevalent as I fear. Then again, perhaps it is and many of us are in for some very annoying sexual relationships.
Outquote:
The point here is that relationships are hard enough already without any added struggles with basic sexuality.