Symbiosis on steroids

I was gonna pass on this, but I couldn’t help myself. Some of the more alluring cast members of Glee posed in a photo shoot for GQ magazine. The female actors appear scantily clad in a high school setting. The media’s excuse for focusing on the story is the supposed outrage of parents.

As in: OMG! OMG! They’re sexualizing high school! OMG! It’s boderline-pedophila! OMG! Quick, cover your eyes, little Jimmy and Jane! OMIGOD!

Never mind that all involved in the GQ shoot are over 21. And never mind that besides the pious umbrage of a single do-gooder lobby group (the Parents Television Council, whatever that is), there’s not a shred of actual evidence that parents are freaking out coast-to-coast.

But why let the facts get in the way of a good story, right? For the media, it’s a chance to showcase some variant of headlines like “GLEE GONE WILD!” Then they just sit back and watch the page views or ratings roll in. Easy money, baby. And, on cue, the repressed but libidinous public will elbow each other in the rush to the GQ website. (Memo to the freaked-out: It’s the link in the first paragraph. No shoving, please. You’re welcome.)

Ain’t life grand in these United States?