‘She signed off on this?’
54-year-old Nicole Kidman has been photographed dressed as a school girl, wearing a skimpy skirt and tiny top.
The photos, taken for a Vanity Fair magazine shoot, also seem to have been airbrushed to make the star appear younger.
Critics have called out the photos for presenting an unrealistic body image which doesn’t even really resemble Kidman – and fans are asking why this shoot had to happen in the first place.
“Air brushing causes severe psychological distortion by promoting unrealistic beauty standards,” one user wrote under the magazine’s tweet. “Below is an untouched very recent photo of Nicole Kidman – she is still a STUNNING 50 yr old woman. Why not show the beauty at all ages??”
You might think of Nicole Kidman as one of the biggest movie stars in the world. But the ‘Being the Ricardos’ star and Best Actress nominee says she approaches each role like she's fresh out of theater class. https://t.co/xjJmU2nV9U
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) February 17, 2022
Another said: “You say women can look great at any age, yet you infantilize them. And the photoshop is so sloppy. When did the standards drop so low?”
Another opened up a conversation around consent in photography when they said: “She signed off on this?”
There has been a long-running debate around consent when it comes to photographing celebrities in particular. Often actors and musicians don’t get final sign-off on images which then appear heavily photoshopped when published.
Recently, JOE spoke to former Hollyoaks actor Sarah Jayne Dunn about how it feels to be in charge of the photographs she puts out, after she left the soap to go full-time modelling on OnlyFans.
Jayne-Dunn told us she’s much happier now she has complete control over the images she publishes, unlike when she was under contract with Hollyoaks and required to pose for shoots she had no control over.
She told JOE: “It will only be a matter of time before they [other actors] go, ‘Why am I doing this? Why am I being controlled and why am I in an unhappy position when I don’t have to be and there are other options and these options will continue to grow?’”
Benedict Cumberbatch was also photographed for the Hollywood edition of Vanity Fair, also featuring Kidman. Cumberbatch’s image has social media talking too, only this time it’s less about a principled issue and more just out of confusion.
The star has been photographed covered in soap suds in a tight white shirt, in a luxurious bathroom surrounded by… swans.
Can someone please explain what is happening in this magazine cover pic.twitter.com/HeYiySyq6V
— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall) February 17, 2022
Social media users naturally are finding the image hilarious. “Typical. You’re just taking a quiet bath with your swans and all your clothes on and then the bloody doorbell rings!” wrote one.
Another sarcastically said: “Benedict Cumberbatch is emerging fully clothed from a bubble bath full of angry swans, it’s not that complicated.”
Benedict was appearing in the magazine ahead of his Best Actor Oscar nomination for Jane Campion drama, The Power of The Dog. In the film, the Brit plays a troubled ranchman who is horrible to the people he works with to blow off steam as he tries – and fails – to cope with his own demons.
JOE spoke to Benedict about the role and the actor revealed he’d ditched technology and fully immersed himself in nature by going to “dude camp” to prepare for playing the troubled cowboy in the American Mid-West.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CW3Mx3RoM9B/
“The world of a ranchman, it was extraordinary,” he said. “I got to do Dude Camp in Montana for two weeks to really learn and feel in the body what the reality of that is and I was hooked.
“It’s intoxicating. The landscape, the people, the life, the way of living. The interaction with man and animal, it’s amazing. Really profound.”
Main photo credit: Vanity Fair
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