I do not know what is happening to the level of intellect of some people nowadays. Its been around for quite sometime, an issue about Nora Aunor on YES Magazine while Holding a butt of cigarette and Anne Curtis on the cover of Rogue Magazine with a cigarette. There’s nothing wrong with that picture. It's no big deal...
I do not know what to say anymore, given the amount of stupidity a lot of people in the Philippines have. Isn’t there more important, socially relevant and far more intellectual issues left to talk about in our country other than this? I want to say that the Filipino readers are wise enough to choose for themselves and not be influenced by whatever they see on magazine covers, or maybe on tv and movies, but given the fact that something like this can be blown up into becoming an issue of national interest, is just plain stupid, shallow and very dumb.
I have seen a lot of Vogue covers in Italy and France with supermodels holding a cigar, all are artistically beautiful and visually powerful. When Kate Moss returned on the runway for Louis Vuitton last Fall Season, she walked on the runway while smoking and she got a standing ovation and deafening applause.
Wake up, people. Probably almost half of the adult population in the country are smoking. We see people smoking almost everywhere. So why this magazine cover, which I know not a lot of people buy, be given too much attention and interest. I believe the main reason of using cigar as a props for magazine covers, fashion shows, or at any event/occasion is because it is a strong symbolism of female empowerment. When cigarette users are mostly male, image of women smoking shows strength and power, a way of saying that women can also do what men do.
For me, these covers are art and a form of expression. They are visual tools of sending out message that women nowadays are empowered, that they are in control and that they are equal with men.
Worries of children might see these images and be given the wrong information that smoking is acceptable, is already within every parents and guardians responsibility. Children actually see other people smoking everywhere, maybe even at the comfort of their home. That’s why kids have parents, that’s why kids have guardians—-they are there to guide them and inform them about smoking.
I was unfortunately irritated by the comment of Toni Gonzaga on The Buzz on the issue of Anne Curtis and Nora Aunor posing on a magazine cover, holding a cigarette. She was quite initiating that it was the artists responsibility that they pose with a cigarette. Yes, it is their responsibility because they could stand up for something that they knew could produce wonderful art. Just because you are not holding a cigarette doesn’t mean you are a responsible artist or a role model to the youth. What the heck!!! Why do people make a big fuzz about it, it is the art of photography. The cigarette is included because it fulfills the story of the photo. DON’T MAKE A BIG ISSUE ABOUT IT!!! i thought Philippines is a democratic country, i thought we could express our art freely, but why are they stopping these wonderful covers.
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