Comments | ontd_ai: Let's Get Biblical, Biblical. I want to get Biblical

xbeyondinsanex in ontd_ai

Let's Get Biblical, Biblical. I want to get Biblical

Jun 11, 2009 11:28

Sorry for the sort of non-sequitur, but I was, er, meditating on the Rolling Stone cover early this morning and it occurred to me that really, that's not a snake. That's a serpent. The Serpent. It's some serious Garden of Eden-style coiled around the Tree of Life shit.

So, in the creation myth/literal truth of God, the serpent tempts eve to eat ( Read more... )

!rolling stone, fuck me lambert, homo t-bird glamocrat, glittery alien from planet fierce, p33n, gay it up!, a crow moans in horny recovery, adamgasm

Comments 49

jennilee June 11 2009, 17:40:57 UTC

I still adhere to the theory that RS figured butterfly=women/vagina (and obviously snake=men/cock). Both are attracted to Adam and RS not only recognized that; they represented the not unwelcome female attention Adam receives on the cover. Which I love them for.

And I think the Adam/Serpent symbolism works perfectly well too!

xbeyondinsanex June 11 2009, 17:48:04 UTC

I agree with that too, the butterfly and the snake being drawn in by Adam is certainly what they were going for on the surface.

But the COLOR of the snake is what made me think of the biblical snake - as he's always a shockingly green color. I think it could be both. In that arena, I'd just say that the butterfly helps to indicate the paradise/garden idea.

When I was in high school (catholic) we studied different interpretations of the creation myth and one of them was that the tree of life was actually sex, and that the "serpent" tempted Eve and then she tempted Adam and then they "ate."

Yummy.

jennilee June 11 2009, 17:50:57 UTC

When I was in high school (catholic) we studied different interpretations of the creation myth and one of them was that the tree of life was actually sex, and that the "serpent" tempted Eve and then she tempted Adam and then they "ate."

Oh my gosh. That interpretation would have been way too racy in any of the mandatory religion classes we had in my high school (Seventh-day Adventist) but I love it. Damn SDAism for taking everything so literally. I wish I could go back in time and bring that up. haha

xbeyondinsanex June 11 2009, 17:56:25 UTC

Well, if you consider the effects of their choice it works too. Once they ate the fruit they had the "knowledge of god" - which is, to this point almost exclusively, the "power of creation." After they figured this out, they were embarrassed and covered up their naughty bits, because oh yeah - THAT's what those are for. Their punishments work too - Eve has to know the pain of childbirth and Adam has to know the weariness of providing and responsibility.

I went to a rather progressive catholic high school.

Thread 5

blueeye01 June 11 2009, 17:49:09 UTC

It was intentional and it totally works.
We can interpret this in various ways and I think that was kinda the point too.

xbeyondinsanex June 11 2009, 17:59:09 UTC

It most certainly works, even on the most shallow of levels. It's a thought-provoking picture. All sorts of thoughts being provoked.

blueeye01 June 11 2009, 18:03:43 UTC

My 1st thought when I saw the cover was totally on the shallow end.

xbeyondinsanex June 11 2009, 18:05:32 UTC

That's ok. So was mine. Hey, it took me a day to think any deeper than "snake. thighs. guh*

It's more fun on the shallow end. You can play chicken and marco polo and not drown.

Thread 6

blubberoddment June 11 2009, 17:54:43 UTC

Snakes are phallic symbols, plus they represent sin and temptation and all that. They're also cunning and devious, making people believe or do things without realizing they're thinking or doing them (aka making America love the gays by accident?? idk maybe that's a stretch). Also as someone said, his name is Adam as in Adam and Eve.

xbeyondinsanex June 11 2009, 17:57:38 UTC

Well, I thought about that too - there was a thread a few pages back on people sharing their homophobic-conversion-due-to-Adam stories so maybe it's not as much of a stretch as you'd think. One bite and their eyes were opened.

gumbogirl_mn June 11 2009, 18:09:32 UTC

Most definitely, I think the snake is intended to evoke Genesis/Eden and represents temptation/seduction and loss of innocence. BTW, the interviewer/author, Vanessa Grigoriadis, apparently attended divinity school: http://www.susanmernit.com/blog/2003/09/vanessa-grigoriadis-talent-on.html

xbeyondinsanex June 11 2009, 18:16:42 UTC

Hum, hum. Interesting indeed - maybe she influenced the art.

gumbogirl_mn June 11 2009, 18:27:08 UTC

I was assuming she did, but perhaps not. The photog was Matthew Rolston: http://www.matthewrolston.com/1024x768/

He used snakes in a photo of Penelope Cruz. I'm not sure that I see him using symbolism much. (I'm not loving his gallery. His work looks like he's trying to make everyone look hot, but they're mostly kind of devoid of personality. Nothing like, say, Annie Leibovitz's portraits.)

xbeyondinsanex June 11 2009, 18:29:39 UTC

I love Annie Leibovitz. Well he certainly did Adam justice, the pose is great.

Thread 8

lunaluc June 11 2009, 18:12:45 UTC

I think a Biblical interpretation is not far-fetched at all.
I mean, his name is Adam, for one thing. =)

Here's my take:
There we have a snake, a bright-green *glittering* snake, coiled around the 'trunk' of his thigh. A symbol of temptation, boldness. Then we have a butterfly - which to me is a symbol of sweet fluttering innocence and fragility. These two objects side by side represent a kind of yin-yang, sweet & wild, love & lust, ever-transforming thing that is impossible to miss or avoid or even resist. Aren't all these things attributes of the Adam Lambert that people have come to love? Methinks, yes. :)

xbeyondinsanex June 11 2009, 18:18:08 UTC

Oooh, perfect. *nods enthusiastically*