May 14, 2009
Carrie Prejean: The Seamy Side of Family
Values
Bigots must take their friends where they
find them, it seems.
As American popular sentiment turns further
and further in the direction of favoring
equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian
couples, its wild-eyed opposition in the
religious right becomes increasingly
desperate to shore up its flagging support.
The seismic attitudinal shift resulting in
marriage equality in a growing number of
states now seems both evident and
unstoppable, even to many of those
historically prejudiced against it; fewer
and fewer are willing to publicly stand up
and declare their disapproval.
Enter Miss California.
In a marketing masterstroke, the woman
memorably dubbed “St. Carrie of La Jolla” by
MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann positioned herself
as the country’s most visible, and arguably
most telegenic, spokesman for the forces of
anti-gay bigotry. The peroxide-coated,
silicone-plumped California Princess Carrie
Prejean, product of a privileged upbringing
in a pricy San Diego suburb, proudly stood
on the national stage and advocated the
continued consignment of 10 percent of the
population to second-class-citizen status.
Immediately, a roar of approval rose from
the “traditional values” right. Finally,
someone young, dumb and in a position of
media prominence had signed on as their
spokesmodel, ready to lead their flagging
crusade for the hearts and minds of the
ignorant and fearful. Lost in the cultural
wilderness, they had found a big-breasted
blond messiah to lead them into the Promised
Land.
Well, sorta. Only after the ambitious Ms.
Prejean had inked a lucrative agreement to
publicly represent an anti-gay marriage
group and embarked on a speaking tour did
her newfound “family values” friends learn
that their anointed purity priestess had
posed for a succession of rather racy
partially-clad photos despite her signed
statements to the contrary, many of which
have now taken up their rightful positions
in the screensavers of 13-year-old boys
everywhere. Pageant officials idly
threatened to yank her crown, St. Carrie
squished out a few crocodile tears and
claims of free speech rights violations on
national television, and the matter was
forgotten – discounting the peals of
laughter from progressives on the sidelines.
Prejean’s sponsors responded as they tend to
respond to most complex, difficult issues –
by burying their heads in the sand. The same
moral turpitude they might deride in a Janet
Jackson halftime show became suddenly a
matter of little consequence when engaged in
by one of their own, of such little
consequence as to warrant no further
comment, let alone acknowledgement of the
public humiliation of their cause.
Sooner or later, someone has to tell them:
You were punk’d. You just got used, big
time. And you know what? It’s going to
continue for years to come. Sainthood, once
awarded, isn’t readily taken away. The
phrases “traditional marriage” and “Carrie
Prejean” are now conjoined twins. Virtue is
now married to vice. An opportunistic
wannabe model whose behavior has shown that
she will do just about anything in the name
of self-advancement is the public face of a
rapidly-fading band of would-be public
moralists, and there’s not much they can do
about it.
In opening her self-serving mouth on the
national stage, Carrie Prejean may have cost
herself a pageant crown, but she laid the
foundation for a successful career, publicly
eclipsing all other contestants, including
the eventual – and irrelevant – winner. In a
welcome and unintended consequence, she has
helped to discredit the band of bigots who
had rushed to embrace her, revealing them
for the facile hypocrites that they are. The
traditional values crowd now hangs with
slimy, lying, morally questionable
opportunists, and they are known by the
company they keep.
©
2009 North Star Writers Group. May not
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